R.M.K.

ENGINEERING COLLEGE
Department of Mechanical Engineering

20ME504 – Fundamentals of NPD and PLM

Dr. G.Mahendran
ASP/Mech
PROGRAMME EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering curriculum is designed to impart Knowledge, Skill

and Attitude on the graduates to

1. Have a successful career in Mechanical Engineering and allied industries.

2. Have expertise in the areas of Design, Thermal, Materials and Manufacturing.

3. Contribute towards technological development through academic research and

industrial practices.

4. Practice their profession with good communication, leadership, ethics and social
responsibility.

5. Graduates will adapt to evolving technologies through life-long learning.

⚫ Original Equipment Manufacturer, an organization that
makes devices from component parts bought from other
organizations.
⚫ TIER 1: They are the first level suppliers. Manufacturers of
systems, subsystems and components completely finished
to facilitate it directly to the vehicle manufacturer.
⚫ TIER 2: Manufacturers of systems, subsystems and
completely finished components to facilitate it to TIER 1
companies or vehicle manufacturers.
 Products Vs Services

• A product is something manufactured and sold by an enterprise to

its customers. They are tangible goods produced by
manufacturing operations and used by customers; their benefits
derive from the material properties and geometry of components
and assemblies. For instance, Toyota is primarily a manufacturer,
producing automobiles, which are owned and used by its
customers.
• A product may be intangible one such as software, graphics etc.
Examples of Products
 Products Vs Services
• Services are largely intangible, even if often associated with
physical goods. For instance, automobile insurance is an intangible
financial service provided to owners of automobiles to reduce the
magnitude of the loss the insured suffers in an accident.
• Most services have some associated physical products and most
physical products have some associated services. For example,
automobile rental companies provide short-term use of a vehicle
without requiring the user to own the vehicle, yet the actual physical
vehicle is critical to the service. For example, Any Automobile
manufacturer is primarily in the business of making vehicles, it also
provides vehicle financing and roadside assistance, and its dealers
provide maintenance and repair services. We call this bundle of the
physical and intangible as the product-service system.
Examples of Product-Service Systems
 Artifacts

• Artifacts are the objects which are made by humans.

• These include not only the physical objects and also the
software, services, business models, and processes etc.

What is the difference between business and commerce?

Ans- Business involves the production and transfer of goods
and services while Commerce mainly concerns the
distribution of things and services
 New product development
• In Business and Engineering, New product development (NPD)
covers the complete process of bringing a new product to
market, or renewing an existing product or introducing a
product in a new market.
• Any business enterprise may need to engage in this process due to
changes in consumer preferences, increasing competition and
advances in technology or to capitalise on a new opportunity.
VUCA is an acronym that stands for Volatility, Uncertainty,
Complexity and Ambiguity -- qualities that make a situation or
condition difficult to analyze, respond to or plan for. Understanding how
to mitigate these qualities can greatly improve the strategic abilities of a
leader and lead to better outcomes.
Volatility is the quality of being subject to frequent, rapid and
significant change. Small triggers may result in large changes. In a
volatile market, for example, the prices of commodities can rise or fall
considerably in a short period of time, and the direction of a trend may
reverse suddenly.
Uncertainty occurs when events and outcomes are unpredictable.
The cause and effect are not well understood, and previous experience
may not apply to the situation. It is unclear which direction events will go;
in an uncertain market, for example, it is not clear if the price will go up or
down or by how much .
Complexity involves a multiplicity of issues and factors, some of which
may be intricately interconnected. The relationships between items
and people are difficult to understand. A change in one place may
cause unintended changes to other things down the line. Cause and
effect are obscured by many layers, and it is not clear which factors are
important in the decision-making process. In a complex market, for
example, the changes in gas prices affect the prices of many other
items that are not directly related.

Ambiguity is shaped by a lack of clarity and difficulty understanding

exactly what the situation is. Information may be misread or
misinterpreted. During ambiguous situations, all the facts are not clear.
The goal or intended outcome may not be evident to all parties
involved. In an ambiguous market, for example, not all information is
public and unseen factors may be affecting prices.
 What is Product Development?
• The economic success of most firms depends on their ability to identify
the needs of customers and to quickly create products that meet
these needs and can be produced at low cost. Achieving these goals
is not solely a marketing problem, nor is it solely a design problem or a
manufacturing problem;
• It is a product development problem involving all of these functions.
• Product development is the set of activities beginning with the
perception of a market opportunity, and ending in the
manufacturing through design and finally sales, and delivery of a
product .
• Product development is an interdisciplinary activity requiring
contributions from nearly all the functions of a firm; however, three
functions that are almost always central to a product development
project are: Marketing, Design and Manufacturing.
 What is Product Development?

