Product Design.

Purpose of a product design Design starts with conceptualism which must have a basis. Providing value to the customer. The return on investment to the company. The competitiveness of the company. Should form the basis of the product design effort. What separates a product designer from a freelance artist is the former’s orientation towards these organizational objective.

Design as a Strategic Activity. A design of a physical product or that of a service product represents the total approach to doing business.

Product Design for Organizational Competitiveness. Product designs provide much need variety in terms of the features and the appearance. An appropriate product design also helps an organization to compete in the marketplace on the basis of: Cost. Quality. Time.

Product Design for Organizational Competitiveness. Cost Competitiveness. A product that is not profitable because of a high variable cost cannot be helped by increasing the volumes of production and sales. A good design effort should take cognizance of these production cost aspects. Variable Costs: a) Material cost. b) Labor cost. c) Cost of plant and machinery. d) Machinery and plant maintenance cost. e) Cost of packing the product. Fixed Cost: a) Plant or machinery and automation. b) Labor. c) Tooling. Total Cost = (variable cost x quantity) + fixed cost. Unit Cost = variable cost + (fixed cost / quantity).

Life Cycle Cost. A particular product design may lower the production costs, but it may significantly increase the costs of quality. The Westinghouse Curve illustrates how the life cycle cost of a typical product is strongly affected by the decisions made during the early stages of product design. Competitiveness through Quality. A good product design contributes, in a large measure, to the product’s quality. Attributes of product quality derived from a good product design. Simple design tend to minimize human errors in using / handling. The designer has to anticipate the possible human errors.

Attributes of Product Quality Derived from a Good Product Design 1. Performance: How well the product functions. 2. Conformance: How well the product conforms to the specifications or standards set for it. 3. Features: How many secondary characteristics does the product have to enhance its basic function. 4. Aesthetics: How attractive the product is. 5. Reliability: How well does the product maintain its performance during a certain given time period. 6. Durability: How long the product lasts in uses. 7. Serviceability: How easy is the product to maintain. 8. Safety: How little, if any, is the risk to the users and those in the vicinity of the users. (1. When the product is in use. 2. When the product is thrown away after its useful life.) 9. User-friendliness: (1. How easy is it to use. How easy is it to operate with. 2. Is it ergonomically all right.) 10. Customizability: How easily can the product be modified. (1. In case the requirements of the customer were to change. 2. In order to accommodate improved / additional features in the future to suit the customer’s need then.) 11. Environment-friendliness: How safe is the product for the environment. (1. While it is being used. 2. When it is discarded after its use.)

Product Design for Organizational Competitiveness Competitiveness Based on Time One of the ways a product design helps a company to gain advantage over its competitors is through reducing its reaction time to the market. When competing firms have products giving similar service / function to the customer, it is important to reduce the time to manufacture the product and thus reach the product to the customer quickly. When it is a case of an improved or new product design, it is important to minimize the overall time for the product to enter the market. Thus, the following lead times are important: 1. Product development lead time. 2. Manufacturing lead time. Product Design for Organizational Competitiveness While all the activities in the Product Development Process are made, among the work of all of them, also have much interaction during several stages with the production, marketing and finance functions.

New Product Development. When the product is an absolutely new concept, the product development process is much more involved and time consuming, particularly during the Conceptualizing phase. There is the Fuzzy Front End set of Activities. 1. Opportunity Identification. 2. Opportunity Analysis. 3. Idea Genesis. 4. Idea Selection. 5. Idea and Technology Development. The Fuzzy Front End is the “getting started” phase of new product development process.

There is also a Fuzzy back-end or commercialization phase representing the activities where the production and product launch takes place. Fuzzy Front End and Fuzzy Back End activities of the process consume a large fraction of the new product development time.

Design for Manufacture (DFM) A good product design would be such that it makes many or all of the manufacturing related functions to be done in less time, less effort, and with less cost. Such a product design would facilitate the manufacturing function. The manufacturing related operations include: Material procurement. Material handling. Product conversion. Changeovers and set-ups. Quality control procedures.

Design for Manufacture (DFM) What is DFM? The idea behind a DFM is to modify the existing product’s (and / or its components’) design or have a new product designed in such a way the processes to manufacture the same are easier, quicker and / or less expensive.

DFM Principles for Assemblies.

DFM (Design for Manufacturability) principles for assemblies:

1. Minimize the number of parts, 2. Standardize designs, 3. Minimize number of operations in the assembly, 4. Modify the part/s with simplification of assembling in mind, 5. Use modules, 6. Minimize “new”-ness, 7. Use “Poka Yoke” or fool-proofing.

The DFM concepts emphasize simplicity and standardization everywhere. Some may feel that this is contradictory to the very objective of a new product design. To reply this dilemma is that DFM attempts to strike an optimal balance between change and standardization. It is about how to introduce change harmoniously into the production system. Benefits of Modular Design 1. Making changes in the production process of the product is simplified as the changes can be localized. 2. Tracking of errors and problem-solving is simplified. 3. Production and / or maintenance times are lower. 4. Documentation is simplified.

Design Tips on Components 1. Design so as to use standards tools as much as possible. 2. Standardize the parts features (slots, keyways, holes sizes, threading) as much as possible. 3. Use “product families” concept. 4. Avoid complex contours. 5. Make use of tolerances to the extent possible while keeping in mind the quality requirements. 6. Reduce the usage of delicate / fragile materials. 7. For ease of assembly, as part should: o Be self-aligning (i.e., does not require to be oriented) and with sufficient play for further convenience. o Be such as to insert it from the top. o Have as much symmetry as possible. o Be easy to handle. o Get into the assembly with preferably just one motion.

Product Design in the Service Industry. While product design is extremely important for a manufacturing industry, for the service organization it defines its very genes. A service product defines the type of customer segment the organization has chosen for itself. A service product design is not merely a choice of the design of component parts that can be put together. It is verily the chouse of the kind of customers the organization has decided to cater to and the choice of the type of customer it has decided not to cater to.

Product Design in the Service Industry oService design defines the very business of the service firm, not just the lifetime costs. oService design decides on the attributes it will cater to and also those it will not. oService design is primarily defined by the customer needs; service provider’s viewpoint is secondary. oReliability is crucial in the service industry. oCustomer is right there in the service operations.