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
Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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
Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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
Dipankar Bose - XLRI
Issues in Product Design
Mass Customization
Standardization
Delayed differentiation
Modular design
Robust Design
Dipankar Bose - XLRI
Mass Customization
A strategy of producing standardized goods or services, but
incorporating some degree of customization

Mass customization is not similar to product variety

Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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

Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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.

Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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

Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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

Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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


Dipankar Bose - XLRI
Component Commonality
Adds variety in product
Reduces aggregate uncertainty
Reduces inventory
Reduced training for assemble and installation
Reduced repair time and costs


Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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

Dipankar Bose - XLRI
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