Design

Customers
& Market

Manufacturing
 Marketing
• Marketing: The marketing function mediates the interactions
between the firm and its customers. Marketing often facilitates
the identification of product opportunities, the definition of market
segments, and the identification of customer needs. Marketing
also typically arranges for communication between the firm and
its customers, sets target prices, and oversees the launch and
promotion of the product.
 Design
• Design: The design function plays the lead role in defining the
physical form of the product to best meet customer needs. In this
context, the design function includes engineering design
(mechanical, electrical, software, etc.) and industrial design
(aesthetics, ergonomics, user interfaces).
What is Design?
 Manufacturing
• Manufacturing: The manufacturing function is primarily
responsible for designing, operating, and/or coordinating the
production system in order to produce the product. Broadly
defined, the manufacturing function also often includes
purchasing, distribution, and installation. This collection of
activities is sometimes called the supply chain.
 CAD/CAE/PDM
Design

Conceptual Detailed Design Design

Need / Design Design Documentation
Planning Validation

PLM

Retirement Manufacturing
Distribution Manufacturing Manufacturing
and Recycling Packaging Testing/QC
and Support Engineering Planning

Marketing Manufacturing
CRM SCM/ERP/CAM/CIM/MPM
Who Designs and Develops Products?
Product Lifecycle Stages
 Design
• “Design establishes and defines solutions (pertinent structures)
for problems not solved before, or new solutions to problems
which have previously been solved in a different way.”
• The ability to design is both a science and an art. The science can
be learned through techniques and methods from a text, but the art
is best learned by doing design.
• It is for this reason that your design experience must involve some
realistic project experience.
• Design should not be confused with discovery. Discovery is getting
the first sight of, or the first knowledge of something, as when
Columbus discovered America or Jack Kilby made the first
microprocessor. We can discover what has already existed but has
not been known before, but a design is the product of planning
and work
 Design
• We should note that a design may or may not involve invention .
To obtain a legal patent on an invention requires that the design be
a step beyond the limits of the existing knowledge (beyond the
state of the art). Some designs are truly inventive, but most are not.
• it can be either a noun or a verb. One noun definition is “the form,
parts, or details of something according to a plan,” as in the use
of the word design in “My new design is ready for review.”
• A common definition of the word design as a verb is “to conceive or
to form a plan for,” as in “I have to design three new models of the
product for three different overseas markets
• Good design requires both analysis and synthesis.
 Design
Good design requires both analysis and synthesis.
Typically we approach complex problems like design by decomposing
the problem into manageable parts. Because we need to understand
how the part will perform in service, we must be able to calculate as
much about the part’s expected behavior as possible before it exists in
physical form by using the appropriate disciplines of science and
engineering science and the necessary computational tools. This is
called analysis . It usually involves the simplification of the real world
through models. Synthesis involves the identification of the design
elements that will comprise the product, its decomposition into parts,
and the combination of the part solutions into a total workable
system.
 Design
The real problem that your design is expected to solve may not be
readily apparent. You may need to draw on many technical
disciplines (solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, electro magnetic
theory, etc.) for the solution and usually on non engineering
disciplines as well (economics, finance, law, etc.). The input data
may be fragmentary at best, and the scope of the project may be so
huge that no individual can follow it all. If that is not difficult enough,
usually the design must proceed under severe constraints of time
and/or money. There may be major societal constraints imposed by
environmental or energy regulations. Finally, in the typical design
you rarely have a way of knowing the correct answer. Hopefully, your
design works, but is it the best, most efficient design that could have
been achieved under the conditions? Only time will tell.
 Design
The challenges presented by the design environment is to think of the
four C’s of design.
Creativity
● Requires creation of something that has not existed before or has not
existed in the designer’s mind before
Complexity
● Requires decisions on many variables and parameters
Choice
● Requires making choices between many possible solutions at all
levels, from basic concepts to the smallest detail of shape
Compromise
● Requires balancing multiple and sometimes conflicting requirements
 Design
One thing that should be clear by now is how engineering design
extends well beyond the boundaries of science. The expanded
boundaries and responsibilities of engineering create almost unlimited
opportunities for you. In your professional career you may have the
opportunity to create dozens of designs and have the satisfaction of
seeing them become working realities. “A scientist will be lucky if he
makes one creative addition to human knowledge in his whole life, and
many never do. A scientist can discover a new star but he cannot
make one. He would have to ask an engineer to do it for him.”
 Types of Design
• Original design (innovative design)
• Adaptive design
• Redesign
• Variant design
• Selection Design
• Original design (innovative design): This form of design is at the top
of the hierarchy. It employs an original, innovative concept to
achieve a need. Sometimes, but rarely, the need itself may be
original. A truly original design involves invention. Successful
original designs occur rarely, but when they do occur they usually
disrupt existing markets because they have in them the seeds of
new technology of far-reaching consequences. The design of the
microprocessor was one such original design.
 Types of Design
● Adaptive design: This form of design occurs when the design team
adapts a known solution to satisfy a different need to produce a novel
application . For example, adapting the ink-jet printing concept to spray
binder to hold particles in place in a rapid prototyping machine.
● Redesign: Much more frequently, engineering design is employed to

