Product Design and Process Selection Manufacturing

Product Design Process

-The set of strategic and tactical activities, from idea generation to
commercialization, used to create a product design. In a systematic approach, product
designers conceptualize and evaluate ideas, turning them into tangible inventions and
products.
Designing for your customers
1. Identifying your user: Engaging with consumers, Give users space to express
themselves
2. Observing and analyzing users
3. The business case for inclusive design
4. The importance of ergonomics
Ergonomics is about ensuring a good fit between people and what they interact
with. This could include the objects they use or the environments they live in.
Ergonomics should be considered in the design of every product, system or environment.
Quality Function Deployment (QFD)-is a structured approach to defining customer needs
or requirements and translating them into specific plans to produce products to meet those
needs. The voice of the customer is the term to describe these stated and unstated
customer needs or requirements.
The voice of the customer is captured in a variety of ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

direct discussion or interviews

surveys, focus groups
customer specifications
observation
warranty data
Field reports, etc.

Value Engineering (VE): is concerned with new products. It is applied during product
development. The focus is on reducing costs, improving function or both, by way of
teamwork-based product evaluation and analysis. This takes place before any capital is
invested in tooling, plant or equipment.
Value Analysis (VA): is concerned with existing products. It involves a current product
being analyzed and evaluated by a team, to reduce costs, improve product function or both.
A significant part of VA is a technique called Functional Analysis, where the product is
broken down and reviewed as a number of assemblies.
Design for Assembly (DFA): is the method of design of the product for ease of
assembly.DFA is a tool used to assist the design teams in the design of products that will
transition to productions at a minimum cost, focusing on the number of parts, handling and
ease of assembly.

Design for Manufacturing (DFM): is the method of design for ease of manufacturing of
the collection of parts that will form the product after assembly. DFM is a tool used to select
the most cost effective material and process to be used in the production in the early stages
of product design.
Differences:
Design for Assembly (DFA) concerned only with reducing product assembly cost 1.)
Minimizes number of assembly operations 2.) Individual parts tend to be more complex in
design.
Design for Manufacturing (DFM) concerned with reducing overall part production cost 1.)
Minimizes complexity of manufacturing operations 2.) Uses common datum features and
primary axes.
Similarities: Both DFM and DFA seek to reduce material, overhead, and labor cost. They
both shorten the product development cycle time. Both DFM and DFA seek to utilize to
reduce cost.
Process Selection: Is basically the way goods or services are made or delivered, which
influences numerous aspects of an organization, including capacity planning, layout of
facilities, equipment and design of work systems.
Components of Process Selection:
1. Capital Intensity is simply the combination of equipment and labor that an
organization uses to accomplish some objective.
2. Process Flexibility is as its name implies: how well a system can be adjusted to
meet changes in processing requirements that are interdependent on variables such
as product or service design, volume of production, and technology.
3. Facility Layout is simply the way a facility is arranged in order to maximize
processes that are not only efficient but effective towards the overall organizational
goal. It is also dependent on process selection.
4. Vertical integration: The extent to which the firm will produce the inputs and
control the outputs of each stage of the productive process.
5. Customer involvement: The role of the customer in the productive process.
Process Planning
The development of goals, strategies, task lists and schedules required to achieve
the objectives of the business. It is the fundamental function of the management and should
result in the best possible degree of need satisfaction given the resources available.
Category/System of Processes:
1. Intermittent Production System: (Project, Job shop and Batch Production)

2. Continuous/Repetitive Production System: (Flow Lines, Assembly and Continuous

Production)
Types of Processes
Projects: These generally result in an output of one. Examples include constructing a
building or catering a party. Although the result of a project is one deliverable, the
process of creating the item can be duplicated with modifications for other projects.
Job shops: This type of process produces small batches of many different products.
Each batch is usually customized to a specific customer order, and each product may
require different steps and processing times.
Batch shops: These produce periodic batches of the same product. Batch shops can
produce different products, but typically all the products they produce follow the same
process flow.
Flow lines: This type of process consists of essentially independent stations that
produce the same or very similar parts. Each part follows the same process throughout
the process. Output on a flow line is dictated by the bottleneck, or the slowest
operation. The flow line is similar to the assembly line but the parts dont move at a
constant rate dictated by the line speed.
Assembly lines: These produce discrete parts flowing at controlled rates through a
well-defined process. The line moves the parts to the resources, and each resource must
complete its task before the line moves on. This requires a balanced line, meaning that
each operation completes its task in a similar amount of time. The line moves at the
speed of the slowest operation, or bottleneck.
Continuous flow processes: As the name implies, these processes produce items
continuously, usually in a highly automated process. Examples include chemical plants,
refineries, and electric generation facilities. A continuous flow process may have to run
24/7 because starting and stopping it is often difficult.

