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Module 1 Engineering Design Process
Module 1 Engineering Design Process
Module 1 Engineering Design Process
The design process is a sequence of events and a set of guidelines that helps define a clear starting point
that takes the designer from visualizing a product in his/her imagination to realizing it in real life in a
systematic manner—without hindering the creative process. The design of a device or system can be done
in one of two ways:
1. Evolutionary change: A product is allowed to evolve over a period of time with only slight
improvement.
2. Innovation: The creative skills and analytical ability of the design engineer play an important role in
rapid scientific growth and technological discoveries.
Design is conceiving and giving form to artifacts (man-made objects) that solves problems in meeting
users needs.
Artifacts– standard definition: Artificial man-made objects produced or shaped by human craft,
especially a tool, weapon or ornament of archaeological or historical interest. Artifacts in design could be
a product, software, building, dress, a process, a dam, graphics etc.
Examples: Architectural Design; Building Design; Interior Design; Fashion Design; Lighting Design;
Software Design; Product Design; Engineering Design; Automobile Design; Machine Design; Web
Design; Logo Design- to name a few.
Engineering is the process of turning abstract ideas into physical representations. This creative art is
called design. Primary aim of Engineering is to design and realize a product, system or process, to satisfy
users needs. Engineering design participants are client, designer and user.
User - He is the person who uses the product/system which is being designed.
Client – He is a person / company that wants a design for his product. 2 types of clients: - i) internal client
(e.g. person working in a company) ii) External (e.g. government agency)
Designer – The person who solves the client’s problem in a way that meets the user’s and client’s needs.
In addition Designer should be aware of professional and social ethics and values. For any Design to be
taken up, there should be a need gap or a problem that needs a solution. This gap or need could be
identified by the user, an observer or by an organization. Designer designs a product according to the
specifications listed by the client.
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
Engineering design is the method that engineers use to identify and solve problems. Engineering design is
purposeful. The process always begins with an explicit goal. Engineering design is “design under
constraint.” Designers must choose solutions that include the most desired features and fewest negative
characteristics. Engineering design is systematic and iterative. It is a process that includes steps that can
be repeated, although not always in the same order. Steps include things like planning, modeling, testing,
and improving designs. Engineering design is a social, collaborative enterprise. This process is often done
in small teams that include people with different kinds of knowledge and experience.
The need for a new design can be generated from several sources, including the following:
• Client request: In a design company, a client may submit a request for developing an artifact. It is often
unlikely that the need will be expressed clearly. The client may know only the type of product that he or
she wants; for example, “I need a safe ladder.”
• Modification of an existing design: Often a client asks for a modification of an existing artifact to make
it simpler and easy to use. For example, in a market search you may notice many brand names for coffee
makers and the differences among them, like shape, material used, cost, or special features.
Market Analysis - Designers must locate what is already available in the market and what they have to
offer. Information gathering is a vital task. Design engineers may consult the following sources to
determine market availability:
• Technical and trade journals, • Abstracts, • Research reports, • Technical libraries, • Catalog of
component suppliers, • U.S. Patent Office, • The Internet
Setting Design Objectives – These are the qualities the objects should have.
In this stage of the design process, the designer defines what all qualities have to be implemented to
resolve the need(s). The definition is a general statement of the desired end product. The client request
comes in a vague verbal statement such as, “I need an aluminum can crusher.” or “I need a safe ladder.”
Designers must recognize that customer needs are not the same as product specifications. Needs should be
expressed in functional terms. The designer’s function is to clarify the client’s design requirements. An
objective tree may be constructed for clarification. Often the need statement and goals are combined into
one process. An objective tree is a tool used by designers to organize the customer’s wants.
Objectives (or goals) are expressions of the desired attribute and behaviours that the client wants to see in
the product or process. Objectives are the qualities the object should have. Clients tend to speak in terms
of objectives. A 3-step procedure can be evolved for objective preparation:
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
1) Prepare a list of design objectives from the customer through an interview or interaction
A limit/restriction on the features/ behavior of the design. A proposed design is unacceptable, if these
limits are isolated. They could be on some of the features or attributes of the design. Constraint is a
restriction on design, in many fronts. They could be on some of the features or attributes of the design.
Can a design work at high temperature? Can the product be portable? Does it meet the environmental
regulations?
Design constraints are classified under the following headings: 1. Functional 2. Safety 3. Ergonomics 4.
Production 5. Quality Control 6. Assembly 7. Transport 8. Operation 9. Maintenance
2. Safety constraints – Constraint that specifies a specific safeguard. a) Operational – direct, indirect,
hazard elimination , b) Human – warnings, trainings, c) Environmental – land, sea, air, noise, light,
radiation, transport.
