The OPTEX procedure searches for optimal experimental designs. You specify a set of candidate design points and a linear model, and the procedure chooses points so that the terms in the model can be estimated as efficiently as possible.
Most experimental situations call for standard designs, such as fractional factorials, orthogonal arrays, central composite designs, or Box-Behnken designs. Standard designs have assured degrees of precision and orthogonality that are important for the exploratory nature of experimentation. In some situations, however, standard designs are not available, such as when
not all combinations of the factor levels are feasible
the region of experimentation is irregularly shaped
resource limitations restrict the number of experiments that can be performed
there is a nonstandard linear or a nonlinear model
The OPTEX procedure can generate an efficient experimental design for any of these situations.
Note: Instead of using PROC OPTEX directly, a more appropriate tool for you might be the ADX Interface. The ADX Interface is designed primarily for engineers and researchers who require a point-and-click solution for the entire experimental process, from building the designs through determining significant effects to optimization and reporting. In addition to offering the standard designs, ADX makes it easy to use PROC OPTEX to find optimal designs for nonstandard factorial, response surface, and mixture experiments, with and without blocking. For more information about the ADX Interface, see Getting Started with the SAS ADX Interface for Design of Experiments.