Design Process

Design Process

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Welcome

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New Global Paradigm

• Companies must deliver products to “local” markets

• Economy is international• Best-in-World people, materials, skills,

processes, and technologies• Remote collaboration beyond the local

enterprise• Speed and quality are the competitive

advantage

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The Realities

• Higher productivity from smaller work teams• Higher demand for quality, robustness, and

reliability• Responsiveness to customers

– Speed to market– Performance in market

• Global competition

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Design Process

• Robust design positively impacts cost and market attributes (penetration, acceptance, brand)

• Robust design in a marketable skill• Design projects bring new products to market• Project management is a skill which not many engineers

can master, but leads to promotion, leadership, and compensation

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Product Design & Management• Key responsibility in global economy

– Balances business and engineering– Implements business strategy

• Integration over the value and supply chain– Customer requirements– Innovation– Process orientation– Teamwork, leadership, and management– Strategy and planning– Problem solving: “Bringing order to chaos”

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Top 5 Reasons for Project/Design Failure

• Lack of problem definition• Lack of documentation of requirements• Insufficient front end planning• Unrealistic project plan• Underestimate project scope• Lack of risk identification and management

– Insufficient contingency planning– Classification on risk

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What is Quality?

• A subjective term for which each person has his or her own definition

• Technical usage, quality can have two meanings: – 1. the characteristics of a product or service that

bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs

– 2. a product or service free of deficiencies

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Six Sigma Quality Methodology

• A measure of quality that strives for near perfection

• A process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million part produced

• Fundamental objective: the implementation of a measurement-based strategy focused on process improvement and variation reduction

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Risk – Not Just a Four Letter Word

• Risk– The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger. – A factor, thing, element, or course involving

uncertain danger; a hazard• Risk Management

– The process used to identify potential harmful outcome, estimate the probability of the outcome, and develop a contingency plan to mitigate the risks

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A Situation…to make a point• Circa 1880s – the early industrial

age, buildings began to spring up all over the US

• People began to use elevators as buildings grew taller

• Early elevators were very slow• People complained about the

slowness of elevators• What is the problem?

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The twin elevators in San Diego's St. James Hotel were billed as the "fastest in the world"

when installed in 1913, but the hotel notes that the world has sped up while the

elevators have not.Credit: Ina Fried

The Obvious Problem

• Is the problem that “Elevators move too slow.”?• Action: Design elevator which is faster and safer – in

1880s it is too expensive!• Many companies decided to design and build a safer and

faster elevator• Engineers focused on: larger motors, slicker pulley

designs, better gears, more power conversion

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Another Approach

• Recast the problem: “Elevator speeds are just fine. People are crazy”

• Or another definition: “People think elevators move to slow”

• One company decided to solve this problem• Engineers focused on: the passenger in the

elevator

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Question Passengers in Elevators:

• Are elevators too slow?• What is making passengers think the elevator

is slow?• Is it possible to distract a passenger during

their ride?• What can be done to make a passenger more

comfortable?• Are passengers scared of heights?

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Passenger (Customer) Research

• Passengers did indeed think elevators were a lot slower then they actually were

• Passengers had an exaggerated sense of time during the ride due to:– Had nothing to do but stare at the walls and

think about the safety of the elevator– Thought focused on being suspended in the

air by a thin cable – passengers were preoccupied with the fear of falling

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A Solution

• Give passengers something to do while standing in the elevator

• Limited room for additional items – So brainstorming yielded:– Install mirrors in elevators to make passengers

think about something else besides danger– Make passengers think about “Was their hair

combed properly?” or “Did her makeup look okay?” or ….

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The Follow Up

• Passengers did become distracted• Fear of falling – no longer a preoccupation• Passengers believed elevators with mirrors

were faster – even though the speed was exactly the same

• The elevator design had not been changed at all

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The 21st Century

• Today’s elevator pull three G’s of acceleration as they rocket passengers towards their destination floor

• Most modern elevators have mirrors, lights to flash the floors, video screens with ads or other visuals and audio to distract passengers on their ride

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FAILURE IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION:

THE STORY OF THE BEVERAGE CAN• PROBLEM: Keep food from spoiling

• SOLUTION: In 1809 Nicholas Appert invented a process for preserving food in glass bottles by filling them with water to kill the bacteria. He was awarded 12 000 francs by the French government.– In 1810 Appert wrote a book L’art de Conserver

(very successful and profitable).

THE STORY OF THE BEVERAGE CAN(continued)

• PROBLEM: Bottles break easily.• SOLUTION: Peter Durand (London) devised a

sealed tin container.• PROBLEM: How to open the tin. Soldiers used

knives, bayonets, and even rifle fire. A tin of roast veal carried on one of William Parry’s Arctic expeditions bore the instruction, “Cut round on the top near the outer edge with a chisel and hammer.” The can (iron) was .2” thick and weighed a pound (empty).


• SOLUTION(S):– 1. Use steel (stronger and thinner).– 2. Create specialized tools for opening cans

• 1858 Ezra Warner (Connecticut) got a patent for a can opener that was describes as “Part bayonet, part sickle [with a] large curved blade.”

• 1870 William Lyman (Connecticut) patented a can opener with a wheel that revolved around a center hole punched in the can.


• PROBLEM: Lyman’s can opener had to be adjusted for each can size and the punching of the center hole had to be exact.

• SOLUTION: Modern style can opener was patented in 1925. There is still room for improvement.


• PROBLEM: Thin cans lacked stiffness and buckled.

• SOLUTION(S):– 1. Add a rim at top and bottom.– 2. Corrugate the sides.


• PROBLEM: Beverage cans opened with can openers had jagged edges and too big an opening.

