Optimizing a process includes identifying a plurality of optimizable variables, determining first and second set points for each optimizable variable, running first trials using the first or second set point to obtain an output having at least one measurable parameter, calculating a delta between a required value and the measured value of each parameter of each of the outputs, calculating a first true residual for the first set point and a second true residual for the second set point for each of the optimizable variables, calculating an interpolant between the first and second true residuals and an extrapolant outside the first and second true residuals for each of the optimizable variables, and applying a set of identification rules to select an optimized set point for each of the optimizable variables selected from either the interpolant or the extrapolant for each of the optimizable variables.