3. Quality constraints – Those constraints posed in the delivery of the final product. a) Quality Assurance
– regulations, standards b) Quality Control – inspection, testing, labeling c) Reliability – design life,
failures, statistics
4. Manufacturing constraints – These include limitations imposed during manufacturing and production
of product due to lack of machinery a) Purchase of components – reliability, quality control , inspection
b) Assembly – installation, bolting, welding c) Transport – material handling, clearance, packaging.
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
5. Timing constraints – Time it refers to the actual time required to complete a product deliverable. a)
Design schedule – project planning, project control b) Development schedule – design detailing c)
Production schedule – manufacture, assembly, packing, transport, d) Delivery schedule – delivery date.
6. Economic constraints – These are limits on production costs and operating costs. a) Marketing analysis
– size of market, distribution, b) Design costs – design team computing, c) Development costs – design
detailing, testing costs , d) Manufacturing costs – tooling, labour, overhead, assembly, inspection, e)
Distribution costs – packaging, transport, spare parts, warranty, f) Resources – time, budget, capital,
machines, material, labour.
8. Ecological constraints – Moisture limits, dust levels that are directly related to the environment a)
Environmental impact on natural resources, b) sustainability on technological innovation – implications
for generations
9. Aesthetic constraints – It deals with the nature of art, beauty and taste. a) Customer appeal – shape,
color, texture, b) Fashion – culture, history, c) Future expectations – rate of change in technology
10. Life-cycle constraints – a) Distribution – means of transport, rules, regulations b) operation – working
environment c) Maintenenace – repair, diagnostics d) Disposal – recycle, scrap.
11. Legal / ethical constraints – Constraints such as governmental safety requirements, a) Regulations b)
Ethics – public safety, health, welfare and integrity c) Intellectual property – patents , trademarks,
copyrights.
Establishing Functions
1. Research function – It involves identifying need for the product, defining the working principle,
collection of data required for processes.
2. Engineering functions – It mainly covers the product design aspects. This stage is directly responsible
for technical functioning of the product
3. Manufacturing functions – It decides the method of production, determination of tools, cost controlling
methods, purchase raw materials , etc.
4. Quality control functions – It involves quality control of products as per the design, safety
considerations, dimensional accuracy, working perfection etc.
5. Commercial functions – It deals with the cost and service related aspects of a process. It includes
relationship with clients marketing, sales, logistics, warehousing, human resources, etc.
Draw the block diagram showing interactions between sub functions. When drawing this, decide how sub
functions are linked. Different grades of design are indicated by types of lines. Say thin continuous line,
dashed line, chain line, and continuous thick line. Draw system boundary, Search for appropriate
components for performing each sub functions and its interactions.
Sub functions
The process of generating alternative solutions to the stated goal in the form of concepts requires creative
ability. The conceptualization starts with generating new ideas. In this stage, the designer must review the
market analysis and the task specifications as he or she engages in the process of innovation and
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
creativity. The alternatives do not need to be worked out in detail but are recorded as possibilities to be
tested. Alternatives to perform the functions should be listed in an organized fashion. For example, to
design a novel transportation system, a designer may list the methods as follows.
1. Natural way
a. Human
i. Walk
ii. Swim
b. Animal
i. Ride
2. With aids
a. Land
i. Bike
ii. Skate
b. Water
i. Canoe
ii. Tube
c. Air
i. Kite
d. Mechanical
i. Land
• Car
• Train
• Tube
ii. Water
• Ship
iii. Air
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
• Plane
• Rocket
Choosing a Design
Once a number of concepts have been generated in sufficient detail, a decision must be made about which
one or ones will enter the next, most expensive, stages of the design process. An excellent technique to
guide the designer in making the best decision regarding these alternatives is a scoring matrix, which
forces a more penetrating study of each alternative against specified criteria.
“Students need an easy way to take their books to school”. Now there is the need to define this problem a
bit more in detail. Who are the students? What is meant by easy?
Make the problem definition as best as possible. Identify the Product attributes/functions and assign
weightages.
Pairwise Comparison Chart (PCC) - It is a tool for ordering the relative importance of
objectives. It is based on the assumption that we can order any 2 objectives taken as a pair. PCC
is a simple matrix that allows us to a) compare each and every objective with each remaining
objective individually b) add total scores for each objective. The scores for each objective are
found by adding across each row. The objective with score 0 can be considered as least
important; but we cannot drop objectives that scores zeros.
E.g. We prefer Easy to carry – Safe to Carry, Safe to Carry – Healthy to Carry,
Healthy to Carry – Easy to carry, Safe to carry
Easy to carry > Healthy to Carry > Safe to Carry > Easy to make > Attractive
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
Cost analysis (Engineering Economy and Cost Analysis) Cost estimation plays an important role in the product
development cycle. Proper cost estimation will simplify the process to determine the profit that will be obtained,
and to simplify investment of a new tool.
