The strategy of Robust Quality Engineering is to achieve front-loading by allocating resources to develop robust design technical knowledge at the very upstream phase, preceding specific product planning in the development process. This idea is referred to as "Robust Technology Development."
In Japan, during the catch-up period from the 1950s to the 1980s, manufacturing industries achieved business growth by introducing mature technologies from abroad and making incremental improvements. In this context, a debugging-oriented development cycle proved effective: resources allocated to upstream technology development were limited, prototypes were built and tested, and corrective actions were taken to solve problems identified during validation testing.
However, since the 1990s, as Japan has become a technological frontrunner, this “build-and-fix” approach has posed significant risks. As competition shifted from catch-up to leadership, business growth increasingly required the creation of differentiated products based on proprietary, original technologies, rather than on similar technological foundations.
When immature technologies are introduced into the product design phase, achieving both high performance and robustness becomes difficult. In many cases, improving these requires changes to system architecture or adjustments to multiple design parameters. Such fundamental modifications are difficult to implement after the product design phase. Solving this difficulty led to a transformation in development processes and increased recognition of the importance of front-loading.
Today, in addition to ensuring robustness during the technology development phase, delivering products that exceed customer expectations has become essential for sustainable business growth. To this end, alongside Robust Parameter Design, aka Robust Optimization, new methodologies such as the CS–T method are gaining increasing attention, as are their integration with QFD (Quality Function Deployment) and design idea generation techniques such as Axiomatic Design and TRIZ.
