theoryproduct design and development

7/29/2019 Theoryproduct design and development

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Introduction

All the goods and services that are around us are the result of adevelopment process. Product development is a conversion

process where market requirements are converted into someconcrete product ideas that we experience (Figure 1)

.

It is the basic need of every manufacturing company to design

and develop new and innovative products to cater to the needsand expectations of the customers. During product design,designer has to bear in mind the customer requirements,available resources, possible implications on company policiesetc. It is therefore obvious that product design is at the core of thedevelopment and growth of every manufacturing system. But one
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should bear in mind that design and development of new productis expensive and risky. There are few reasons to it:

1. Most of the product ideas which go to product development

stage never reach the market due to non availability ofmoney, technology, manpower or due to change in demand.

2. Many products that do reach the market are not successfulmainly due to inferior quality, high product cost, poorfunctionality, poor marketing skills or change in demand.

3. Successful products tend to have a shorter life due tochange in demand, stiff competition or rapid technologicalchanges.

Thus management finds itself in a dilemma, it must developmentnew product, yet the odds weight heavily against their success.Management thus be careful in identifying potential product ideas.There are several indicators that can be considered to identify thegood product ideas.

Product with a gap between demand and supply can beconsidered as a potential product idea.

If some of the idle resources of the plant can be used tomanufacture a product, it can be considered a potentialproduct idea.

If a product can reduce company's dependence on a selectcustomer base, it can be selected as a potential productidea.

Some time good product ideas may come from ourenvironment (friends, co-workers etc.).

Before selection and conversion of a product idea into reality,management should carry out product analysis to considervarious factors in the domain of production and industrialengineering.


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Product Analysis

Several important considerations in product analysis are:

Market Potential: First of all it should be looked that product willsatisfy a demand in the market and it is both desirable andacceptable. Otherwise if no consumption is envisaged or shorterproduct life cycle is envisaged, there is no point in producing theproduct. Some times marketing division has to make specialefforts to create demand and make product acceptable to thecustomers through sales promotion schemes.

Product Life Cycle : Product demand in market over time follows

an inverted bath tub curve(Figure 2).

In the first two phases, its demand will increase continuouslybeing the product new. After some time its demand will stabilizedue to the saturation in market place (phase 3) and then finally


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will decrease gradually due to the entry of competitors or betterproducts (phase 4). The overall time span is defined as productlife cycle and its estimation is important from the view point ofeconomic analysis. It is desirable that all investments made in

product design and development, procurements of new resourcesetc. should be recovered from the sale of that product itself.

Competition : If company is entering a mature market, it has toface stiff competition from other manufacturers who are alreadyestablished and in touch with the customers. Thus managementhas to analyze its capabilities carefully before formulating theirown marketing strategy and positioning of its product. It is also

important to mention that the functionality, quality and cost of theproducts offered by the competitors should also be analyzed.

Customer Needs : Basic aim of a product is to satisfy customerneeds. As different customers have different needs (in terms ofcost, functions, colors etc.), it is very difficult to satisfy all theirneeds in many situations. A balancing act between customerneeds and product cost is utmost important particularly in amature market.

Functional Aspect: After market research, the functional scope ofthe product has to be carefully analyzed and properly defined.Functions can be divided into three main categories viz., primaryfunction, secondary functions, and tertiary functions. For awashing machine to wash clothing' is the primary function.Secondary and tertiary functions may include: level of automation,rinsing or drying or both, heating of water prior to washing etc. Afunctional analysis to see that most of the customer requirementsare satisfied within their buying capacity is important duringproduct design and development and affects the design ofproduct, its complexity, its appearance and its price.

Operational Aspect: It is related with the ease of operation of theproduct. It must be easy to handle and simple to operate. Its


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operational efficiency should not be affected by the varyingoperating conditions and varying operator skills. In manysituations, operational efficiency of a product can be improved byproviding supporting literature in the form of operation guidelines

or by providing on hand training to the first time users.

Durability and Dependability: These two factors often determinequality of a product. Durability is defined by the length of activelife of the product under given working conditions. Dependabilityis the capability of the product to function when called upon to doits job. Both durability and dependability are related to theselection of materials and the class of workmanship. Durability of

a product can be shown by a bath tub curve (Figure 3).

It canbe observed that during infant stage, product is new and mayhave some design or manufaturing defects leading to higher rate


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of failure. During adult stage, product is put under use after allnecessary testing and thus the rate of failure is stabilised and isfairly low. Similarly in wear out stage, product has completed itsuseful life and due to wear and tear in its components, failure rate

starts increasing again.

Maintainability: It is defined as the ease of maintenance. Productshould be easy to maintain and easy to repair. It is also relatedwith the ease of over hauling, preventive maintenance, easyavailability of spare parts, easy availability of repair man etc.

Quality: Quality is a relative term and defined as the degree offulfillment of the required objective. The relationship between costof quality and value of quality is shown in Figure 4 .


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From figure it can be seen that return from quality is diminishingin nature. Maximum return is obtained at point Q. Return fromquality becomes zero at point P. It can be seen that unnecessarilyhigh quality does not help organizations in long run. They have to

set quality standards near to point Q to maximize their return.

Legal Aspects : When a product idea is selected, it should alwaysbe considered if government has imposed any restrictions on itsproduction (say environmental issues related with production ofchemicals, defense related issues with national security etc.). Theselected product idea should not violate any of the governmentrules and regulations.

Financial Aspects : Before embarking on the manufacturing of aproduct, management has to mobilize required finances. Theyhave to identify the sources from which required finances will begenerated such as, company accounts, government loans, publicoffers (shares and debentures etc.).

Organizational Aspects : Every product needs skilled personsworking on it such as skilled workers, and skilled managers.

Management has to work out the manpower requirements andassociated costs carefully.

Distribution Aspects : Once the product is finished, it should reachthe customers as quickly as possible. Management has toestablish distribution channels for the same. They have to appointcapable distributors, retailers, sales personnel for this function.Thus availability and feasibility of efficient distribution channels isan important consideration in product analysis.

Technological Aspects : When analyzing product idea,management should check the availability and capability ofnecessary technical know how and capital goods (machines etc.)required for the conversion of that idea into a physical product.


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Sometimes if necessary resources are not available, they can beacquired but within company's financial resources.

Aesthetic Aspects : How does the product appear and in what

way does the appearance of a product affect its design? Theseare the two questions to be answered by the designer duringproduct design. It could be a dominant feature in many products(such as fashionable products, toys, furniture etc.). However, it isan important feature in most of the products and should be givendue consideration. Product aesthetic can be improved by: use ofspecial materials (i.e. plastics, wood, glass etc.), use of color(natural or artificial) with different composition and contrast, use of

texture supplement colors to give better appearance, use offunctional shape of the product (i.e. a lamp should look like alamp), use of lines to break form and to give a sense of continuity,scaling and styling of the product, packaging of the product etc. Itmay be noted that all these tools help in improving theappearance of the product making it more attractive.

A flow of information during product analysis is shown inFigure 5.


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