ORMB11-1 - Session 16

Operations Management – BM11-1

Session 16 Product Design

Dipankar Bose - XLRI

Why Design/Redesign Products?

Changes in design

Upgrade/ Add-ons/ Adaptation/ Wear/ Consumption/

Flexibility in use

Product roll over

Ideal/Excess/Stock out

Opportunity and Threats

Economic

Social/demographic

Political/liability/legal

Competitive

Cost/availability

Technological


Some Product Development Processes

Technology push products

Generic (market pull products)

Platform products

Process-intensive products

Customized products

High-risk products

Quick-build products

Complex systems


Phases in Product Development –

Takeuchi and Nonaka (1986)

Concept development

Identifying customer needs – Some tools

Establishing product specification

Concept generation

Concept selection – Conjoint analysis

Feasibility testing

Product design

Product architecture

Process Development

Pilot production

Prototypes and tests

Final production


Issues in Product Design

Mass Customization

Standardization

Delayed differentiation

Modular design

Robust Design


Mass Customization

A strategy of producing standardized goods or services, but

incorporating some degree of customization

Mass customization is not similar to product variety


Standardization

Standardized Product

Extent to which there is an absence of variety in a

product, service or process

Immediately available to customers

Standardization for Mass customization

Part Standardization

Procurement Standardization

Process Standardization


Standardization – Advantages

Fewer parts to deal with in inventory & manufacturing

Design costs are generally lower

Reduced training costs and time

More routine purchasing, handling, and inspection

procedures

Quality is more consistent

Orders fillable from inventory

Opportunities for long production runs and automation

Need for fewer parts justifies increased expenditures on

perfecting designs and improving quality control

procedures.


Standardization – Disadvantages

Designs may be frozen

Even with too many imperfections remaining

High cost of design changes

Increases resistance to improvements

Cannibalization

Decreased variety results in less consumer appeal


Delayed Product Differentiation

Related to process standardization

Delayed differentiation is a postponement tactic

Producing but not quite completing a product or

service

Until customer preferences or specifications are

known


Modular Design

Degree of modularity depends on

How often the products need to be changed

Flexibility

Level of performance

Manufacturability

Design

Function oriented modules

Basic/ Auxiliary/ Adaptive/ Non-module

Categories of modularity

Component swapping

Component sharing

Bus modularity


Component Commonality

Adds variety in product

Reduces aggregate uncertainty

Reduces inventory

Reduced training for assemble and installation

Reduced repair time and costs


Robust Design

Design that results in products or services that can function over a broad range of conditions

Taguchi Method Design a robust product insensitive to environmental

factors either in manufacturing or in use Central feature is Parameter Design Determines

Factors that are controllable and those not controllable

Their optimal levels relative to major product advances


Taguchi Loss Function – Example

Loss at a point: L(x) = k×(x – t)^2

k = loss coefficient; t = target; (x – t) = allowance

Average Loss of a sample set: L = k*(s^2 + (pm – t)^2)

s = standard deviation of sample; pm = process mean

Total Loss = Avg. Loss × number of samples

Based on output and other data decide whether the

machine needs to be replaced

Required dimension = 0.5 + 0.05

Samples 0.459 | 0.478 | 0.495 | 0.502 | 0.521 |

0.467 | 0.489 | 0.495 | 0.509 | 0.527

Failure cost per part = 45

Documents

ORMB11-1 - Session 16