Thermal treatment process of PET bottles filaments using industrial design of experiments

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the application of Design of Experiments techniques for the analysis of operating parameters of an industrial oven for the heat treatment process of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle filaments. Design/methodology/approach The focus is on evaluating new ways of operating the transformation process. The main issue is to raise what are the variables interfering with the performance of the oven. The complete 2k factorial for three factors of control was used to analyze the behavior of these variables and their relationships in the specific response parameter for the process. Findings The results presented in this work allow the company to have greater knowledge about the operation of the equipment. The study showed possibilities of 14.8% energy reduction. Research limitations/implications The heat treatment activity was characterized as a critical point in the production process, and techniques with empirical approaches, based on statistical techniques, was an opportunity that the company has to improve the execution of activities without major investments for the quality of the final product. The application of statistical quality techniques showed to be very promising. Originality/value The fact that the study was conducted using subjective quality performance makes this work different from others presented in the literature, showing the possibility to apply Design of Experiments using main control factors based on the opinion of experienced personnel involved in the process analyzed.