Introduction to Product Design and Development - Summary Article

The success of the product development project is determined by five dimensions.

Product quality
Product cost
Development time
Development cost
Development capability

Who in an organization are involved in new product development?

Main departments or functions involved are:

Marketing, Design, and Manufacturing

The Challenges of Product Development

Trade-offs, Dynamics, Details, Time pressure, Economics

Approach of The Book by  Karl Ulrich and Steven Eppinger

Structured methods
Industrial examples
Organizational realities

A Generic Development Process

0. Planning
1. Concept Development
2. System Level Design
3. Detail Design
4. Testing and Refinement
5. Production Ramp-up

Product Planning

1. Identify Opportunities
2. Evaluate and Prioritize Projects
3. Allocate Resources and Plan Timing
4. Complete Pre-Project Planning

Identifying Customer Needs

1. Gather Raw Data from Customers
2. Interpret Raw Data
3. Organize the Needs into a Hierarchy
4. Establish the Relative Importance of the Needs

Product Specifications

1. Prepare List of Metrics
2. Collect Competitive Benchmarking Information
3. Set Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Target Values

     For Developing the Final Specifications

1. Develop Technical models of the product and Observe their Performance
2. Develop a Cost Model of the Product
3. Refine the Specifications based on Performance and Cost Considerations
4. Flow Down  the Specifications as Appropriate.

Concept Generation

1. Clarify the Problem
2. Search Externally
3. Search Internally
4. Explore Systematically

Concept Selection

It is based on method developed by Stuart Pugh. Called Pugh Concept Selection.

1. Prepare the Selection Matrix.
2. Rate the Concepts
3. Rank the Concepts
4. Combine and Improve the Concepts
5. Select One or More Concepts

Concept Testing

1. Define the Purpose of the Concept Test
2. Choose a Survey Population
3.Choose a Survey Format
4. Communicate the Concept
5. Measure the Customer Response
6. Interpret the Results

Product Architecture

1. Create a Schematic of the Product
2. Cluster the Elements of the Schematic
3. Create a Rough Geometric Layout
4. Identify the Fundamental and Incidental Interactions

Industrial Design Process

1. Investigation of customer needs
2. Conceptualization
3. Preliminary Refinement
4. Further Refinement and final Concept Selection
5. Control Drawings or Models
6. Coordinating with Engineering, Manufacturing and External Vendors

Design for Manufacturing

1. Estimate the Manufacturing Costs
2. Reduce the Cost of Components
3. Reduce the Cost of Assembly
4. Reduce the Costs of Supporting Production
5. Consider the Impact of DFM Decisions on other Factors

Prototyping - Planning for Prototyping

1. Define the Purpose of the Prototype
2. Establish the Level of Approximation of the Prototype
3. Outline an Experimental Plan
4. Create a Schedule for Procurement, Construction and Testing

Robust Design

1. Identify Control Factors,  Noise Factors, and Performance Metrics
2. Formulate an Objective Function
3. Develop an Experimental Plan
4. Run the Experiment
5. Conduct the Analysis
6. Select and Confirm Factor Setpoints

Patents and Intellectual Property - Patent Application Process

1. Formulate a Strategy and Plan
2. Study Prior Inventions
3. Outline Claims
4. Write the Description of the Invention
5. Refine Claims
6. Pursue Application

Product Development  - Economic Analysis

1. Build a Base-Case Financial Model
2. Understand the Relation Between Key Variables of the Model and Financial Success - Sensitivity Analysis
3. Understand Project Trade-offs through Sensitivity Analysis

Managing Projects

1. Understanding and Representing Tasks
2. Baseline Project Planning
3. Accelerating Projects
4. Project Execution
5. Postmortem Project Evaluation


Updated  2 August 2016,  8 Dec 2015, 6 Feb 2015


Site for Resources

http://www.ulrich-eppinger.net/