COST ACCOUNTING - It is a branch of accountancy which records and analyses the cost
structure of a business concern solely with the purpose of its measurement and control.
Objectives-
Direct material cost : The material which goes into the product and becomes a part of the product
is direct material. Its cost is called direct material cost.
e.g. A fountain pen has many parts. All materials required for all the parts of a pen is direct
material.
Indirect material cost : There are certain materials or tools and equipments which are required for
production but they do not form a part of the product (or component) they only assist in
production. Such as cutting tools, special holding and fixing device's, certain formed tools, fuels,
rejected materials grease, cutting fluid etc. Their costs are called indirect material cost.
Direct labour cost : The labour which is directly involved for production is direct labour and its
cost is direct labour cost. So a lathe operator who machines a job or a grinder who grinds a job is
direct involved.
Indirect labour cost : The indirect labour cost is the cost of labours who are not working for a
particular job but are responsible (and help) for the production of all jobs manufactured by the
industry. The foreman or charge man helps the production indirectly.
Direct expenses : Direct expenses are those which could be attributed to particular product or
group of products.
e.g. cost of design and drawings, cost of special layouts, cost of hiring special machine tool,
cutting tools etc. for doing some specific operations, cost of catalogue and price list.
Indirect expenses : These expenses are incurred overall running and production of the whole
industry, so these cannot be attributed to a particular job. e.g. advertisement expenses, telephone
bill, rent.
Indirect costs are more popularly called overhead cost. The overhead could be on the following
accounts :
Manufacturing overhead : It includes, all expenses connected with manufacture of the product.
Such as, shop inspectors, maintenance cast
Sales and advertisement expenses : These are those incurred , rent of sales office and other
expenses on this office, service after sale etc.
Distribution overheads : These are warehouse charges, loading and unloading charges.
Research and design overheads : These are expenses incurred for research and development
purposes.
Variable cost. It may vary if production volume is increased or new processes are introduced.
Because it may need more electricity, more supervisors, opening of new plants etc.
Non-variable cost : If overhead cost does not increase, even if production volume is increased, it
is called non-variable overhead. It can happen if the increase is not much or there were over
staffing, unutilised space, equipment’s etc.
Semi-variable cost: The overhead may vary (increase) to some extent for certain volume increase
and further increase in volume does not increase the overhead.
Selling price-
Manufacturing cost (or factory cost) = prime cost + works overhead (or factory overhead)
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
Standard cost = standard cost of material + standard labour cost (for doing the job in standard
time) + standard overhead.
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is the human perception of beauty, including sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and
movement – not just visual appeal.
Aesthetics is the aspect of design and technology which most closely relates to art and design,
and issues of colour, shape, texture, contrast, form, balance, cultural references and emotional
response are common to both areas.
-Function :Aesthetics underlines form description of actual operative function of the product.
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
Ergonomics
This area is concerned with human well-being while using the design.
Examples are many in this area. Driving cars, Using Laptops, Operating Machines etc.
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
It is a science which deals with systematic study of the relationship and interaction between man,
machine and working environment. Main objective is to ensure that human needs for safe and
efficient working are met at workplace.
Value Analysis
Value analysis or value engineering is a technique used to identify and remove unnecessary cost
– without compromising quality and reliability. The value engineering is a customer oriented
approach to entire design process.
Main target: find value of each feature or a component along with the cost
Cost of same
The steps focusing the features of component use the value formula:
-Compare worth to the cost to identify feature that have low relative value
Value Engineering
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
Value Engineering is the study of functions to satisfy the user needs of a quality product at low
life cycle cost through well planned design with creativity. Aims at Value addition in design.
Value can be enhanced through better performance and cost reduction. Adding features that
enhances the value of the product with marginal increase in cost. Examples:- Reduction of parts
during design, introduction of simple design modifications that could assist in manufacture or
assembly. Choosing materials that can replace costly ones and improve the performance.
Can one think of any additional functions that can add value to it?
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
The enhancement a company gives its product or service before offering the product to
customers.
Addition of values can either increase the product's price or value. For example, offering one
year of free support on a new computer would be a value-added feature. Coconut products sale in
INDIA would add value in engineering and marketing…
Think of value addition to the following:- 1) Laser printer 2) Ladder 3) Jacket for winter
Concurrent Engineering
Reverse Engineering - A nice modern term for copying a design. How to reverse engineer?
Manual, Computer Assisted, One can digitize any product and create its CAD model.
This model can now be easily modified to create new designs of the same product.
Products are digitized and designs are revealed. The design can be modified using the digital
data.
Module 1 Design and Engineering Notes
Good for making spare parts that are not available. Modify an existing design.