Experiment Definition#

ExperimentDefinition.Show

Overview#

An Experiment is a controlled deviation from the standard process, in order to test the effect of the deviation. An Experiment provides a structured mechanism to resolve problems or to improve processes - for example by testing new materials, new processes and new recipes.

Experiment Management contains essentially of two objects:

• The Experiment Definition that represents the set of all variations to be performed as part of the Experiment.
• The Experiment that represents a running Experiment on a Material for a given Experiment Definition.

Once a Experiment Definition is created, reviewed and approved, it is possible to create several new Experiments based on the same Experiment Definition. To do so, it is necessary to Create an Experiment in order to associate the Experiment Definition with a specific Material.

Once the material is assigned, the Experiment will be created and will follow the lifecycle model as shown in the figure below.

graph TD
    Start -->|"<strong>Assign Material</strong><br>(Material is assigned)"| A1[Created]
    A1 -->|"<strong>Move Next</strong><br>(Material reaches the first Step of the Experiment Definition)"| A2[Created]
    A2 -->|"<strong>Move Next</strong><br>(Material reaches the last Step of the Experiment Definition)"| A3[Completed]
    A3 -->|"<strong>Close Experiment</strong><br>(Experiment is closed manually or automatically)"| A4[Closed]

classDef mermaid_title color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, font-weight:200;
classDef mermaid_start color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, color:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, visibility: hidden;
classDef mermaid_businessdata color:#000, fill:#65CDE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_nonbusinessdata color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#B7DEE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entity color:#000, fill:#FB9F53, stroke:#FB9F53, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entitylinked color:#000, fill:#FCD5B5, stroke:#FCD5B5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_context color:#000, fill:#B9CDE5, stroke:#B9CDE5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_optional color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:1px, font-size:100%, stroke-dasharray: 5 5;
classDef mermaid_state color:#000, fill:#d7e4bd, stroke:#000, stroke-width:1px, font-size:100%, font-weight:300;
class Main mermaid_entity
class Start mermaid_start
class A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,A10,A11,A12 mermaid_businessdata
class L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,L6 mermaid_entitylinked
class C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6 mermaid_context
class N1,N2,N3,N4,N5,N6 mermaid_nonbusinessdata

After the Experiment is completed, it is possible to capture its results and conclusions. The outcome of an Experiment can be Success, Failure or Inconclusive.

Tying Everything Together#

graph TB
    A1[Material] --- L1[Experiment]
    L1 --- L2[Experiment Material]
    L2 --- A2[Material]
    L1 === Main[Experiment Definition]
    L3[Experiment Definition Material Group] === Main
    Main === L4[Experiment Definition Step]
    Main === L7[Experiment Definition Objective]
    L4 --- L5[Experiment Definition Step Material Group]
    L5 --- L6[Experiment Definition Step Material Group Action]
    Main --- A3[Flow]
    Main -.- A4[Product]
    Main -.- A5[Product Group]

classDef mermaid_title color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, font-weight:200;
classDef mermaid_start color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, color:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, visibility: hidden;
classDef mermaid_businessdata color:#000, fill:#65CDE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_nonbusinessdata color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#B7DEE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entity color:#000, fill:#FB9F53, stroke:#FB9F53, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entitylinked color:#000, fill:#FCD5B5, stroke:#FCD5B5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_context color:#000, fill:#B9CDE5, stroke:#B9CDE5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_optional color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:1px, font-size:100%, stroke-dasharray: 5 5;
class Main mermaid_entity
class A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,A10,A11,A12 mermaid_businessdata
class L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,L6,L7,L8,L9 mermaid_entitylinked
class C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6 mermaid_context
class N1,N2,N3,N4,N5,N6 mermaid_nonbusinessdata

click Main "../../business-data/experiment-definition"
click L1 "../../business-data/experiment"
click A1 "../../business-data/material"
click A2 "../../business-data/material"
click A3 "../../business-data/flow"
click A4 "../../business-data/product"
click A5 "../../business-data/product-group"

Sequence of Steps#

The necessary steps for using an Experiment Definition are the following:

1. Create the Experiment Definition.
2. Review and approve the Experiment Definition.
3. Create an *Experiment to assign Materials to the Experiment Definition.
4. Execute the Experiment Definition.
5. Terminate the Experiment Definition.