Question: Cutoff Machine. Wade, Keller, Sharp, and Takes studied factors affecting tool life for carbide cutting inserts. The group discovered that "feed rate" and "stop delay" were two factors known by production staff to affect tool life. Once a tool wears a prescribed amount, the tool life is over.
(a) What steps might the group have taken to independently verify that feed rate and stop delay impact tool life?
(b) What is the important response variable in this problem?
(c) How would you suggest that the variable in (b) be measured?
(d) Suggest why increased tool life might be attractive to customers using the inserts.