I'm currently working on a Design of Experiments (DOE) for a process that involves temperature shifts at three different times. My challenge is incorporating a 'No Shift' scenario as one of the factors.
My initial idea was to:
- Treat the three time points for temperature shifts (1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours) as a continuous factor.
- Introduce a 'No Shift' scenario as a categorical factor (yes/no).
However, I'm struggling with how to implement this without creating illogical combinations of 'No Shift' with a time point.
My questions are:
- Is there a way to set up a mixed-level factor that combines continuous and categorical levels without creating invalid combinations?
- Are there alternative approaches that would be recommended here?
Thank you very much!