Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

Work-Integrated Learning Programmes Division

Second Semester 2018-2019

Comprehensive Examination
(EC-3 Regular)

Course No. : DE ZG541

Course Title : PRODUCT DESIGN
Nature of Exam : Open Book
Weightage : 50% No. of Pages =2
Duration : 3 Hours No. of Questions = 5
Date of Exam : 05/05/2019 (FN)
Note:
1. Please follow all the Instructions to Candidates given on the cover page of the answer book.
2. All parts of a question should be answered consecutively. Each answer should start from a fresh page.
3. Assumptions made if any, should be stated clearly at the beginning of your answer.

Q.1. Charles is one of the most sought-after design engineers in Product Innovate Consultancy
firm located in Florida, USA, and he has been seen as one of the “Influencers” in this field.
He’s currently looking for apprentices in his organization, for which he has put the below
problem statement in the advertisement.
“Design and develop a functionally modular architecture for a LED TV with the focus on
the below aspects:

♦ Power Supply & Consumption

♦ Picture Delivery
♦ Accessory Support

The output should be in the form of a block diagram relating to the function of each module,
and the component(s) associated in the module. You may add any other function as relevant
to the product, but the evaluation shall be based solely on how you tackle the existing
customer demand for the above aspects

I’d also expect an explanation on your knowledge of the function-based modularity that
you’d be aware of, by associating each classification of the same relating to the components
in your design”

Given this opportunity, how would you approach the problem? What is the solution that you
have to offer? [12]

Q.2. The R&D team have come up with a list of perceptions which they have built for a new
product, over the last 2 years of timeframe. You, being a Senior Architect has been asked to
evaluate the options presented, and choose a few of them which can be taken to the next
stage of development. Explain one method which could be used for the same, and the
different steps that are involved in finalizing the inputs from the R&D team and thereby
taking the concept to the next stage in production. [8]

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Q.3. “Architecture of a product makes its influence felt in assembly” How useful is this
statement for an organization who is trying to reduce the input costs; Design a production
strategy for this organization purely from the highlighted perspective, with an emphasis on:

Making a clever but useful architecture for its product development

The architectural sense which can be adopted here (They’re trying to minimize input costs)
How the product architecture can save the “go-to-market” time? What are the inputs to be
kept in mind here? [10]

Q.4. ABC Auto Tech Corporation, Inc. has been rapidly advancing in the researching of a product
which would help the automobile company to devise a technology which would measure the
alertness level of the driver. They’ve been quite successful in performing almost all the
needed groundwork till the concept finalization phase after collecting and shortlisting a lot of
ideas which would support the technology. What would be the possible next stages of
operation before completely materializing the technology, considering the questions that they
need to ask and solve before going further down the line? [3]

What would be the output post the concept finalization stage? What are the different types of
output can they consider to be delivered at this stage? How can they relate the output of this
stage to the customer needs, and the related intention of the output to the overall, final
product? [12]

Q.5. Explain the following

(a) Design Thinking and the different steps associated with it
(b) House of Quality [5]

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