improve an existing design. The task may be to redesign a

component in a product that is failing in service, or to redesign a
component so as to reduce its cost of manufacture. Often redesign is
accomplished without any change in the working principle or concept of
the original design. For example, the shape may be changed to reduce a
stress concentration, or a new material substituted to reduce weight or
cost. When redesign is achieved by changing some of the design
parameters, it is often called variant design.
 Types of Design
●Selection design: Most designs employ standard components such as
bearings, small motors, or pumps that are supplied by vendors
specializing in their manufacture and sale. Therefore, in this case the
design task consists of selecting the components with the needed
performance, quality, and cost from the catalogs of potential vendors.
 Importance of Design

Fig. Product cost commitment during phases of the design process.

( After Ullman.)
 Importance of Design
● Decisions made in the design process cost very little in terms of the
overall product cost but have a major effect on the cost of the product.

● You cannot compensate in manufacturing for defects introduced in the

design phase .

● The design process should be conducted so as to develop quality, cost-

competitive products in the shortest time possible (Reduced Product
Cycle Time) .
 Phases of Design

Phase I - Conceptual Design

Phase II - Embodiment Design
Phase III - Detail Design
The design activities that make up the first three phases of the engineering
design process - MORPHOLOGY OF DESIGN (Morris Asimow)
 Phase I. Conceptual Design

▪ Conceptual design is the process by which the design is initiated, carried to the
point of creating a number of possible solutions, and narrowed down to a single
best concept.
• It is sometimes called the feasibility study.
• Conceptual design is the phase that requires the greatest creativity, involves the
most uncertainty, and requires coordination among many functions in the business
organization.
 Phase I. Conceptual Design
The following are the discrete activities that we consider under conceptual design:
• Identification of customer needs : The goal of this activity is to completely
understand the customers’ needs and to communicate them to the design
team.(Gather raw data from customers, interpret raw data in terms of customer needs, organize the needs into a
hierarchy, establish the relative importance of the needs and reflect on the results and the process)
• Problem definition : The goal of this activity is to create a statement that describes
what has to be accomplished to satisfy the needs of the customer. This involves
analysis of competitive products, the establishment of target specifications,
and the listing of constraints and trade-offs. Quality function deployment (QFD) is
a valuable tool for linking customer needs with design requirements. A detailed
listing of the product requirements is called a product design specification
(PDS).
• Gathering information: Engineering design presents special requirements over
engineering research in the need to acquire a broad spectrum of information.
• Conceptualization : Concept generation involves creating a broad set of concepts
that potentially satisfy the problem statement. Team-based creativity methods,
combined with efficient information gathering, are the key activities.
 Phase I. Conceptual Design