Process Flow Selection

The main factors differentiating the different process structures are:

The flow are there a large number of paths which activities can take, or is there only
one possible sequence of activities.

Flexibility will changing the output of the process, in terms of volume and products,
alter the performance and / or cost of the process

Range of products can the process produce lots of different products, or is it

designed to only produce one specific product.

Capital investment does the process require investments in expensive specialist

equipment or can it use general equipment that the firm may already own or can rent

Variable costs how high is the cost of producing each unit

Labor requirements how much labor input is required, and how skilled must the
laborers be

Volume can the process produce lots of products, or will it only create a few, or
possibly one, end product

Project structure

Flow there is generally no flow, as only one path is possible

Flexibility this is very high, costs will reduce if a smaller project is produced

Products only one type of product will be produced

Capital investment usually very low as generic tools can be used

Variable cost - very high as only one unit is produced

Labor requirements large numbers of skilled labors are usually required

Volume only one unit of output is produced

Job shop structure

Flow variable flow

Flexibility quite high

Products lots

Capital investment relatively low

Variable cost quite high

Labor requirements quite large numbers of skilled laborers are usually required

Volume fairly low

A batch process

Flow mostly consistent but some processes are disconnected

Flexibility reasonable but quite restricted

Products a moderate range of products can be produced

Capital investment some is often required in machines for the main processes

Variable cost moderate when compared to other processes

Labor requirements some skilled labor is required, but some can be unskilled

Volume large batches produced, but overall volume is not very high

Assembly line process

Flow fixed sequence of connected processes

Flexibility low as the line is designed to work at a certain speed

Products very few depending on the set up of the line

Capital investment lots of machinery and capital required

Variable cost low due to the specialized process

Labor requirements mostly unskilled and few workers required due to machines

Volume able to work at a very high volume and efficiency

Continuous flow process

Flow a continuous flow of a continuous product

Flexibility almost no flexibility as the process is set up to work at one speed

Products only one

Capital investment vast amounts needed for very specialist machines

Variable cost usually very low due to the specialist nature of the process

Labor requirements workers are generally unskilled and low in number, but
supervisors often need to be skilled and experienced

Volume - very high due to continuous production

The product-process matrix is a tool for analyzing the relationship between the product
life cycle and the technological life cycle. It was introduced by Robert H. Hayes and Steven
C. Wheelwright in two classic management articles published in Harvard Business Review in
1979, entitled "Link Manufacturing Process and Product Life Cycles" and "The Dynamics of
Process-Product Life Cycles."
Virtual Factory: It refers to an integrated model that includes variety of software, tools,
and methodologies in order to solve any real time problem of manufacturing system.
The advantage of virtual factory involves:
It helps in creating capabilities to support the rapid development in manufacturing sector
by pooling the experts.
It helps in providing solutions in a speedy and cost effective manner.
It eliminates the need for pilot plants or production runs and replaces it with virtual
simulation on software.
It helps in the decision making process.
Process Flow Design: Process flow designs focus on the specific processes that raw
materials, parts, and subassemblies follow as they move through the plant. Charts and
drawings aid in process flow design.
Process Analysis: A step by step breakdown of the phases of a process, used to convey the
inputs, outputs and operations that take place during each phase.

Design strategy is a discipline which helps firms determine what to make and do, why do it
and how to innovate contextually, both immediately and over the long term. This process
involves the interplay between design and business strategy.
Measuring Product Development Performance:
1. Project efficiency: This is primarily a measurement of the effectiveness of the
project team and project leader and includes whether the project met its schedule and
project cost targets.
2. Impact on customer: How well does the new product meet customer needs? This
measure goes beyond simply a judgment as to whether the new product meets the
performance characteristics as defined at the outset of the project, but whether the
business defined the new product properly to begin with.
3. Impact on team: It relates to how projects affect individuals in terms of job
satisfaction, retention and personal growth. While every employee needs a certain
amount of pressure to perform at their best, there is a limit.
4. Business results: This is why we develop new products in the first place. Metrics
such as margins, return on investment, market share, and meeting revenue and
earnings targets over short, medium, and longer term can be considered.

5. Preparation for the future