How Minitab adds a signal factor to an existing design

When you add a signal factor to an existing static design, Minitab adds a new signal factor column after the factor columns and appends new rows (replicates) to the end of the existing worksheet. For example, if you add a signal factor with 2 levels to an existing L4 (2³) array, 4 rows (1 replicate of 4 runs) are added to the worksheet. If you add a signal factor with 3 levels, 8 rows (2 replicates of 4 runs) are added to the worksheet. A replicate is the entire set of runs from the static design.

A	B
1	1
1	2
2	1
2	2

Static design

A	B	Signal factor
1	1	1
1	2	1
2	1	1
2	2	1
1	1	2
1	2	2
2	1	2
2	2	2

Dynamic design, 2-level signal

A	B	Signal factor
1	1	1
1	2	1
2	1	1
2	2	1
1	1	2
1	2	2
2	1	2
2	2	2
1	1	3
1	2	3
2	1	3
2	2	3

Dynamic design, 3-level signal

Note

When you add a signal factor to an existing static design, the run order will be different from the order that results from adding a signal factor while creating a new design. The order of the rows does not affect the Taguchi analysis.