• Concept selection : Evaluation of the design concepts, modifying and evolving

into a single preferred concept, are the activities in this step. The process usually
requires several iterations.(concept generation, Concept Selection, concept
screening, and concept scoring.)
• Refinement of the PDS : The product design specification is revisited after the
concept has been selected. The design team must commit to achieving certain
critical values of design parameters, usually called critical-to-quality (CTQ)
parameters, and to living with trade-offs between cost and performance.
• Design review : Before committing funds to move to the next design phase, a
design review will be held. The design review will assure that the design is
physically realizable and that it is economically worthwhile. It will also look at a
detailed product-development schedule. This is needed to devise a strategy to
minimize product cycle time and to identify the resources in people, equipment, and
money needed to complete the project.
 Phase II. Embodiment Design
Structured development of the design concept occurs in this engineering design
phase. It is the place where flesh is placed on the skeleton of the design
concept. An embodiment of all the main functions that must be performed by the
product must be undertaken. It is in this design phase that decisions are made on
strength, material selection, size, shape, and spatial compatibility. Beyond
this design phase, major changes become very expensive. This design phase
is sometimes called preliminary design. Embodiment design is concerned with
three major tasks—product architecture, configuration design, and
parametric design.

● Determining product architecture: Product architecture is concerned with

dividing the overall design system into subsystems or modules. In this step we
decide how the physical components of the design are to be arranged and
combined to carry out the functional duties of the design.
 Phase II. Embodiment Design
● Configuration design of parts and components: Parts are made up of features like
holes, ribs, splines, and curves. Configuring a part means to determine what
features will be present and how those features are to be arranged in space
relative to each other. While modeling and simulation may be performed in this stage
to check out function and spatial constraints, only approximate sizes are determined to
assure that the part satisfies the PDS. Also, more specificity about materials and
manufacturing is given here. The generation of a physical model of the part with rapid
prototyping processes may be appropriate.
● Parametric design of parts: Parametric design starts with information on the
configuration of the part and aims to establish its exact dimensions and
tolerances. Final decisions on the material and manufacturing processes are also
established if this has not been done previously. An important aspect of parametric
design is to examine the part, assembly, and system for design robustness. Robustness
refers to how consistently a component performs under variable conditions in its service
environment. Parametric design also deals with determining the aspects of the design
that could lead to failure. Another important consideration in parametric design is to
design in such a way that manufacturability is enhanced.
 Phase III. Detail Design
In this phase the design is brought to the stage of a complete engineering
description of a tested and producible product. Missing information is added on the
arrangement, form, dimensions, tolerances, surface properties, materials, and
manufacturing processes of each part. This results in a specification for each
special-purpose part and for each standard part to be purchased from suppliers. In
the detail design phase the following activities are completed and documents are
prepared:
● Detailed engineering drawings suitable for manufacturing. Routinely these are
computer-generated drawings, and they often include three-dimensional CAD
models.
● Verification testing of prototypes is successfully completed and verification data is
submitted. All critical-to-quality parameters are confirmed to be under control.
Usually, the building and testing of several preproduction versions of the product
will be accomplished.
 Phase III. Detail Design
● Assembly drawings and assembly instructions also will be completed. The bill of
materials for all assemblies will be completed.
● A detailed product specification, updated with all the changes made since the
conceptual design phase, will be prepared.
● Decisions on whether to make each part internally or to buy from an external
supplier will be made.
● With the preceding information, a detailed cost estimate for the product will be
carried out.
● Finally, detail design concludes with a design review before the decision is made
to pass the design information on to manufacturing.
 Phase III. Detail Design
Phases I, II, and III take the design from the realm of possibility to the real world of
practicality. However, the design process is not finished with the delivery of a set of
engineering drawings and specifications to the manufacturing organization. Many
other technical and business decisions must be made to bring the design to the
point where it can be delivered to the customer. Chief among these, are detailed
plans for manufacturing the product, for planning its launch into the marketplace,
and for disposing of it in an environmentally safe way after it has completed its
useful life.
 IT
DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO
MANUAL 2D-DRAWINGS

2D AND 3D- CAD GEOMETRY

Product
3D-SOLID MODELING
LifeCycle
Management
RAPID PROTOTYPING

Virtual Reality/Prototyping
 CAX TOOLS
• •From concept to component.
• •From Art to Part.
• •From CAD model to Proto Model.
CAD:
•Defined as the use of computer systems to assist in the creation, modification,
analysis, or optimisation of a design.
•Integrating design activities using computers.
•Design activity that involves the use of computers to create or modify an
engineering design