• SOLUTION: The “Church Key” can opener.

• PROBLEM: It kept getting lost or you didn’t have it with you when you needed it.

• SOLUTION: Cans with discardable pull tabs, called pop tops.

Lect 2 P. 25Winter Quarter


• PROBLEM: What to do with pull tabs after removal?– Discard them? – Littering– Make chains? – Artistic– Drop them in the can? – Dangerous

• SOLUTION: Pop tops that stay attached to the can.

• PROBLEM: Some people with long finger nails or weak, arthritic fingers cannot open them.

• AND SO ON, AND ON, AND ON, AND …...

A Situation…to reinforce a point

• When typewriter came on the scene, secretaries typed so fast, the type bars jammed together and prevented the machine from operating efficiently

• Engineers looked at letters in common English words, then redesigned the key layout to slow down the typing speed of secretaries to minimize the possibility of the jamming of key type bars

• All English computer keyboards remain based upon the early layout of typewriters – which limit typing speed!

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The Legacy of a Solution

• Roman chariots -> Roman road design -> rail spacing in Europe

• Fonts -> showed importance of individual or institution -> selection in word processors today to make a personal statement

• Beware: what you design could impact civilization for 1000 years or more!

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What is a problem?

• A question to be considered, solved, or answered

• A situation, matter, or person that presents perplexity or difficulty

• A misgiving, objection, or complaint

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THE ENGINEERING METHOD

• RECOGNIZE AND UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM• GATHER DATA (AND VERIFY ITS ACCURACY)• SELECT GUIDING THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES• MAKE ASSUMPTIONS WHEN NECESSARY• SOLVE THE PROBLEM• VERIFY THE RESULTS• PRESENT THE SOLUTION

ENGINEERING PROBLEM TYPES

• Create a new product– Invention/conceptualization– New/modified design of existing product

• Cost reduction– Do it faster, cheaper, better– example: Personal computers

ENGINEERING PROBLEM TYPES

• Develop or change a procedure– Example: Warehouse inventory -- Instead of

having 3 month's inventory go to "just in time"

• Human factors– Make our lives longer, better, easier– Examples: cruise control, moving sidewalks,

management tools

TYPES OF INFORMATION FOR PROBLEM SOLVING

• GIVENS: The initial condition of the problem• OPERATIONS: The various actions we are allowed

to perform• GOALS: The desired final condition of the

problem• PROBLEM STATE: The state of the problem at any

specific point in time• SOLUTION: Completely specified the GIVENS,

OPERATIONS, GOALS, and succession of PROBLEM STATES to get to GOAL state

STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING• IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

– YOU CAN’T FIX IT IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS BROKEN.

• DETERMINE WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR THE SOLUTION– WHAT IS KNOWN?– WHAT IS UNKNOWN?– ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS?– ANY SPECIAL CASES?

STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING (CONT’D)

• DEVELOP A STEP-BY-STEP PLAN (ALGORITHM).– HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIX IT?

• OUTLINE THE SOLUTION IN A LOGIC DIAGRAM

• EXECUTE THE PLAN.– KEEP TRACK OF WHAT WORKS AND WHAT

DOESN’T.

STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING (CONT’D)

• ANALYZE THE SOLUTION– REVISE THE PLAN AND RE-EXECUTE AS NEEDED.– KEEP THE GOOD PARTS OF THE PLAN AND ALTER

THE NOT-SO-GOOD ONES.

• REPORT / DOCUMENT THE RESULTS– LET YOUR BOSS KNOW HOW YOUR IDEA WORKED

( in a written report ).

Problem Definition

• “The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution” – Albert Einstein

• Objectives or purpose pursued by the research/development itself

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The Process• “An organized group of related activities that work together to

transform one or more kinds of input into outputs that are of value to the customer” – M. Hammer, The Agenda Crown Business, NY 2001

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• Discovery• No set timing• Unpredictable results• Long-term returns

Ad-Hoc• Loose structure• Planning difficulties• Less predictable results than desired• Medium-term returns

Learning• Structured methods• Planned tasks/milestones• Predictable results• Short-term returns

Mature

Process: Key ideas

• A group of activities, not just one. • Activities are not random or ad hoc; they are

related and organized. • All activities must work together toward a

common goal• Processes exist to create results for your

customers – the individuals who give you value for your work

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Process: Value Chain

• Each activity or step contributes to the end result

• Some activities directly contribute value, while others may not

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Process: Design and Development

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• Launch and sell

• Provide customer support

• Identify process improvements

• Develop product

• Test for functionality and performance

• Test for customer acceptance

• Design prototypes

• Test product proof of concept

• Define customer requirements

• Identify product concepts

• Gain approval and investment to move forward

• Investigate market needs, potential, and technology

• Evaluate program feasibility and viability

• Define on launch objectives

• Define partners interaction

• Plan the program and schedule

Phase 6Launch Phase

Phase 2Concept Phase

Phase 5Development

Phase

Phase 3Planning

Phase

Phase 4Design Phase

Phase 1Idea

Phase

Project Schedule

• Activities – to complete the process

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Case: Energizer Batteries

• Targeted at disabled and elderly

• Eliminates:– Small and cumbersome

loading issues with arthritic hands and fingers

– Dropping and losing it on the floor

– Frustration of loss of independence

• Solves a real problem

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Case: The Talking Bottle

• Original goal: to manufacture a disposable talking bottle that provides audible label information and thus makes information about their medications more accessible to people who are elderly, visually and cognitively impaired, illiterate, or speak a different language

• 20 percent of nursing home residents are only there because they don't take their medicines correctly

• Lets doctors and pharmacists give verbal instructions that you can access by pushing a button on the bottle

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Documents

Design Process