NEED IDENTIFICATION AND PROBLEM DEFINITION

Off all steps of Engineering Design Process, Problem Definition is the most important Understanding a problem thoroughly at the beginning aids immeasurably in reaching an outstanding solutions Off course this holds for all kinds of problems whether maths problem, production problem or design problem

However, in Product design, where the ultimate test is whether the product sells well in the marketplace, it is vital to work hard to understand and provide what is that the customer wants

Before the problem definition step

Case 1: To improve the efficiency of the Cooling Tower
We are facing problem on our cooling towers and are unable to achieve the results as per design specifications. A brief account of problem we are facing specially during hot season. 1- Condenser inlet temperature (in summer): 2- Condenser outlet temperature 3- Wet bulb temperature (Design) 30 C, (Actual) 38 ~ 40 C (Design) 41 C, (Actual) 49 ~ 50 C (Design) 20 C, (Actual) 26 ~ 27 C

Due to this high temperature of cooling water we can not achieve required vacuum in condenser and hence low efficiency of the plant.

Case 2: Story of Mariner IV Satellite Project

Design problem may or may not be clear to you based on the information provided or based on your experience You would set about defining the problem according to the methods provided in this book

However, main problem in the problem definition step is the place, where the Design Process begins, as not all Engineering Tasks are well defined This step is called as Planning for the Design Process or New Product Business Development
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Types of Design Projects

Variation of an Existing Product o Involves a change of at most a few parameters (Power of motor, design of fastening bracket) o Required level of expertise is very modest Improvement of an Existing Product o Involves more major redesign o To improve performance, quality or cost in manufacturing, vendor selection procedure, development of new technology methodology Development of a new product for a Low-Volume Production Run o Constrains the selection of manufacturing processes, to those with cheaper tooling costs (e.g. prototypes can be made) Development of a new product for mass production o Provides engineers flexibility in selecting material and manufacturing processes (e.g. automobile, major appliances, PCs) o Require careful planning for manufacture and assembly One of a kind Design o Very from a quick simple design to large expensive system o Design evaluation is likely to be incremental o Examples: Large buildings, process plants, power plants etc.

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CLASS DISCUSSION
Product Development Process

Q A

For what type of company this is implemented? For a large technology oriented company interested in bringing a steady flow of new products quickly to market

1. Highly stimulated activity to gather new product ideas from a wide range of sources 2. These include R&D division of the corporation (keeping in view of market etc) 3. First Screen:

Not a go-no-go decision point Instead is a review by midlevel managers to determine what additional information is needed before a go-no-go decision ca be made at Screen 2 The ideas reviewed at Screen 1 should be checked for their fitness with the technology product market strategy of the company their likely commitment of resources If Idea Passes this screen It passes into an area where project bounds are detailed and required knowledge is specified If not, then they should be completed Screen -1 begins to identify competing concepts and ideas It is a go-no-go review in which senior management selects the product and process option that will become product development project Any project passed Screen 2 will be funded and staffed with every exception that it will be carried through to introduction to the market Time between Screen 1 and 2 is usually between 1 to 2 months and is spent taking the data and information developed for Screen 1 Page 3 of 14 142359615.doc

4. Second Screen:

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Identifying Customer Needs

Engineers and Businessmen require to know: Who are my customers? What does the customer want? And How I can provide it? Japanese say Listen to the Customer

Customer: One that Purchases a product or services

(Webster)

It is the customers desire that ordinarily drives the development of the product, not the engineers vision of what the customer should want Types of Customer:
External (generally defined) Internal (such as designer, corporate management, manufacturing personnel, sales

staff and field service personnel)

Gathering information from the Customers

(By sales force by continuously meetings) (Arranged discussion with 6~12 customers) (Written questionnaire is best used for gaining opinions) (A sure way to learn of needs for product improvement)

Interviews with customers Focus Groups Customer Surveys Customer Complaints

Constructing a Survey Instrument

Determine the survey purpose Determine the type of the data collection Identify which specific information needed Design questions (Most important) Basically there are three categories of questions (1) Attitude questions, (2) Knowledge questions, (3) Behavior questions Dont use Jargon or sophisticated Vocabulary, Focus very precisely, use simple sentences, Avoid questions with double negatives to avoid misunderstanding, Always include choice of Other.., Always include one open ended question.., Questions can have following types of answers Yes, No, Dont know, strongly agree, mildly agree, neutral, mildly disagree, strongly disagree o Number of questions should be such that they can answer within 30 minutes

Arrange the order of questions so that they provide the context to what you are trying to learn. Group questions by topic and start with easy ones Pretest the surveys (on a smaller sample of people)

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Administer the survey

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Customer Requirements
General Human Needs 1. Physiological Needs
Thrust, Hunger, sleep, shelter, exercise etc

4. Self-fulfillment Needs
For realizing ones ful potential, through self-dev., creativity etc

2. Safety & Security Needs 3. Social Needs 5. Psychological Needs

Protection against danger, For self esteem For love & esteem by others, interaction etc & self respect, deprivation, threat accomplishment and recognition

Design needs should be related to the basic human needs, some of them may be so obvious that in our modern technological society they are taken for granted. However, within each basic need there is a hierarchy of problem situations

Many current design problems deal with type-III situation, in which there is strong societal disagreement over needs and accompanying goals. Result is protracted delays and increasing costs.

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 Customer requirement should be characterized by

Performance, Time, Cost, Quality and Value

Eight basic dimensions of Quality for a manufactured product

Performance, Features, Reliability, Durability, Serviceability, Conformance, Aesthetics, Perceived Quality

Four Levels of Customer requirement

Expecters

Basic required attributes (standard features) Expecters are easy to measure and are used often in benchmarking Specific features required that customer say they want in the product Designer must try to provide these Customer does not generally talk about, but are nevertheless important to him They can not be ignored Customer might have forgotten them to mention or was unwilling to talk about or simply does not realize he wants Often called delighters These are product features that make it unique and distinguish for competition Absence of exciter will not make customer unhappy, since they dont know what is missing

Spokens

Unspokens

Exciters

Hierarchy of Customer satisfaction Expecters Spokens Unspokens Exciters

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Product Design Specification (PDS)

Basic control and reference document for design and manufacture of product PDS contains all the facts related to the outcome of the product development Creating PDS finalizes; The process of establishing the customer needs and wants Prioritizing them And beginning to cast them into a technical framework so that design concepts can be established

Elements required in PDS

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