CAM:
Defined as the use of computer systems to plan, manage, and control the
operation of a manufacturing plant through either direct or indirect computer
interface with the plant’s production resources.
 -Shigley
DESIGN PROCESS STEPS
Design Process
CAD
Recognition of Need

Definition of Problem

Synthesis Geometric Modeling

Analysis & Optimisation Engineering Analysis

Evaluation Design Review & Evaluation

Presentation Automated Drafting

 PRODUCT CYCLE
Computer Aided Computer Aided Drafting
Design & Documentation

PRODUCT DESIGN DRAFTING

CONCEPT

NEW Computer
PROCESS
Aided
CUSTOMER & EQUIPMENT & PLANNING Process Planning
MARKETS TOOLING

QUALITY PRODUCTION
CONTROL PRODUCTION
SCHEDULING

Computerised Scheduling,
Computer Aided Computer Controlled
MRP,
quality Control robots, Machines
Shop floor control
 Traditional Design What is
wrong withTraditional
it? Design
What is wrong with it?

Design

Planning

Production

Quality

Marketing
What is concurrent Engineering

Market
Analysis Product Design

Sales and Production

Distribution System Design

Manufacturing
Concurrent Engineering:
A management/operational approach which improves product design,
production operation and maintenance by developing environments in which
personnel from all disciplines work together and share data throughout all
phases of the product life cycle.

Simultaneously rather than serial, execution of various phases in the product

development process.
(Simultaneously planning of the product & process for producing a product)

Goals:
•Shorter Development time
•Competitive advantage
•Better customer orientation
•Better Quality
•Lower development cost
 Changes Changes
Wall
Conceptual Detailed Analysis Manufacturing Purchasing/ Mfg
Design Design & Prototype Preparation Suppliers

Serial Engineering

Conceptual Design

Detailed Design

Concurrent Engineering Analysis Prototype Manufacturing

Manufacturing
Preparation

Purchasing/
Suppliers
Cost of Design Changes
 Outline
• The Product Planning
• The Product Planning Process
• Conceptual Design Phase in the Product Development
Process
• Product concept and the Concept Generation -
Definition.
• Commonly dysfunctions in product development
• Five steps in the product concept generation process
Generic Product Development Process

System Level Detail Testing & Production

Concept
Planning Design Design Refinement Ramp up
Development

Mission Concept System Critical Production

Approval Review Spec Design Approval
Review Review
 Product Planning
• The planning activity is often referred to as “phase zero”, since it
precedes the project approval and launch of the actual PD process
• This phase begins with the corporate strategy, and includes assessment
of technology developments and market objectives
• The output of the planning phase is the project mission statement, which
specifies the target market for the product, business goals, key
assumptions, and constraints.
 The Product Planning Process Questions
• What PD projects will be undertaken?
• What mix of new products, platforms, and
derivative products to pursue?
• How do the various projects relate to each other as
a portfolio?
• What will be the timing and sequence of the
project?
Product First and Platform Products Companies
• product-first companies come and go. Many of them will make money and
return value to investors. Some will even upend or help reinvent existing
industry verticals.
• But companies that are most likely to disrupt and dominate in the long-term
are those that first construct a platform and then roll up its features and
capabilities into distinct products and marketplaces.
• The best of these companies also invite other innovators (be they friends,
competitors, or frenemies) to build their own products and marketplaces on
top of their platform.
Though the Amazon Kindle was not the first such device, it quickly became the
most popular after its launch in 2007. With the introduction of the iPhone and
iPad, the Kindle – like all e-readers – became instantly obsolete.
Amazon was able to move its Kindle application to the iPhone, because the
iPhone’s underlying technology platform is designed to encourage such co-
innovation.
 Four Types of Product Development Projects
• Product Development projects can be classified as four types:
– New product platforms: Creating new family of products based on a new,
common platform. The new product family would address familiar markets
and product.
– Derivatives of existing product platforms: extend an existing product
platform to better address familiar markets with one or more new products
– Incremental improvements to existing products: Adding to or modifying
some features of existing products in order to keep the product line
competitive
– Fundamentally new products: radically different product or production
technologies; might address new and unfamiliar markets. They inherently
involve more risk.
 The Product Planning Process
It involves a five step process:
1. Identify opportunities
2. Evaluate and prioritize projects
3. Allocate resources and plan timings
4. Complete pre-project planning
5. Reflect on the results and the process
 Chapter Example

Shark IONFlex Shark ION Powered Lift-Away

A Product Plan
Identify Opportunities and Evaluate & Prioritize Projects
Identify Opportunities
• The planning process begins with the identification of opportunities
• It may involve any of the four types of projects defined above.
• It can be thought of as an opportunity funnel
• The sources for new products or features can be marketing personnel, R&D
teams, current product development teams, manufacturing and operations
organizations, current or potential customers, or other third parties.

