DOE Bio-Pharma Industry Application
This month we spoke with biotech engineer and certified Objective Experiments Problem Solver Jorge Monteon. A user of DOE since 2007 and Objective Experiments student since 2009, Jorge has seen the blossoming acceptance of DOE firsthand.
The value Jorge saw in DOE skyrocketed after he was introduced to JMP software. In the past visual representations of research were limited to three dimensions, and by consequence just three factors. JMP, however, provided the tools to show the effects and interactions of a theoretically endless number of factors.
"How do you visually demonstrate a four or five dimensional model?" Jorge asked. JMP provided the solution.
Although Design of Experiments methodology has been around since 1926, it is still not the standard method of solving problems in most workplaces and universities. Like many of our previous interviewees, Jorge had to overcome some obstacles before his success with DOE could flourish. The first and simpler of these obstacles was simply the theoretical understanding of the method.
"You have to think critically. Junk in, junk out," Jorge said. He further pointed out that without mathematical understanding of your work you can end up with wholly inaccurate results or misinterpretations of valuable data. "JMP is a big help in that regard."
The more difficult obstacle was conquering precedent and the ambivalence of those higher in the corporate hierarchy. Tried and true methods are frequently preferred in risk averse environments like biopharma, where mistakes can have very real and deadly consequences. Jorge's confidence and initiative, however, proved victorious.
"It was a pretty simple experiment, but I showed the visual proof of the results, and saved a lot of time and money," Jorge said about his first time using DOE professionally. "The bio-pharmaceutical industry has benefited as a whole. Now I use DOE for almost everything I do in my work."