Lean Six Sigma Academy

Many Six Sigma practitioners struggle to differentiate between a repetition and replication. Normally this confusion arises when dealing with Design of Experiments (DOE).

Let’s use an example to explain the difference.

Sallie wants to run a DOE in her paint booth. After some brainstorming and data analysis she decides to experiment with the “fluid flow” and “attack angle” of the paint gun. Since she has 2 factors and wants to test a “high” and “low” level for each factor she decides on a 2 factor, 2 level full factorial DOE. Here is what this basic design would look like.

Now then, Sallie decides to paint 6 parts during each run. Since there are 4 runs she needs at least 24 parts (6 x 4). These 6 parts per run are what we call repetitions. Here is what the design looks like with the 6 repetitions added to the design.

Finally, since this painting process is ultra critical to her company Sallie decides to do the entire experiment twice. This helps her add some statistical power and serves as a sort of confirmation. If she wanted to she could do the first 4 runs with the day shift staff and the second 4 runs with the night shift staff.

Completing the DOE a second time is what we call replication. You may also hear the term blocking used instead of replicating. Here is what the design looks like with the 6 repetitions and replication in place (in yellow).

So there you have it! That is the difference between repetition and replication.

Note: If you call these concepts by different terms please do share by leaving a comment.