Evaluate and Prioritize Projects

Four basic perspectives are useful in evaluating and prioritizing opportunities.

• Decide on the competitive strategy such as Technology Leadership, Cost

leadership, Customer focus or Imitative
• Look at Market Segmentation and develop Product Segment Map.
• Develop technological trajectories and
• Plan on product platforms as a long term strategy.
Market Segment Map
Technology S-Curves
Product-Technology Roadmap
Platforms vs. Derivatives
 Mission Statement: Cordless Powered Lift-Away Vacuum
Product
• New powered lift-away cordless upright vacuum platform for whole-house cleaning
Description

• Large battery capacity and dust cup suitable for multi-room and whole-house cleaning
Benefit
• Swappable battery pack, with multiple charging options including a charging stand
Proposition
• Powered lift-away form factor for convenient floor and detail cleaning

• Launch in Fall, 2018

Key Business • Competitive pricing allowing for target sales volume and margins
Goals • Consistent 5-star customer reviews
• Grow cordless market share and segment penetration

Primary Market • US household multi-room and whole house cleaning

• Swappable lithium-ion battery pack

Assumptions • Upright form factor with lift-away pod
and Constraints • Powered hose for motorized lift-away
• Carpet and hard floor cleaning with a single DuoClean head

• Major retailers
• New and existing customers
Stakeholders
• Marketing and sales
• Manufacturing supply chain
 Concept Development: The Front End Process
• Down the Road Phases.

MS
Dvpt
Identify Establish Generate Select Test Set Plan Plan
Customer Target Product Product Product Final Downstream
Needs Specs Concepts Concepts Concepts Specs Dvpt

Perform economic analysis

Benchmark Competitive Products

Build and Test models and prototypes

What is Design?
Design Process
DesignProcess is an Iterative Process
 CAD/CAE/PDM
Design
Design
Need / Conceptu Detailed Design Documentati
Planning al Design Design Validation on

PLM

Retirement Distribution Manufacturing Manufactur

and and Packaging Manufacturin
Testing/QC ing
Recycling Support g Engineering
Planning

Marketing Manufacturing
CRM SCM/ERP/CAM/CIM/MPM
Generic Product Development Process

System Level Detail Testing & Production

Concept
Planning Design Design Refinement Ramp up
Development

Mission Concept System Critical Production

Approval Review Spec Design Approval
Review Review
 Concept Development:
The Front-End Process Process

Mission Development
Statement Identify Establish Generate Select Test Set Plan Plan
Customer Target Product Product Product Final Downstream
Needs Specifications Concepts Concept(s) Concept(s) Specifications Development

Perform Economic Analysis

Benchmark Competitive Products

Build and Test Models and Prototypes

• What existing solution concepts, if any, could be successfully adapted

for the current design?
• What new concepts might satisfy the established needs and
specifications?
• What methods can be used to facilitate the concept generation
process?
 Product concept
• A visual description of how the product will satisfy the customer’s
needs
• An approximate description of
– the technology,
– working principles, and
– form of the product
• Often expressed with a sketch or 3D model, accompanied with a
brief textual description.
Product Concept Generation
 Product Concept Generation
• Proceeded from what is fundamentally a problem of defining the
what, into the challenge of the how.
• It is to explore the various solutions that might address the gap
in the user experience? The exploration phase of our design
process is going to result in a set of design concepts.
• It should be responsive to the customer needs, cost and should
have a wow factor and good aesthetics.
• Fortunately, concept generation is relatively inexpensive and
can be done relatively quickly in comparison to the rest of the
development process.
 Common dysfunctions during concept
generation
• Consider only one or two alternatives
• Fail to consider the usefulness of the concepts
• Involve only one or two people in the process
• Ineffectively integrate promising partial solutions
• Fail to consider entire categories of solutions
 Product Concept Generation Process
(5 steps)
1. Clarify the problem
2. Search externally
3. Search internally
4. Explore systematically
5. Reflect on the solutions and the process.
The five step concept
generation method.
 Concept Generation Process
• Clarify the Problem
– Problem Decomposition
• External Search
– Lead Users
– Experts
– Patents
– Literature
– Benchmarking
• Internal Search
– Individual Methods
– Group Methods
• Systematic Exploration
– Classification Tree
– Combination Table
• Reflect on the Process
– Continuous Improvement
 1. Clarify the Problem

