chap ter 3: P roblem Def in ition a nd Need Identif ication 111

The lowest-ranking ECs of the HOQ are not as critical to the success of the de-
sign. These ECs allow freedom during the design process because their values can be
set according to priorities of the designer or approving authority. Values for the low-
ranking ECs can be determined by whatever means is most conducive to achieving a
good design outcome. They can be set in such a way as to reduce cost or to preserve 3
some other objective of the design team. As long as low-ranking ECs are independent
of the CTQ ECs, they can be set expeditiously and not require a great deal of design
team effort. Once EC values are set, they are documented in the PDS.

3.7
PRODUCT DESIGN SPECIFICATION

The goal of design process planning is to identify, search, and assemble enough infor-
mation to decide whether the product development venture is a good investment for
the company, and to decide what time to market and level of resources are required.
The resulting documentation is typically called a new product marketing report. This
report can range in size and scope from a one-page memorandum describing a simple
product change to a business plan of several hundred pages. The marketing report
includes details on such things as the business objectives, a product description and
available technology base, the competition, expected volume of sales, marketing strat-
egy, capital requirements, development cost and time, expected profit over time, and
return to the shareholders.
In the product development process, the results of the design planning process
that governs the engineering design tasks are compiled in the form of a set of product
design specifications (PDS). The PDS is the basic control and reference document for
the design and manufacture of the product. The PDS is a document that contains all
of the facts related to the outcome of the product development. It should avoid forcing
the design direction toward a particular concept and predicting the outcome, but it
should also contain the realistic constraints.
Creating the 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. The process of group thinking and prioritiz-
ing that developed the HOQ provides excellent input for writing the PDS. However, it
must be understood that the PDS will change as the design process proceeds. Never-
theless, at the end of the process the PDS will describe in writing the product that is
intended to be manufactured and marketed.
Table 3.3 is a typical listing of elements that are included in a product design
specification. The elements are grouped by categories, and some categories include
questions that should be answered by the design team and replaced with their deci-
sions. Not every product will require consideration of every item in this list, but many
will. The list demonstrates the complexity of product design. The Shot-Buddy design
example used throughout this chapter is again the example in the PDS of Table 3.4.
At the beginning of the concept generation process, the PDS should be as complete
as possible about what the design should do. However, it should say as little as pos-
sible about how the requirements are to be met. Whenever possible the specifications

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 112 engineer ing design

TA BLE 3. 3
Template for Product Design Specification
Product Design Specification

Product Identification Market Identification

3 ● Product name (# of models or different ● Description of target market and its size
versions, related in-house product families) ● Anticipated market demand (units per year)
● Basic functions of the product ● Competing products
● Special features of the product ● Branding strategy (trademark, logo, brand name)
● Key performance targets (power output, What is the need for a new (or redesigned) product?
efficiency, accuracy) How much competition exists for the new product?
● Service environment (use conditions, stor- What are the relationships to existing products?
age, transportation, use and predictable
misuse)
● User training required
Key Project Deadlines
● Time to complete project
● Fixed project deadlines (e.g., review dates)
Physical Description
What is known (or has already been decided) about the physical requirements for the new
product?
● Design variable values that are known or fixed prior to the conceptual design process (e.g., external
dimensions)
● Constraints that determine known boundaries on some design variables (e.g., upper limit on accept-
able weight)
Financial Requirements
What are the assumptions of the firm about the economics of the product and its development?
What are the corporate criteria on profitability?
● Pricing policy over life cycle (target manufacturing cost, price, estimated retail price, discounts)
● Warranty policy

● Expected fi nancial performance or rate of return on investment

● Level of capital investment required

Life Cycle Targets

What targets should be set for the performance of the product over time? (This will relate to the
product’s competition.)
What are the most up-to-date recycling policies of the corporation and how can this product’s design
reflect those policies?
● Useful life and shelf life

● Cost of installation and operation (energy costs, crew size, etc.)

● Maintenance schedule and location (user-performed or service centered)

● Reliability (mean time to failure): Identify critical parts and special reliability targets for them

● End-of-life strategy (% and type of recyclable components, remanufacture of the product, company

take back, upgrade policy)

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 chap ter 3: P roblem Def in ition a nd Need Identif ication 113

TA BLE 3. 3 (continued)
Product Design Specification

Social, Political, and Legal Requirements

Are there government agencies, societies, or regulation boards that control the markets in which this
product is to be launched? 3
Are there opportunities to patent the product or some of its subsystems?
● Safety and environmental regulations. Applicable government regulations for all intended markets.

● Standards. Pertinent product standards that may be applicable ( Underwriters Laboratories, OSHA).

● Safety and product liability. Predictable unintended uses for the product, safety label guidelines,

applicable company safety standards.

● Intellectual property. Patents related to product. Licensing strategy for critical pieces of technology.

Manufacturing Specifications
Which parts or systems will be manufactured in-house?
● Manufacturing requirements. Processes and capacity necessary to manufacture final product.
● Suppliers. Identify key suppliers and procurement strategy for purchased parts.

should be expressed in quantitative terms and include all known ranges (or limits)
within which acceptable performance lies. For example: The power output of the en-
gine should be 5 hp, plus or minus 0.25 hp. Remember that the PDS is a dynamic
document. While it is important to make it as complete as possible at the outset of
design, do not hesitate to change it as you learn more as the design evolves. The PDS
is a document that should always be up to date and reflect the current design.

3.8
SUMMARY

Problem definition in the engineering design process takes the form of identifying the
needs of the customer that a product will satisfy. If the needs are not properly defined,
then the design effort may be futile. This is especially true in product design, where
considerable time and effort is invested in listening to and analyzing the “voice of the
customer.”
Collecting customer opinions on what they need from a product is done in many
ways. For example, a marketing department research plan can include interviewing
existing and target customers, implementing customer surveys, and analyzing war-
ranty data on existing products. The design team recognizes that there are many
classes of customer needs, and research data must be studied intently to determine
which needs will motivate customers to select a new product. Some customer needs
are identified as critical to quality and take on added priority for the design team.
Design teams describe products in terms of engineering characteristics: param-
eters, design variables, and constraints that communicate how the customer needs will
be satisfied. More than one engineering characteristic will contribute to satisfying
a single customer need. Engineering characteristics are discovered through bench-
marking competing products, performing reverse engineering on similar products,

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