• Understand the problem

– From the team’s (product) mission statement
– From the customers needs
– From the product specifications
• Decompose the problem into simpler sub-problems
– Divide and conquer
– Using function diagrams
• Decompose by sequence of user actions
• Decompose by key/latent customer needs
• Focus initial efforts on the critical sub-problems
– Focus on critical sub-problems
– Defer solutions to other sub-problems
Decomposition
Decomposition By Needs
Decomposing by Sequence of User Actions
Decomposing by Function
Decomposing by Function
Decomposing by Function
 2. Search Externally

1. Interview lead users

2. Consult experts
3. Search patents
4. Search published literature
5. Benchmark related products
 3. Search Internally (both group and
individually)
• Guide for the search
– Suspend judgment
– Generate a lot of ideas
– Welcome ideas that seem infeasible
– Use graphic and physical media
• Hints for generating concepts
– Make analogies
– Wish and wonder
– User related stimuli
– Set quantitative goals
– Post ideas on the wall
SEARCH INTERNALLY (BOTH GROUP AND
INDIVIDUALLY)
 4.Explore Systematically
• Concept combination tree
– Prune less promising branches
– Identify independent approaches to the problem
– Expose inappropriate emphasis on certain branches
– Refine the problem decomposition for a particular branch.
• Concept combination table
 5. Reflect on the Results
➢ Is the team developing confidence that the solution space has been
fully explored??
➢ Alternative function diagrams?
➢ Alternative ways to decompose the problem?
➢ Additional external resources?
➢ All ideas generated and integrated?
 Service Concept Generation - Zipcar
Zipcar provides automobile rental for periods of 30 minutes to 4
hours. Zipcar vehicles are parked in specially marked spaces in
convenient locations, such as adjacent to apartment and office
buildings. Users join the Zipcar service and receive a membership
card. They reserve vehicles online, use their card to access the
vehicle, and then drive away. They simply return the vehicle to the
same spot within the reserved rental period. Billing to the customer’s
account is automatic. A service concept can be further elaborated
with a storyboard. A storyboard is a sequence of graphical
illustrations that show the key steps in a service experience.
The Service Concept

Zipcar storyboard.
Decomposition of car rental service by sequence of user
actions. Alternative approaches to each action are listed in
the columns.
Text Books
Thank you
 Industry Challenges

As new challenges have emerged, new technologies and

techniques have been developed to meet them
Industry Challenges
 Challenge
In a dynamic business scenario, the most critical factor that holds the key
to retain market leadership is your ability to launch and develop new
products and services quickly and in a cost-efficient manner, while facing
challenges like responding to scale, increased complexity, dynamics of
globalization, reduced costs, and reduced cycle times.

https://www.tcs.com/cummins-transition-to-new-plm-system-efficiently
 SPEED TO MARKET

Most companies are under pressure to develop products within

time periods that are rapidly shrinking.
The survival of an enterprise lies in its ability to
evolve
react quickly to changing requirements
reinvent on a regular basis, and
keep itself abreast in terms of technology
 The Knowledge Era

⚫ The key to power today is “KNOWLEDGE”.

⚫ In the modern world information is the enabler for success. Those
with access to certain forms of specialized knowledge can
transform themselves, and in many ways, our entire world.
⚫ “KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT” is the key
 Customer – The King
⚫ A new class of sophisticated bargain hunting shoppers have
emerged who are choosy about what, where, and how to shop
with an access to information .
⚫ Customer wants Newer things with Higher Quality at
Lower Cost, and ….. Fast !
 Solution: STRATEGIC DESIGN
How do you reduce cost, increase quality and speed to market?
By a STRATEGIC DESIGN PROCESS !
Strategic Design is a
⚫ STEP-BY-STEP,CUSTOMER FOCUSSED,
TEAM CENTRED and TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN process
For reducing cost,improving quality and shrinking time to market by
simplifying a product’s life-cycle tasks at its early design concept
stage
 PRODUCT LIFE-CYCLE
⚫ Specification development
⚫ Conceptual design
⚫ Product design
⚫ Production
⚫ Service
⚫ Retirement
 CAD/CAE/PDM
Design

Conceptual Detailed Design Design

Need / Design Design Documentation
Planning Validation

PLM

Retirement Manufacturing
Distribution Manufacturing Manufacturing
and Recycling Packaging Testing/QC
and Support Engineering Planning

Marketing Manufacturing
CRM SCM/ERP/CAM/CIM/MPM
 The “ilities”
What constitutes value for a customer?
⚫ Affordability,Useability,Reliability,Quality,Durability,Maint
ainability,
Disposability, and so on …..
⚫ We call them the “ilities”
 The “Ings”
What adds cost to the product?
⚫ Designing, documenting, planning,
⚫ scheduling, manufacturing, testing
⚫ Packaging, distributing, maintaining
⚫ And so on ….
⚫ We call them “Ings”
 PRINCIPLES OF STRATEGIC
DESIGN
⚫ A product is sum of its life-cycle processes-”ings”
⚫ All “ilities” must be considered concurrently from day one
of the design effort
⚫ Maximise the “ilities” and minimise the “ings”
⚫ Look for “ilities’ most strategic to product’s success
 Life-Cycle Time

Life-cycle time is the total time a product takes from

cradle(ideation) to the grave(retirement).
The immediate effect of changing customer requirements is
to lengthen product development time
 Contd.

As product design cycles stretch out, costs mushroom and quality

suffers.
Development time and cost are becoming crucial in all engineering
industries.
The need is to maximize the life-cycle value while curtaining costs
and environmental burdens
Life-cycle management is a process often used to accomplish these
goals.
 TRADITIONAL DESIGN – WHAT IS
WRONG ?
⚫ In the traditional design progression from the first stage to
the final stage is very slow, time consuming, iterative and
acts in isolation.
⚫ Each segment of product development team completed the
task in isolation.
⚫ Sequential engineering was followed
 SEQUENTIAL ENGINEERING

⚫ DESIGN
⚫ PLANNING
⚫ PRODUCTION
⚫ QUALITY
⚫ MARKETING
⚫ DESIGN
⚫ NO CROSS FUNCTIONALITY
Cost of changes
 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN
CAD SOFTWARE
⚫ FIRST STAGE

⚫ Era of 2-D electronic drafting

⚫ Computer graphics replaces manual drafting
⚫ Measure of performance – speed
⚫ Primary goal- drafting productivity
 SECOND STAGE
⚫ Mid-80s see the birth of geometrical modeling
⚫ Solid modeling revolutionises the process of design
⚫ Brings visualisation
⚫ Error-proof drawings extracted from geometry based solid
models.
 THIRD STAGE
⚫ Early 90-s see shifting of focus to improved design performance
⚫ Improving quality of product up-front
⚫ Analysis becomes expected part of CAD systems
⚫ Solid modeling + Analysis = Better design and optimal design
 FOURTH STAGE
⚫ Integration of tools begins
⚫ No more electronic fences across platforms,software
and operating systems
⚫ Holds most promise for Concurrent Engineering
⚫ Rapid Prototyping makes its impact.
The Present Stage-

Internet Revolution
Integration into E-Business
Collaborative Product Commerce
New Product Development
Product Life-cycle Management
 CAD/CAE/PDM
Design

Conceptual Detailed Design Design

Need / Design Design Documentation
Planning Validation

PLM

Retirement Manufacturing
Distribution Manufacturing Manufacturing
and Recycling Packaging Testing/QC
and Support Engineering Planning

Marketing Manufacturing
CRM SCM/ERP/CAM/CIM/MPM
 Generic Product Development Process

System Level Detail Testing & Production

Concept
Planning Design Design Refinement Ramp up
Development

Mission Concept System Critical Production

Approval Review Spec Design Approval
Review Review

Phases of Product Development

CIMdata:

Wikipedia: