INDEX

S. No Topic Page No.

Week 1
1 Introduction to product design and development 1
2 Product life-cycle 24
3 Product policy of an organization and selection of profitable products 44
4 Product design 61
5 Product design steps and product analysis 77
Week 2
6 Value engineering concepts 100
7 Problem Identification and VEJP 116
8 Function analysis 133
9 Functional analysis system technique 150
10 Case study on value engineering 166
Week 3
11 Quality function deployment 184
12 Computer aided design 202
13 Robust design 221
14 Design for X 239
15 Ergonomics in product design 260
Week 4
16 DFMA guidelines 280
17 Product design for manual assembly 300
18 Design guidelines for different processes 316
19 Rapid prototyping: concept, advantages 334
20 Rapid prototyping processes 350
 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 01
Introduction

Namaskar friends, we are going to start our discussion on the topic Product Design and
Development. As you are well aware that this course is a 4 week course, in which we
will be discussing the various aspects of product design and development. I am happy to
see there are lot of applicants, lot of learners who have registered for this course and I
can assure you that if you take interest in the course you will not at all be disappointed.

Friends to start with ours, ours is a manufacturing based economies. Usually we call our
self as a agriculture based economy, but with the government programs like Make in
India, Stand up India, Startup India, there are so many issues in which we can contribute
and now our focus is more on manufacturing although our focus is there on agriculture
also, but with passage of time we have to evolve our self and our focus should also keep
on changing for the betterment of the country as well as the society as a whole.

Now, in this course on product design and development we should start our discussion
with the very basic fundamental aspect that why new and new products are required in
the society or in engineering applications. As you will see India is very good we want to
make it as a manufacturing hub of the word, but our major focus in manufacturing is we
are manufacturing the products, we are assembling the products, but where we are
lacking, we are lacking in designing the products. So, were design approach has to
change our engineers have to become self sufficient, self reliant in designing the best
possible products, that are designed by the designers worldwide.

So if we see in manufacturing sector we have so many multinational companies were

manufacturing their products in our country, but we are not the best designers the design
of the car or of the auto mobile is done in some other and India is used as manufacturing
hub to produce that product or to manufacture the that product or to assemble that
product. Our focus should be to become a designer, our focus should be to train our
engineers to become the best designers in the world all though many of our technical
institute like IITs, NITs and other engineering institute have the focus and teach this

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course of product design and development at the UG level, but the tools and techniques
slightly are not covered in much detail.

So in this course we will try to engage the learners in the practical aspects of product
design and development where we have the theoretical, knowledge theoretical aspects
are known to most of the engineers, but the practical aspects are missing. So, our focus
would be to fine tune the practical aspects of the product design as well as how to
develop a product, so we will try to see if we can incorporate some videos also in the
lectures that you are able to understand that how a complete development of a prototype
can also be done using the product design and development approach.

So today I will just like to introduce as a introductory lecture that what we are going to
do in this course, what we are going to learn in this course and why there is a need for
developing a new product and how we can develop a successful product or what are the
factors that we should keep in mind for developing a successful product.

So let us start the presentation and try to understand the, what we are going to do in this
particular course, now this is the outline of the presentation first we will discuss the
course details, what we are going to cover in this course.

(Refer Slide Time: 04:03)

Secondly, the New Product Design, basic concepts, the need of the product design, that
the Need of a New Product Design, Product Development, New - Product Development

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Strategy, with New- Product Development Process and Successful Product Development
and Product Life Cycle. I will just like to introduce the product life cycle and we will
cover it in the next lecture the details and the analysis that we can do based on the
product life cycle.

(Refer Slide Time: 04:36)

Now, to start with, let us first see the course details. Now in course details week one, our
focus right. Now, we are here at the introduction stage of our course, next we will cover
the Product life cycle, we will cover the Product policy of an organization, then Selection
of a profitable product, what are the factors, what are the methods, which can help us or
what is the information or knowledge that we require to select a profitable product that
we will see, again we will see the Product design process.

Today, I will just outline that what are the various stages, but we will have a detailed
discussion that what should be kept in mind when we are going to design products. So
that will be a separate tutorial or a lecture on this product design process and finally, we
will see the product analysis. So, many ideas come to us each one of us is field up with
ideas, but in order to convert or in order to change those ideas into reality and, so that
they can come or become a tangible product what are the analysis procedures that are
required, that we will cover in our last section of week 1 that will be product analysis.

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(Refer Slide Time: 05:46)

Then coming on to week 2 we will start our discussion with Value engineering concepts,
now value engineering is an important aspect which should be kept in mind while
designing a product, why because the cost is the most important parameter that governs
product design, that we will see in the subsequent lecture. Value engineering in is in itself
a complete subject, which is generally not taught to the under graduate students in our
country that IIT Roorkee we have this course as one of the electives for our bachelor
students.

So I want to introduce this concept of value engineering to all engineers who are
attending this course or to all graduate who are attending this course, I am not focusing
by applications or the examples of the case studies only for the engineers, even the other
learners who are graduates and who have some kind of innovative mind set they can also
attend this courses or attend this lecture and can get benefited by the discussions that will
have during the course or the discussion or knowledge sharing that we will have during
the course, even you can write to me with your suggestions we can do little bit of
modification all also, in the delivery content of the course. So, that it is beneficial to all
the learners who have registered for the course.

So value engineering is a very you can say important aspect in any design process and
we will see that what do we know about value engineering, how much knowledge has
been develop about value engineering, what are the various case studies related to value

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engineering and how the concepts and practice of value engineering can help us to
optimize our product design and make our product more competitive in the market.

So value engineering aspects we will be covering the advantages applications and

applications specially in product development, then we will see value engineering
problem identification and selection analysis of the functions or anatomy of the function
we will study.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:38)

So there are different types of functions like primary function, secondary function,
tertiary function, necessary function, unnecessary functions. So, we will do that and we
will learn that through Functional Analysis System Technique which is a standard
technique of value engineering which is known as FAST, FAST if you Google this word
FAST you will see, so many examples of FAST you will get . So, that we will cover and
then we will see few successful case studies where the principles of value engineering
have been applied and successfully implemented across the organizations not only in
India, but across the world.

So this value engineering week will be very very important and I feed that learners will
be able to develop a completely new approach towards product design after going
through these lectures, or these sessions on value engineering. After the week 2, in week
3 our focus will be to develop the skills related to product design process, in this our
focus will be introduction of the various product design tools, then we will focus on

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Quality Function Deployment usually known as QFD, Computer Aided Design, Design
for Excellence, Robust Design, Design for Manufacturing, Design for Assembly and
Ergonomics in product design.

So, you can see each one of these is a subject in itself and we will try to bring together
only the most important parts of these concepts like the Design for Manufacturing, the
Design for Assembly. There are standard guidelines for keeping in mind or standard
guidelines for the engineers which help the engineers to develop the products and in
order to make it manufacturable, manufacturable we should say easily manufacturable,
easy to assemble all right. We will cover all these concepts like design for
manufacturing, design for assembly not the concept point of view, but the application
point of view.

We will try to explain, we will try to understand this with the help of examples that this
was the situation, this was the product, this was manufactured using this process, but
after applying design for manufacturing guidelines how the product design was changed
to suite to the need of the manufacturing engineer and how it became easy to
manufacture that product after redesigning it following the DFM or the DFA guidelines.

So we will take those examples in due course of time and you will develop that thought
process that if you use these guidelines how you can modify the existing products and
make their manufacturing simple or in design of a new product you will keep these
guidelines in your mind before and your manufacturing will become easier, all those
conditions we will see with the help of various case studies.

Finally, we will see the Ergonomics in product design and which is an important aspect
for example, all of you may be sitting on a chair or may be lying on your bed and
watching the TV or watching this lecture on the screen. So there has to be a concept of
ergonomics in this your next should be positioned in a way that it does not hurt you if
you are leaning in that position for half an hour.

Similarly, if you are sitting on a table the eye ball contact with the screen should be such
that your eyes don’t get tired. So, all these are basic principles of ergonomics which will
be taken care and we are designing the product. So we will see the principles of
ergonomics and our focus will not only the understanding what do we mean by
ergonomics, but we will be trying to understand that, how ergonomics can be used for

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designing the various products and we will try to see the case studies where ergonomics
has helped in the product design so, that the products have become successful.

(Refer Slide Time: 11:37)

In our last week we will focus on the design for manufacturing and assembly guidelines,
we will see product design for manual assembly suppose there is a product for example,
this camera which is recording, this complete lecture it has so many different parts I can
see there may be 200 parts that have gone into this assembly very small assembly of the
camera.

Now, what design guideline should be done, so that this assembly becomes easier it
becomes full proof and there is no problem while assembling this camera small setup,
but with so many different-different parts which have been joined together to make this
complete structure. So all those guidelines we will see that in product design what are the
guidelines for the products which have to be assembled by manual operations.

Then we will see; what are the guidelines for the products which have to be assembled
by automatic operations. So, the point is, if you see the development of the course
initially we are talking of the product designed the concepts of value engineering in
product design, and slowly we are moving towards development of the product or the
manufacturing of the product. So if you see the title of the course product design and
development, the last 2 weeks more or less will focus on developing of a prototype or

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developing of a model of the design that we have to conceptualize during the first 2
weeks.

So here you can see the design guidelines for manufacturing of metallic and nonmetallic
products, we will see suppose there is a product which has to be made by casting
operation, we have to see that when we design that product we should keep in mind that
what are the problem area associated with casting the product. So, we will keep those
things in mind while designing the product. So, during the manufacturing stage we do
not encounter any problem. So all those things will be taken care what are the standard
guidelines or rules of thumb or heuristic we should be taken into account while we are
designing the product which has to be later on manufactured by any standard
manufacturing process; it can be casting, it can be forging, it can be a sheet metal
operation, it can be a machining operation. So, we will see; what are the standard
guidelines to be taken care.

So all that will be considered in this these particular sessions on design guidelines for
manufacturing of metallic and nonmetallic products, and then we will see a very
important concept of rapid prototyping and we will see that why rapid prototyping is
important in today’s scenario, then we will see what is the concept and the advantages of
rapid prototyping. And as I have already told you our focus will primarily be on
developing the skills related to the product design process.

So we will see what are the standard manufacturing process is a standard techniques
which are used under rapid prototyping. In which we will see the working principles of
stereo lithographic apparatus, laminated object manufacturing and selective laser
sintering. And we will see that how these processors or techniques work and what type of
products or prototypes we can make out of using these processes or out of a concept of
rapid prototyping. You can see the 4 weeks are filled with lot of you can say titles lot of
sub topics, but if we go systematically we should be able to address all these points and
we should be able may be after attending the course, the deliverable should be that you
become designer who has basic concept all basic knowledge about the product
development process the techniques use for prototyping the products and the techniques
use for manufacturing the product.

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So it covers the whole you can say gambit of the product design, prototyping, and
manufacturing. So, the knowledge base required is all these 3, but even if somebody does
not have an engineering background can do this course as we are not going to delve too
much into the details of manufacturing. Ours will be a standard approach of product
design and prototyping. We will not be discussing too much of manufacturing, but the
guidelines that have to be taken care of their definitely we will see that what are the
standard guidelines to be taken care, when the product design is getting converted into a
tangible product. For example, the design of this pointer getting converted into this
pointer what are the process is that will be used we will try to understand this with the
help of certain examples and what factors should be consider or what standard guideline
should be considered then we are converting this prototype or this particular design into
a final product.

So, I think the next sessions will be much more useful because today is an introductory
session. The next sessions will be much more useful in context of the application of the
principles of product design and development. So let us now first see the introductory
part of the course that why product design is an important concept and why all engineers
and all managers and all graduates should know this concept. Because idea can come to
anybody it is idea nobody as a proprietary right on the idea; ideas are universal anybody
can develop a new idea I may have an idea, anybody who thinks fresh, who has a
innovative bent of mind can and who thinks the problems or thinks about the problems
all around is life can generate different types of ideas.

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(Refer Slide Time: 17:20)

Let us see now the basic process and why there is a need to design new product. Now
every organization has to design develop and introduce new products as a survival and
growth strategy. Now you can see if I ask you that the room in which you are sitting or
the class room where we are sitting, if you see around you may be note down the 5
products and just try to evolve that how these products have change or how the
technology related to these products has change or how the designs related to these
products have change. You will see that you will be able to write at least 10 pages on
these 5 products that initially these products use to be like this and now the products has
evolved over a period of time and has been converted into a new product.

So, that is the importance as a survival or the growth strategy companies always keep on
doing research and development always generating new and new ideas always doing
different types of innovation like; incremental innovation or the break through
innovation to come up with new and new products. So, that either they are able to
maintain their market share or they are able to grow or first is survival another is growth.
First is to ensure the survival in the market and second is to further increase their market
share by launching new and new and improvised products related to the field of
specialization.

So, that is one thing why the new products are being developed and the second thing is
the product design is conceptualization of an idea about a product and transforming of

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the idea into the reality this I have already explain that in our course we will try to see
from idea generation to it, culmination of that idea into the final product.

(Refer Slide Time: 19:16)

And to transform the idea into reality a specification about the product is prepared, this
we will try to understand when we will see in detail that how the product development
process takes place.

Now, new product design again thus, this specification is prepared by considering
different constraints such as production process, customer expectation etcetera. So, we
will see that when we will design the product we will see the constraints such as the
production process as I have already explained, that in week 4 our focus will be to see
that what are the various specifications which are dedicated to specific manufacturing
process. For example, casting that when the product has to be cast what are the
guidelines to be kept in mind if the product has to be made by forging process then what
are the guidelines to be kept in mind all that we will see, I will outline all the guidelines
that if the product is made by casting process what are the factors or guidelines to be
taken care off.

Similarly in the product design stage various aspects of the products are analyzed. Also
final decision regarding the product is taken on the basis of analysis. In week 2 we will
see value engineering which is one of the analysis tools and specifically focus on the cost
of the product. In week 1 our focus will be on the analysis procedure we will see the

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marketing aspects the product characteristics like durability and dependability the
economic accepts and we will see the various reliability aspects. Those all aspects
broadly we call them the analysis of the product, you have an idea then you have to
analyze it using the standard technique and the standard analysis procedures are
followed. I have just give an example of few standard procedures that are followed to
analyze the product. So, that analysis is also an important part of the product design then
this decision can be any aspect related to the product for example, dimension and
tolerance is type of material for each component.

So when we do the analysis we will undergo all these things we will see that what should
be the dimension of the product, what should be the tolerances specified for that product,
that product should be made of a which type of material, and further wether each
component should be made up of the same material or it should be made up of different
material. Now if you try to relate this concept of product development with your life you
can see you may be right now using a desktop or a laptop for using for listening to this
particular discussion.

Now, you can see the materials the one can have a metallic body to the laptop; one can
have a plastic body to a desktop. So, why there two different materials, type of selection
of material is also very very important. Some of you may be using a pen to write down
some points now some pens may be having a metallic body, some pens may be having a
plastic body, some may be even using a pencil to do the same task. Now it means that
selection of a material for a particular product is also equally important so, all that also
we will see when we will do the product analysis.

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(Refer Slide Time: 22:09)

Now, again I am coming to the same point because that is the most important point if you
are doing a course on product design and development. First answer you should have in
your mind is that why new products are required, when we are leaving very comfortable
life, we are having the close to we are having food to eat we are having a house to leave,
then why there is need for new and new products. We should try to understand that why
new products are required as I have already told you that there is a need for the
companies to either survive or to grow. So therefore, new products is a necessity for the
organizations to keep their business going.

So these points further highlight the need of a new product design I will just read it for
you, Organizations are required to design the new products for the following reasons, to
be in the business for a long time, which we can say is a survival for the company if they
do not come with the new products. They will parish there is the very famous saying if
you do not absolute your product, you will be absoluted from the market, what does that
mean that mean that you have to automatically or you should make your product
absolute and come up with a new product, otherwise you will be absoluted, you will lose
your business and I do not want to name here, but there are number of companies in
India which were not able to come up with innovative new designs of their products and
ultimately were eliminated from the market.

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So, you can yourself think this can be assignment problem that you can find out 5 Indian
companies which did not innovate and finally lost business. So, that can be one particular
question in one of the assignments. So you can see first is the survival strategy for the
company to satisfy unfulfilled needs of the customers. So, there can be so many example,
I will discuss in the next lectures where there was a need that existed in the market and
there were companies which satisfied those needs and made huge profits out of it.

So, the second reason for New Product Design process or product design developing a
new product is to satisfy unfulfilled needs of the customers, third is too much
competition in the existing product line. So, too you should write t double O too, so too
much competition in the existing product line. So that is another thing because of the
competition. When we will see the product life cycle, when we will draw that product
life cycle you will see that there is a maturity phase in which there is a competition by
the various companies. So, all that competitions also leads to if you see the automotive
market very you good examples are there a companies making initially two variants only,
but because of the competition setting, they divided their product variety or product line
into 4-5 different automobiles.

So, the examples are well known to all of you. So, competition also leads to the new
product development the profit margin is on the decline. So, that is also one good reason
for coming up with the new product and these profit margins and the too much
competition these 2 points are related to the product life cycle. So, when we will come to
product life cycle I will explain these 2 points again there that why the competition leads
to new product development and why the profit margin leads to new product
development or the decline in the profit margin leads to new product development and
the last point here is the company’s existing product line becomes saturated and the sale
is on the decline. So, that is also one good reason for coming up with new product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 25:49)

Now, how much importance should we give to the design is very easily or very
importantly explained in this particular slide you can see how the product design and
manufacturing influence the price quality and cycle time. So, 70 - 80 percent influence is
exercised by design and only to 20 - 30 percent of the you can say influence is shown by
or has been reported by manufacturing what does this mean this means that most of the
things get logged at the design stage only not design the output will be in the form of a
drawing which will have a bill of materials. So, you will get that this particular product
will be made by this material by this process this many may be nuts and bolts and screws
will be used for this product. So, most of the things get freezed or most of the things get
fixed at the product design stage only.

So once the things get freezed, the things get fixed your price also gets fixed, quality of
the products also gets fixed, and the cycle time also more or less gets fixed. So, the
influence major is of the design and then the manufacturing also has some influence of
20 to 30 percent. If you remember in today’s class only in the very beginning I said that
our engineer should focus more on the design philosophy or the design thinking rather
than manufacturing. Now as a country as a whole we are seeing that we are
manufacturing all the automobiles wherever design input into those automobiles is very
less. So, that we need to improve and therefore, we are running such type of course,
where we can slightly improve or slightly influence the design thinking of our engineers
or our budding engineers.

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So, this is you can see a very important diagram we show the design is an important
aspect for any product manufacturing yes 20 to 30 percent only design may be 70 to 80
percent influence not only on the price, but the quality and the cycle time. So, this thing
has to be taken care of, this you can see a just a most simplistic example of the design of
a bicycle you can see from 1818 to 1970 how the design of the cycle as evolved over the
period of time and current may be this is showing this figure taken from this source is
showing the design of the product till 1970s only. If you see the cycles coming into 2016
2017 the design may have further changed from this design of the mid 1970s.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:24)

So, you can see change in the design 1969 the rear wheel is bigger the front wheel is
smaller 1870 the front wheel is bigger the rear wheel is smaller and then equal size
wheels.

So, how the design can evolve may be why there was so many design changes and still
there are design change is continuing in the design of the bicycle why, we need to
improve on the comfort of the rider, we need to improve on the efficiency of the rider, we
want need improve on the effectiveness with which our force is getting converted or our
power is getting converted into motion. So, we need to optimize all these things we need
to optimize based on the ergonomic principles. Therefore, the design as evolved over so
many periods so many years and current design may not be the final design may be
another 20 years we may even see an improvised design of a bicycle.

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So, it is not that if we are using the particular product there is no scope of design change
the design change can always happened and change is always should be or change
should always be for the betterment usually we say change is the only truth. So, change
is inevitable and we have to always keep on looking for changes or looking for the
opportunities where we can further improved the durability, the dependability, the
efficiency, the effectiveness of the products. And for that reason only we are under going
this small module of 10 hours which can further influence our design thinking and we
can come up with ideas which can satisfy some needs of the society.

(Refer Slide Time: 30:10)

Now, all of us have so many ideas, but the reasons for new product failure usually the
mortality rate of the ideas is maybe I should say that if you generate 100 ideas only 2
ideas will finally, we come successful product. So, there can be so, many ideas floating
around us, but only 2 percent of the ideas will reach to the market and the 90 percent of
the ideas will die down. So, what can be the reasons that if you have an idea, but it is not
becoming a successful product. So, with the knowledge available in the various books on
product design this is a summary of the reasons, which lead to the poor design first one is
the over estimation of the market size usually being for most optimistic in nature usually
we say that the product that we are designing is going to have a bang effect on the market
and is going to become the most successful product. So, we overestimate the market size
and it leads to the product failure.

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Second is the poor design of the product. So, we are going we may not discuss this first
aspect much in detail because it is related to the marketing aspects, but we will be
focusing on the design aspects. So, we will see that what is the poor design and what is
the good design, than the incorrect positioning of the product, wrong timing of launch it
is prized too high if the product is not competitive cost wise then maybe we may not be
able to capture too much of market and the product may not be successful. So, the price
is also important in effective promotion, again related to sales and promotion,
management influence, high development cost and competition. So, the development
cost is important so we will further see that how we can economize, how we can
optimize the development cost of the product.

So, management influence is also equally important because sometimes if you have the
complete support of the management the product may be is advertised properly, is
marketed properly is given preference by the company which is a multi product company
and therefore, the product gains in the market and it leads to the success of the product,
but if the management is little bit apprehensive about the product. And there is not
complete or management support for the product then sometimes it may lead to valuable
that percentage of such cases maybe very very minimal.

The major factors in this particular case are the point number 2 that is product design and
the second can be the high development cost and third is the competition and may be to
some extend the wrong timing of launching the product. So, majorly these 4 points we
will try to address in our subsequent lectures and try to see that how we can take care of
these 4 points and make a come up with a design which leads to success in the market so
that we will try to see.

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(Refer Slide Time: 33:11)

Now, this is just a basic concept we will have one complete session on the product
development process, but this is just an outline that how to develop a new product. We
have first the Idea generation as I have already told you brain storming can be one
method of idea generation or reading different articles related to the new products can be
one good method of idea generation, then sometimes looking at the needs around you
can be a very good method of idea generation. So, idea generation is the first thing.

Second is a screening of ideas may be we will come up with the better ideas and take
them to the next level then the concept development and testing we will develop a
complete concept about that product it can be a rough sketch of that product just with the
pencil we will draw down what is there in our mind regarding that product rough sketch
of the product will lead to the concept.

Then the marketing strategy development suppose we have that concept and we have
developed it we will try to figure out the needs and requirements of people or the
customers who were going to used that product, business analysis a complete business
plan BP usually we call that can be develop that, how much product should be sold in the
market to reach to the breakeven else is, how much money should be invested to develop
this idea into a tangible product all those things will be sorry; all those things will be
discuss that the Business analysis level, then the Product development, Test marketing
and Commercialization.

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Should I tell you that this is not the standard approach which is true in case of each and
every product different segments of the products are there, and different segments of
product different such approaches will be there, but we will try to develop a thought that
for any idea what are the standard methods for developing or bringing that idea into
reality or bringing that idea into a tangible product. So, this may not be the standard
approach in different books you may find different approaches of product development
and we will try to take out the best out of each approach or you can say summary of all
these approaches and try to develop our thoughts related to the product development
process.

(Refer Slide Time: 35:20)

Now, for any successful product development they are 5 characteristics which we should
keep in mind first one is a Product quality, Product cost, Development time,
Development cost, and the Development capability. So, these are the 5 keywords for
making successful products. So, our focus should be on quality, cost, time,
manufacturing cost, and the capability of the company. So if we can make best to
possible utilization of the development capacity of a company, we can a definitely come
up with the products or should I say successful products and that is the only target that
we should come up with successful products.

(Refer Slide Time: 36:07)

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Now slightly I would like to introduce today a concept of product life cycle because this
is important for the product development process or the new product development
process and then may be in the next session we will have a complete discussion related
to the product life cycle. The product life cycle is the course that a product sales and
takes profits take over it is lifetime. So, again I will read it for you slightly I was a bit not
correct in reading it product life cycle is the course that a products sales and profits take
over it is lifetime in the next slide I will show you how a typical product life cycle looks
like and second point is the product life cycle concept is derived from a fact that a given
products volume and revenue follow a typical pattern of 4 phases.

Now, what are these 4 phases that we are going to see? So, how the sales of a product
will change when it is lost into the market over a period of time that is usually called the
product life cycle and there are typical behavior, which is observed for general type of
products and that behavior we try to analyze and use it for our decision making related to
the product development strategy and product development process.

21
(Refer Slide Time: 37:17)

So next slide we can see the 4 phases of life cycle of a product are: first one is on the y-
axis we see annual sales volume and on x-axis is the time, this is the time and the annual
sales volume. The 4 phases of life cycles of a product are first one is Introduction,
Growth, Maturity or Stabilization, and Decline again to revise introduction growth
maturity and decline. So, any product which is launched in the market will definitely
undergo these 4 stages or the sales of that product or the demand of that product will go
through these 4 stages for starting from introduction, growth, maturity, and finally
decline. And these type of information or these type of cycles usually will help us in our
decision making related to the new product development.

So, I will finish today’s session here with the brief very brief introduction of product life
cycle, but in the next session we will definitely see product life cycle in detail and we
will try to understand that what type of decisions we can make based on the product life
cycle. So, to revise what we have covered into today’s class I have given you brief
outline of the topics that we are going to cover in this course on product design and
development, then I have try to address why new products have to be develop we have
taken an example of a cycle that how it has evolved over a period of time.

And finally, we have seen that what are the major reasons that lead to the failure of the
product and in the last slide we have just seen a brief we can say in order to continuity
among the lectures we have just seen that there is a product life cycle and the annual

22
sales of the product changes over a period of time and how the changes how the product
annual sales changes over a period of time in case of general products or in case of
tangible products has been given. So, there are 4 stages first one is the introduction,
second one is the growth, third one is the maturity, and fourth one is the decline.

So, next lecture we will see that what decisions we can take off, if we have a product life
cycle of a product available or a similar product available with us. So, thank you very
much we will may be now interact again in lecture number two which will be related to
the product life cycle.

Thank you.

23
 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 02
Product Life-Cycle

Namaskar. Welcome to the second lecture on our course on Product Design and
Development. If you remember in the first lecture we have seen the introductory part of
product design and development, today we are going to study or we are going to discuss
a second important part that is the product life cycle. Why we are discussing the product
life cycle? Because it has a strong bearing or strong influence on the product design and
development, in the last lecture if you remember we have just finished with the diagram
of product life cycle. So, we have not considered the various phases of the product life
cycle.

But today we will discuss that what are the various stages or phases of the product life
cycle and we will try to understand that how these phases influence the various strategies
the various decisions of any organization which is involved in producing products for
making profits. So, let us go one by one and quickly try to understand the basic
philosophy the basic decision making process based on the product life cycle.

(Refer Slide Time: 01:36)

24
Now, let us see this slide was shown yesterday also, the product life cycle you can see is
the course that a product sales and profits take over its lifetime. We will see with the help
of a diagram that how the product sales vary with respect to time, and based on this time
what are the various phases of product cycle or the product life cycle. So, we will try to
understand that with the help of a diagram.

So, first point is the course or the trajectory that a product sales and profits take over its
lifetime. The second point is, it shows the stages that products go through from
development to the decline from the market. So, we need to understand somebody may
question that what do you understand by product life cycle, many a time student start
answering from conceptualization of the idea then testing of the idea and then coming up
with the concept design then detailed design of the products, all those things are not
considered in the life cycle.

Life cycle is that the product is born, it is developed and then it declines or may be the
sales of the product decline over a period of time. It attains a maturity level means a sales
of the product attains a maturity level and finally, it declines or the sales or the profits
related to the product decline. So, it is a starting phase is the development, many a times
in many different books you will find that the even development stage is not considered
in the product life cycle.

Basically they will show the introduction of the product into the market how the sales are
effected during that stage, then the growth of the demand or the growth of the sale how
the sales are influenced at that particular time. Finally, the maturity level and the decline.
So, majorly it is the behaviour of the product when it has been lost in the market at the
trajectory is drawn based on the data that is the sales data, or the revenue data or the
profit data based on the product.

25
(Refer Slide Time: 03:44)

So, let us quickly see that what are the various stages of or the various phases of product
life cycle, but before going to that, let us see one important slide that why do we need to
study the product life cycle, our course is on product design and development. So, why
we need to understand the product life cycle? So, these are the few points which have
been or you can say complied for this purpose.

Now, PLC or the product life cycle determines the revenue earned. So, suppose our
revenue is declining over a period of time, what do we need to do? We need to have a
relook at that product; we need to redesign that product so that the revenues may
increase. No company wants to do business for losses. So, each company would like to
make as much profit as possible, and that only possible if your revenue that you are
earning from the product increases over a period of time.

But suppose your PLC will help us that how much revenue we are earning, and suppose
during the drawing the product life cycle we see that the sales are declining the profits
are going down, at that time we need to take a very hard decision to either shelf that
product to leave to stop the production of that particular product or to come up with the
relatively new or a redesigned or innovative product to replace the old product for which
the revenue is decreasing.

So, point number one is PLC determines the revenue earned in a way it helps us in
decision making related to the product design. Second point contributes to strategic

26
marketing planning. So, we need to see that how the sales are for the last six months for
the last one year, and it can help us to make our marketing plans, the advertisement
policy that discounts all those decisions can be taking based on the product life cycle.

Next point: it helps the firms or the companies or the organizations to identify when a
product needs support redesign withdrawal etcetera. So, it completely helps the
companies to make a product policy that at what particular time interval, they will
withdraw the product from the market or they will launch a redesigned product in the
market or they will support the product with some aggressive or proactive marketing
policy like giving some discounts or giving some additional benefits to the customer. So,
the product life cycle will help the company to identify all these things, related to the
timing of reintroduction of the product, related to the withdrawal of the product related to
the redesign of the product.

So, therefore, also product life cycle becomes important for this course on product design
and development, because a redesigning part is coming into picture. I think I have told in
the last class that there are two types of innovations, incremental innovation and
breakthrough innovation. So, incremental innovations are always possible, when why
that the product life cycle will be able to tell us that when do we need to redesign our
product.

Next point on your screen the product life cycle helps in planning for the new product
development. So, the timing as well as the policy related to the new product can easily be
decided based on the product life cycle. And the last point see, last point helps in
forecasting and managing the cash flow. How this will help you? Because suppose you
have a product life cycle you know that initially the sales are maybe some number maybe
x, after 6 months the sales are x plus delta x, after maybe 1 year or one and a half year
the sales at x plus three delta x.

Now, when you know that how much is the demand in the market or how much is the
sale in the market, you can make your policies procurement policies of the raw materials
which are being used for making the product accordingly, and that will help you to
manage your cash flow. So, it will help in forecasting also, it will help in managing the
cash flow also. So, you can procure the materials you can hire the people accordingly

27
because you know that this is going to be the behaviour of the product when it is going to
be launched in the market.

So, all these points and there can be additional points also that we may not be able to
discuss because of the paucity of time, but these are the most important points which
help us in decision making related to this topic or related to this you can say overall
product life cycle of a product. Now in today’s class our major focus is to understand
that: what are the various stages of product life cycle, and what decisions we can take
based on the various stages of this PLC.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:36)

Now, the various phases these are the most common phases in all the different books you
will find majorly these phases only. First is the product development usually in the
beginning of product life cycle, then the introduction or launch of the product into the
market, then you have growth, maturity and the decline. So, you have four, majorly 5
phases, but in most common product life cycles you will see the 4 phases only or the four
stages from introduction to the decline.

28
(Refer Slide Time: 09:07)

So, let us see with the help of a diagram, on your screen you can see a more simplistic
diagram for the product lifecycle. This is sales and profits on y axis and the time on the x
axis, similar diagram I have shown in lecture number one also. So, you can see first
phase is product development; second stage is introduction, growth, maturity and
decline. So, you can see here red color graph I think it is clear on your screen is for sales
and the blue color graph is for the profits. So, clearly evident that during the
development of the product you do not make much profit therefore, you have a negative
product, negative graph for the profits.

But once the product is introduced into the market the profits start to increase. And you
can see there is an area in which the profits are maximum this stages when the product
has reached the maturity stage. So, at the maturity stage the profits are maximum. So,
here we can see that introduction stage this product starts to grow, the sales of the
product start to grow and in the growth stage you see an incremental increase in the sales
of the product and finally, in the decline stage the product dies down, the sales of the
product completely dies down. So, we need to understand the importance of all these
phases, phase number 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 majorly we will focus on these four stages in this
lecture because we are focusing on product life cycle.

The product development part may be we will focus in the other lecture in which we will
talk about the product development process in totality. So, today our focus will be on

29
introduction growth, maturity and decline. So, here you can see in the maturity stage the
sales are maximum, similarly the profits are also maximum. So, it is a kind of good
feeling for the company when the product has achieved a maturity level, but it sends a
word of caution also because after the maturity. When your profits are maximum profits
are maximum sales are also maximum the product sales decline as well as the profits as
evident also declined.

So, our focus has to be in this area and we have to take decisions accordingly. So, that we
do not go into this declining stage and we come up with the innovative or a new product
or advanced version of the existing product, in order to maintain the supremacy in the
market. So, let us see analyze each one of these stages one by one.

Now, first one is a product development stage we will just have overview of this stage
what happens in the product development stage? There are new ideas market surveys are
done.

(Refer Slide Time: 12:02)

Product development and refinement test marketing is done analysis of the test
marketing results and preparation for launch publicity and marketing campaign. So, more
or less whatever product we have conceptualized we have done the initial design the
detailed design the prototyping the testing, most of the things are already done.

30
Now in this stage we have maybe the market services the product development and
refinement may be the initial test marketing is done for example, many times you see
with a magazine you get a very small sachet of a hair gel or a hair oil or a hair shampoo
and you just test it. So, that kind and then you can give your feedback online back to the
company. So, that kind of test marketing is done in order to understand that how the
customers are accepting this product in the market or how they are reacting to a new
product in the market.

So, all that is done during the product development stage and you can see analysis of the
test marketing result the example that I have given with a feedback that is received from
the customers. Is analyzed during the test marketing results and finally, when you get
good reviews for the product, it is then asked it maybe then lost into the market and then
the real test of the product starts as soon as it enters a completely new market.

So, this is product development stage and in one of our lectures in week number one only
we will focus on the product development process, and we will see what are the
important stages for designing a new product, and in that way will see that how an idea is
conceptualized what are the problem areas related to the idea generation, then how the
ideas are tested for various criteria, and then how the prototyping is done and finally,
how the product is launched into the market.

So, all those answers we will try to find out during the product development process, and
it is a long process and may I have told you that in many cases it may take maybe 6 years
to 15 years for the complete product to be developed and launched in the market, but
right now we are considering that the product or the prototype is already ready, and we
are now launching going to launch it into the market, and then plot the sales of the
product with respect to time in the product life cycle. And each stage is going to give us
some input related to our decision making regarding the design of the product.

So, let us quickly see the second stage that is the introduction or launch. So, we already
have the technology for producing the product, we have done the test marketing and
finally, we are launching the product in the market.

31
(Refer Slide Time: 14:40)

Now, let us see what do we do in the introduction or in the introduction stage what are
the factors to be taken care off or how to take a decision related to the product life cycle
in launching of the product.

So, first thing is introduction of the product into the market, it is evident I have told you
already, it may be a new product or an old product to the new market. So, sometimes
there may be product for example, these days the economies have opened up there are
multinational products entering into different countries.

So, may be you are taking example of India, we may not be using a particular brand of
car or a particular model of a car. So, the company has already launched number of car
models, but there may be a new model which that company is bringing to India which
was not being used here but that model was already existing in some other countries. So,
when that is being launched that will fall under the old product the product is new to
India, but it is an old product of the company and it is into the new market. So, Indian
market is a new market for that product of the car.

So, sometimes a company may be coming up with a completely new product of the
company has designed a prodigious fabricated model, tested and it is being launched. So,
all situations different product life cycles will be there. If it is a new product the product
life cycle will be drawn for that maybe some data will be required to draw the life cycle
why because in this point it is important to understand that we are plotting the sales data.

32
So, there should be some input regarding the sales data. If you try to understand that if
we are drawing a product life cycle for a specific product, which has been launched in
2015, so, January 2017 we have the data of sales of that product which was launched in
January 2015. So, two-year data is available with us.

So, based on the 2-year data we can draw a product life cycle that how the sales have
varied for the last two years. Similarly, the same company is going to launch a similar
type or a modified version of that product. So, they already have the data of 2 years that
how the product has behaved in the market. So, all that data is useful to us when we are
going to draw a product life cycle for a new product, and then we can as we have seen
there was a word which is very important in products in production planning and control
that is forecasting. So, we can make use of that forecast that how the product is going to
behave based on the PLC of a similar product which has already been launched, and we
have the actual sales data for that product.

So, that will be helpful to us in our decision making related to managing our cash flow
and other things. So, you can see we in the introduction stage we may be launching a
new product and or an old product, but into a completely new market. So, in this case the
demand is going to be low if you have seen the diagram let me go back to the diagram,
you can see introduction stage the demand of the sales is low. So, this completely
explains that the demand is low then the cost is high, high cost for any product if you see
especially in electronics market when you have new products you have products like
mobile phones, all of us have experienced this whenever a new mobile phone is launched
the product cost is high, but over a period of time the cost is then stabilizes and even
comes down.

So, during the introduction stage the cost is high, sales are low sorry as it is clear.
Advertisement and promotion is done very vigorously and then we the companies
monitor the initial sales of the product, there may be teething troubles, there may be a
software problem in the product there may be some service requirements in the very
initial stage of the product.

So, all these are the characteristics of the introduction stage which we need to understand
in a product lifecycle. So, once again I will read it for you. So, in the introduction stage
introduction of a new product into the market, it may be a new product or a old product

33
to the new market I have tried to explain with the help of a car example then the demand
is low in this period high costs are there for the product advertisement and promotion is
foremost and most important part, and then the company usually monitors the initial
sales of the product in order to take the decisions related to how vigorously they need to
advertise and market the product in the market.

(Refer Slide Time: 19:18)

And these are the summary of characteristics and objectives, you can see sales are low
costs or high profits are negative as we have seen in the diagram, and then the marketing
objectives create product awareness and trial. So, we have seen stage number 1 that is
product development, stage number 2 that is introduction and a launch.

Now, let us go to the third stage that is growth. Now if you remember the product life
cycle, in the growth stage the sales increase and when the sales will increase
automatically the profits will also increase. So, let us see what are the characteristics in
this period.

34
(Refer Slide Time: 19:52)

This period is the time to improve the efficiency and product availability as well as
service. So, when the sales are increasing it means there is demand in the market.

So, we need to ensure the product availability as well as the service that if there are some
initial problems, there may be tackled and the product performs reliably because the
growth stage by word of mouth the auto marketing is also done, and many people may
like to adopt this new product which has been launched in the market. The service also is
important, availability of the product is also important and it is a time to improve the
efficiency.

I am emphasizing on the time to improve the efficiency because we will be discussing in

week 2, the value concept of value engineering or the value engineering principles as
applied to product design. At that point this thing will become all the more important that
why do we need to improve the efficiency of the product during the growth stage, and
there I will explain that it is important because the competition will start to set in, and
here also we will see sales growth rate increases because of limited or no competition.

But as soon as the growth stage reaches its pinnacle value or the highest value, the
competition steps to certain or it comes up with all the other companies also venture into
the similar area and therefore, there is competition at the end of the growth stage. During
the growth stage there is no competition and therefore, the sales increased unilaterally.

35
So, first thing is this is a period or this is the time to improve the efficiency and product
availability as well as service. So, improve efficiency we will discuss during value
engineering, cost efficiency, time to market pricing and discount policies are the major
factors in gaining the customer confidence. So, all these four parameters the cost
efficiency as compared to the competitors, time to market means suppose today I want to
buy a motorbike.

There was a monopolistic type of business environment few years back, if you want to
buy a bike, you have to go just book the bike you may get it after 2 months, but that is
not the scenario today a customer wants the bike if he goes makes the payment through
check or through transfer he wants the bike at the same moment only. So, the time to
market has become very very important that the company should be able to satisfy the
demand of the customer with there and then only, if he comes to the showroom and he
wants to buy the bike the bike should be available there. So, that is the time to market
has to be minimum.

Similarly, the pricing and discount policies of the company also play an important role
during the growth stage. Suppose the company is not able to tap the increase in the sales
volume, then or the demand that the product has created because of the success at the
introduction stage, the growth will only come if the product is successful during the
introduction stage.

Now, suppose the product fails during the introduction stage, there are many problems
related to the product. The product sales will never increase during the growth stage. So,
all those things if the product has satisfied all the requirements the specifications and it
has tested positive for the customer’s requirement only then we will go to the growth
stage. And once we are in to the growth stage in order to maintain that increase in the
growth, we need to satisfy the pricing and the discount policies. So, that that trajectory
that the product sales have taken after the introduction stage, continues for a longer
period of time.

So, the second point is very very clear these are the parameters or the factors or the
criteria to be taken care of during the growth stage. Then the increased customer
awareness we have to ensure that that is a marketing strategy, the sales growth rate
increases because of limited or no competition which I have already told, that there is no

36
competition usually during the growth stage, but as soon as you reach the top point of the
growth stage there may be some competition which may start to set in.

Then the revenue also increases. So, we have seen the profit graph also deliberately we
have drawn the sales and the profit graph in order to justify the increase in the revenue.
So, when the sales will increase, the revenue earned will also increase. So, most of the
companies want their product to be always in the growth stage, because the revenue is
high the cost that we the price that we can keep can be high because of the monopolistic
nature ok.

(Refer Slide Time: 24:42)

So, this is growth - that is a phase 3. So, this is summary of growth phase sales you can
see sales rapidly rising, cost per customer is average. So, the costs usually should come
down during the growth stage as we are going to reinvent our pricing policies during this
period, profits are rising, and marketing objective should be to maximize the market
share by proper advertisements and by giving proper customer awareness.

37
(Refer Slide Time: 25:15)

So, this is stage three and then the last fourth stage not the last stage is decline, the fourth
stage is the maturity stage. In maturity this period is the period of the highest returns
from the product because if you remember if you have seen the product life cycle with a
little bit of interest, you will see the top portion is the highest sale and that comes during
the maturity stage. So, the sales are highest therefore, the profits that we gain are also
highest sales reach the peak; so highest sales at the maturity level.

Marketing cost of the product declines now the company customers have already got all
the information related to the product. So, the company does not want to do too much of
aggressive marketing, and they want to stick with increasing the efficiency of making the
product, increasing the effectiveness of converting the raw materials into the final
product. So, they are not much bothered about the marketing because the marketing is
already from the word of mouth at the maturity stage.

So, marketing cost of the product declines ratio of revenue to cost is high yes that is true,
sales growth likely to be low because sales growth is merely constant only if you have
reached to the top portion. So, your sales growth is likely to be low, competition likely to
be greater as I have told you after the growth stage the competition in starts to set in, the
competition increases during the maturity stage and the company needs to monitor the
market changes, and you can see there is a question mark here they have to think of the

38
new strategies why? Because the sales have reached the top point and for a period of
time there is no increase further in the sales.

So, the company has to rethink their strategies now, they have to see that at what point of
time they should withdraw the product from the market or at what point of time they
should launch a new product into the market. So, that again they go into the growth stage
and start making profit. So, although the profits are maximum here you can see the ratio
of revenue to cost is high and the highest returns are there during this phase.

But because of the competition many a times the organizations or the companies will
have to compromise on their profit component. They may have to come up like most of
the times we see 1 plus 1 free or 2 plus 1 free or maximum up to 50 percent discount. So,
what the companies are doing they are trying to compromise on their profit to keep their
sales high. So, at that point we need to think very strategically that should we continue
with the same product for which the sales have almost become stagnant or we should try
to launch a new product or design a new product so that we are able to further push the
sales of the product or further increase the revenue with the existing product by a little
bit of redesigning or repackaging or rethinking.

So, we need to at that time develop our strategy accordingly. So, this is the most
important phase and the new strategy development or the new product development is
most important during this stage.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:19)

39
Then the summary of the maturity phase sales are at its peak, costs are low per customer,
profits are high and marketing objectives. So, we maximize the profits while defending
the market share. So, that is you can see marketing objective, we need to maximize the
profits while defending the market share.

So, if you do not have proper pricing policies, if you do not have proper decision making
related to the product, there may be chances that our market share may fall down, and it
generally happens that we can see in the last stage that is decline stage. So, if we are not
careful enough to plan our strategy according to the market environment, that sales are
definitely going to go down. And if the sales are going to go down what else a star will
also go down the profit curve will also start to go down.

So, in the decline stage the competitors enter the market with better product features
what does that mean? The company has a better product design and therefore, we are
talking of the features.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:29)

So, our product is facing competition from the product of their competitors. So, they may
have come up with the advanced technology, they may have come up with the reduced
prices therefore, the size of our product are now falling flat or are coming down. Sales
start declining as I have already said marketing cost of product increases rises and
decision to withdraw may be dependent on availability of new products and whether the
fashion trends will come around again.

40
So, in many cases we have we know that the fashions may come again or trends may
come again. So, this may be related to one particular segment of industry, but in most of
the cases if the product sales decline the company has to reject their product or redesign
their product or reinvent their product in order to be competitive in the market. So, there
are a number of strategies that the company has to adopt at various stages of the product
life cycle.

(Refer Slide Time: 30:35)

So, let us see now the decline phase sales declining, costs low cost per customer, it was
achievable in the maturity stage also, profits also start to decline and marketing
objectives are reduced the expenditure and milk the brand. So, maybe just they want to
take advantage of the brand value and keep the product in the market, but the sales are
not increasing. So, the sales are declining.

Last is the strategies based on the product life cycle. So, we have seen that there are four
or five important stages in the product life cycle, and at each stage we can have different
types of policies or strategies, but maybe since we are talking of a product that is our
course on product design and development therefore, we can see based on the product at
the introduction stage, they usually companies offer the basic product during the growth
stage.

41
(Refer Slide Time: 31:22)

They offer the product extension service warranty, in the maturity stage they diversify
the brands or the models may be redesigned reinvent the design, and during the decline
stage they phase out the weak products, whatever products are not performing well can
be phased out and whatever products are performing well they can be redesigned
reinvented or certain incremental innovations can be used to that the product again into
the wish list of the customers.

So, these are the four you can say stage wise strategies related to the product, similarly
the marketing and advertisement people can take care of the other four criteria, that is the
price the distribution, the advertisement or the advertising and the sales promotions. This
may be the marketing policy of any organization, but related to the product these are the
decisions which any engineer or engineering professional has to take in the company.

So, in today’s class we have seen in detail the product life cycle what are the various
stages of the product life cycle and what are the important decisions characteristics
objectives at each stage of the product life cycle. Our focus in the next class would be the
product development process and the selection of profitable products, and how or what
criteria we should keep in mind when we are going to come up with the product ideas,
and how those products success can be ensured by using the systematic planning as well
as execution.

42
So, with this we come to an end of today’s lecture. So, we will discuss maybe the
product development process in our next lecture.

Thank you.

43
 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 03
Product Policy of an Organization and Selection of a Profitable Product

Namaskar. Welcome to this 3rd lecture on this course on Product Design and
Development. As we are aware that we have already finished two series or two lectures
already in this week one, on the topic of introduction to the course on Product Design
and Development, as well as we have also covered the product life cycle.

As you are aware that in product life cycle we have seen that there are 4 phases or 4
stages, 4 major stages usually. In many books you will find product development also as
one of the stages. But in general there are 4 stages of product life cycle that is the
introduction or the launch, then the growth, the maturity and finally the decline.

Now, for every product there is a product life cycle and based on the product life cycle
the organizations have to take decisions. Now these decisions may vary from withdrawal
of the product from the market to redesign a product or to launch a variable product or
different type of a product then the already existing product in the market. So, means a
company can take different types of decision, they can withdraw the product from the
market, they can reinvent or do incremental innovations add some additional functions to
the product, or additional feature and launch it as a new product, or they can finally,
come up with a completely new product by eliminating this product from the market.

So, different opportunities exist for the company to come up again in the market in order
to capture or to maintain the market share or to capture the market share with a different
type of a product. Now what should be the policy of an organization in order to be
successful related to the product development and design although there will be number
of dimensions in which the company can focus and have strategy for being successful,
but our topic is limited to product design and development. So, our focus area will be to
see what company can do in context of the products it is manufacturing. So, that it can be
successful.

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So, we are not going into delve more into the marketing aspects or the financial aspects
we are going to delve more into the product design aspects. So, the title of today’s lecture
as you can see on your screen is product policy of an organization and selection of a
profitable product should I say or must I say that there is no thumb rule or no standard
process which can help a company to find out a successful product that it should launch
and it becomes successful. It is more or less based on the estimates forecast and need of
the people as well as the brand image of the company. So, there are so many
combinations of parameters which affect the success of a product, but we will see as I
had told you in the previous 2 sessions that our focus will be to learn more and more
techniques that can help us to make systematic decisions or logical decisions.

So, our focus would be to learn skills which can help us to take decisions which are more
logical and scientific in nature. In that regard we will cover today SWOT analysis that is
strength weaknesses opportunities and threat and we will try to relate it to the product
development process. So, with that background let us start with the presentation we will
first go through the product policy of an organization and then we will go to the selection
of a profitable product. So, first part the today’s presentation is divided into 2 major part,
part number one is the product policy of an organization and the part number 2 is the
selection of a profitable product.

(Refer Slide Time: 04:20)

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Now, as per the product policy of an organization you can see the product policy is the
top management decisions, must I tell you that there are 3 levels of decision making or 3
levels of planning in or any organization. So, let me explain this with the help of a
diagram.

(Refer Slide Time: 04:45)

So, usually there are 3 levels of planning in any organization. If we take y-axis, x-axis
and if on x-axis we take time and on y-axis we take responsibility maybe we can say
responsibility to take decisions, then there are generally 3 levels of planning just I am
drawing it for you here and this is high risk.

Now, the first level of planning is the Strategic planning, second level of planning is the
Corporate planning and third level of planning is the Operational planning. So, you can
see that there are different levels of planning and the risk involved is also different. So,
you can see at the strategic level planning you have high risk, at the operational level
planning you have low risk. So, the time dimension also the strategic dimension is a long
term decision. So, long term decision mean you may be planning for the next 5 years or
the next 10 years whereas, in corporate level planning you maybe planning for the next 3
to 5 years, and in operational level planning you will be planning for the next 1 or 2
years.

So, you can see the very first point this diagram came to my mind in context of the first
point that product policy is the top management decision, which means the product

46
design decision that what type of product the company is going to launch will depend
upon the strategic level of management or that we see as the top management decision.
So this is the top management decision the responsibility regarding that decision lies
with the strategic level of management and the risk involved is also higher, because if the
product fails the company will fail or will suffer huge losses which we may lay at a later
stage become difficult to compensate for.

So we can see here the point number 1 that the Product policy is the top management
decision I have tried to explain with the help of this diagram. It is the strategic decision,
every organization has it is own product strategies or policies we will see in the
subsequent slide, but what factors govern these strategies and policies each company will
have their own policy we will see with some examples that what are the policies of the
organizations

Then these policies become the unique selling proposition of the company, now the USP
of a particular company, now you can see there is a brand maybe a brand of a mobile set
I will not name on this public platform as soon as they come up with a new product there
are huge lines outside their stores right from the midnight of the day or the next day
when it is to be launched. So, you can understand that people have such confidence in
that brand that people line up to buy the product. So, you can see these policies become
the USP. So if the policy of that company is that the product will be very durable it will
be reliable, it will have high quality, maintenance free, service free.

So, with that USP the company has a advantage in the market, the same company can opt
for different policies for different products. Now there is a automobile company in India
which may probably be selling the costliest car in India, and the cheapest car in India.
So, they have different policies in respect of different products. The costliest car the
policy will be different and for the cheapest car the policy will be different. So these
points just to summarize once again let us see the product policy is the top management
decision, every organization has it is own product strategies or policies, these policies
become the USP of the company and the same company can opt for different policies for
different products.

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(Refer Slide Time: 09:42)

Now, what can be the product policies at least one or 2 examples I have already taken,
now one of the polices can be their company will target the Lowest price for that
particular product for example, the napkins or the tissue papers that we use the company
may make a policy that our product has to be cheapest in the market, but with a certain
level of quality or performance. So, the companies focuses lowest price.

Next focus can be Highest quality there can be another company where the target is that
quality has to the top class they will not bother much about the cost of the product, but
they will only be focusing on the quality of the product, then there can be a third, the
most of the companies will fall in category number 3 that is Compromise between the
cost and the quality.

So, very few companies will fall have this 2 polices, but majority of the companies may
have this policy that is compromise between the cost and the quality, and then there can
be a product policy of safety all these companies may also have safety as one of their
features, but there may be companies which will have safety as their main feature and all
other parameters miss these given slightly less weightage as compared to safety for
certain specific companies. So, we will see some examples of these policies being
followed by different organizations.

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(Refer Slide Time: 11:04)

Now let us take one by one first is the Lowest price the Lower cost is the main criteria
used to compete in the market as I have already explained the company may take this
decision that whatever is the existing competition we will come up with a product which
we will have the lowest price in the market and we will compete in performance with the
competitors. So, that is the first point that is the main criteria that cost is the main criteria
and this will become even more relevant will when we move into the next week and we
will talk about value engineering, and there we will see that for keeping the cost constant
what else options are available or what other options are available with us in order to the
competitive in the market.

So from lowest price point of view first is the lower cost, second is the Company offers
the product at a cheaper price than it is competitors I have already explained this point
then the profit is less, but the company makes the substantial profit by large volume that
is example is sanitary paper, carry bags. So, companies manufacturing these products
may focus on the lower costs. So, the cost maybe low; but the number or the volume of
sales is very high. So, the even a profit made on single volume or single product will
multiply by the number of products sold and then that will act to the revenue of the
company.

So, their target is that profit per component or per part or per product can be less that
they are going to have a huge volume or the target is to manufacture huge volume. So,

49
that the volume multiplied by the minimal profit adds to the huge revenue. So, that can
be the company policy of any organization.

(Refer Slide Time: 12:52)

Next is the highest quality you can see some organizations offer highest quality products
irrespective of the cost. So, cost is not at all important for these companies they focus
primarily on the quality of the product. So it is you fulfill the need of a special class of
customers who value the quality as the only criteria to purchase the product.

If I ask you may be in an assignment we will give you this problem that you have to
write maybe 5 products or the names or brands, where the quality is the most important
criteria and cost is maybe secondary or tertiary criteria. So, you can do this as assignment
just look around you just focus your attention on the products where the quality is the
paramount importance, maybe one industry I can just share with you is the aircraft
industry, in aircraft industry cost is never paramount criteria the most important criteria
in aircraft industry is the quality of the product because the human life is involved in
aircraft industry, because aeroplane has to take off and land and so many passengers it is
carrying. So, in that case you cannot compromise on the quality of an equipment or part
that goes into the manufacturing of the aircraft.

So, that is their example, other example is medical equipment again here the human life
is involved in medical equipment also. So, the quality has to be top class otherwise there
can be a miss happening. So, 2 criteria we have seen first one is the cost has to be lowest

50
maybe some companies may opt for this policy, then the other companies may go for the
highest quality, then what can be then the third criteria, the compromise between the 2
the quality and the cost. Let us go the compromise between the cost and the quality some
organizations offer the product with the optimum blend of quality and cost to capture the
larger section of the customers.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:39)

So, in both the cases you will see low cost maybe large customer base large volume of
production. high quality very selected customers, very specialized customers, very
specialized type of products, first most of the companies will have a compromise
between the cost and the quality any company you see around you maybe your normal
day to day life you will see their major companies focus on this between the cost and the
quality. So, the products are reasonably of good quality in proportion to it is price or cost.
So, you will not find maybe the jacket I am wearing a reasonably good quality optimum
level of cost. So, it is not cheapest product may not be the cheapest product may not be
the best in quality, but it is intermediate so, a compromise between the cost and the
quality.

And the last part is the organizations try to give good value to the customer for his
money. So, this word value we will see in the next week how to define a value, what is
value engineering, and how the compromise between the quality and the cost is achieved
using the technique of value engineering. So, 3 types of policies for the companies we

51
have seen first one is lowest cost, second one is highest quality, and third one is the
compromise between the cost and the quality. The last is the safety, safety in any case
taken care by other 3 criteria, other 3 policies also, but many companies will be there
which will only be focusing on quality or sorry the safety.

(Refer Slide Time: 16:26)

A Safety is the main criteria on which they compete in the market. So, the examples can
be Electrical gadgets, Medical instruments, and Home appliances. So, these are the
application area where safety may be the most important criteria for designing that
product or the most important USP for that product. So, other things are also important
cost is important, quality is important, compromise between the cost, and quality is
important, but you can say that the major criteria is the safety in this particular case. So
we have seen the 4 important product policies by various organizations, just to recount
what we have already discussed the 4 policies are the lowest cost policy, the highest
quality policy, and a compromise between the quality and the cost, and the last fourth
one is the safety.

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(Refer Slide Time: 17:25)

Let us see another dimension of the product policy now product policy is not only
concerned with the product, but also with the functions the product fulfills. So, from the
functional point of view we see that the products can be classified according to various
features some of which are important in preparing the product policies. Now suppose we
are preparing or designing a product or a concept for a product which has to be lowest
cost then some of these parameters will help us to design the product accordingly for
example; Durability, Reusability, Recyclability and the way of production.

So, suppose the product is let us take an example of a product which is to be customized
as per the customer requirement and it has to be features have to be incorporated in that
design which are specific to a specific customer and the customer has very high hopes
from the quality point of view for example, he wants a car to be manufactured as per his
requirement. So, there we can see the way of production it cannot be mass production or
standardize it has to be a craft made good for example, craft made furniture I have taken
an example of a craft made car. So, you can get your car designed, but it cannot be
manufactured by mass production, it can only be manufactured by a craft production, or
it can only be manufactured by customized production. Similarly suppose there are
sanitary napkins or there are tissue papers or you can say paper bags to be used.

So there, they have to be produced in mass production because the criteria is lowest cost.
So, when the lowest cost has to be achieved you cannot go for craft made goods you will

53
go for mass production only. So, the initial 4 policies that we have seen lowest cost,
highest quality, compromise between cost and quality, and the safety will certainly
depend on some of these features. Now let us take these features 1 by 1 and quickly try
to understand the policies of various organizations the first one is durability now it can
be a non durable product or a durable product example can be hair spray if you buy a
hair spray you would like to use it for a month or a 2 years or a 3.

So, you will not like a hair spray to be usable for the next 10 years if you buy it is kind of
a consumer good will be disposed of after 2 months, 3 months may not be that durable
whereas, automobile if you buy it has to be very durable. So, that is non durable verses
durable this is also one policy the company has to take a decision, whether they want to
make a product what would be the durability of that product for example, if a company is
manufacturing socks to be worn by customers like us they will not like to select a fiber
for that socks which is usable for the next 50 years then a person buys a 5 pair of socks
and then for the whole life he will never buy a socks again.

So, the durability is important criteria when the company is framing its policy regarding
its product they would definitely like to frame a policy. So, that sox will have a durable
life of maybe one year or 2 years and after that the socks have to be replaced.

So, that is one criteria second feature can be reusability one of the it is non reusable
versus reusable detergent is non reusable because once you use the detergent it is gone
and glass bottles are reusable. So that is another criteria recyclability is third criteria non
recyclable versus recyclable pesticides cannot be recycled again, but the paper can be
recycled again similarly way of production it can be mass produced or it can be craft
produced for customized as per the requirement.

All these criteria also you can say influences the decision making on part of the company
that what type of policy they should follow and the 4 broad guidelines we have seen
these are the additional features that the companies usually take into account when they
are designing a product or when they are deciding about the quality the cost and the
safety of their products. So, this is all related to the policy that the companies usually
frame for coming up with new products or for the designing up of new products or
designing an improved version of an old product, so all these factors are usually taken
care by the company.

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Let us see the second part of our presentation today that is how to select a profitable
product there is no standard guideline as I had told for ensuring the success of a product,
but quickly we will try to learn gain, knowledge, or study about one of the most common
technique which any company can adopt for seeing that if they take care of all these
points they can have a logical or informed decision related to the launch of a product or
the design of a product.

(Refer Slide Time: 22:43)

So selection of a Profitable Product; Selection of a Profitable Product before selecting a

product organizations have to carry out the SWOT Analysis in order to know their
strength weaknesses limitations and opportunities and the perceived threats.

So, always there are threats there is competition there are technological advancements
being done by the other companies. So, these are the threats that are there for any
company. So, strength weaknesses, limitations, opportunities, and perceived threat are
the important things that every company has to take care of the product selection is a
team effort. There are a group of individuals who work on a idea and come up with a
new product. It is maybe sometime a team effort not sometime most of the time you
product development team will be there and the team is responsible for conceptualization
and design development of a new product.

55
(Refer Slide Time: 23:36)

So, this is Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat S W O and T.

(Refer Slide Time: 23:42)

Now let us quickly see now from strength point of view the company can have these
strengths it can have abundant financial resources, Well-known brand name, Superior
management talent, better marketing skills, and committed employees. Now I would ask
you as an assignment that you can see that for any successful company you can take any
brand name in India an Indian company which has been successful in various business

56
areas for example, maybe in automobiles maybe in communication sector maybe in
household goods take any company which is successful.

And you will find that these are the important characteristics of that successful company
that company will have abundant financial resources brand name will be there
management talent also will be there marketing you will see they have better marketing
strategies as compared to the competitive companies and their employees will be
committed once a person joins that company will always like to withstand or always like
to retire also from the same company, but on the other hand you can see there will be
companies these are the weaknesses of which lead to failure of certain companies that is
limited financial resources weak spending on R&D efforts that is research and
development efforts.

So, companies which do a continuous research and development are often successful
companies then limited distribution higher cost of their product, poor marketing skills,
limited management skills, and under trained employees. So these are the characteristic
features of the companies which are usually failing in order to capture the market share.

(Refer Slide Time: 25:37)

So, a company can always take maybe there is a new company which want to become
successful they can always do this analysis, that what are our strength, what are our
weaknesses, what are the opportunities that exist because the product design and

57
development is only successful when there is a need in the market when there is a
demand in the market.

So, from opportunities point of view Rapid market growth, changing customer needs and
taste, New uses for products discovered, and Sales decline for a substitute product. These
are the characteristic features or opportunities in nutshell, what is the opportunity that
there is a demand in a market or there is a need in a market which is unfulfilled. So, none
of the companies has been able to fulfill that particular need of the customers and there is
a huge database of the customers or huge volume of the customers, which are in the need
of that particular product. So if that opportunity can be tapped by any organization and a
product which satisfies all the functional requirements of that need is launched in the
market the company is definitely going to be successful.

But what are the threats success is always you can say used in a good sense everybody
likes to be successful, but always there are threats now what can be the threat in current
Indian scenario, Entry of foreign competitors, Introduction of a new substitute products,
Product life cycle is in the decline stage, and the Economic downturn. So, usually the
threats for any organization can be if they do their analysis SWOT analysis they may feel
that the most of the products the company is manufacturing are towards the declining
stage in the product life cycle, if you remember we have covered PLC in the last lecture
in product life cycle you have to very very cautious towards the end of your maturity
curve.

So there are number of threats also opportunities also we have already seen in the
previous slide strengths and weaknesses. So, any company needs to always do the
SWOT analysis in context of their products, otherwise they will not be able to match up
with the market requirements or even I can say that they will not even be able to
maintain their market share in the business. So, that is important.

58
(Refer Slide Time: 27:49)

So the challenge in Selection is basically you can see an ever increasing variety of
products are now available each having its own Characteristics, Applications,
Advantages, Limitation.

Now, select the optimal product according to the requirement of the customers cost,
design and in service requirements. In general we can see that number of products are
there are number of requirements are there which have different characteristics
applications, advantages, limitation. Select the optimal product according to the
requirement. Now this is not the product to be selected by the company this is idea to be
selected by the company that this is the area in which we are going to put our efforts in
order to be successful.

So the overall target of today’s lecture is to find out or to just develop a strategy to select
a profitable product and first part was that what should be the company policy. So, we
have shown or we have discussed that there can be different product policies of a
company and there can be different methods of selecting a profitable product, out of
which we have only seen one that is SWOT that is a company should perform a SWOT
analysis of their well being and then come up with their strengths and try to launch a
profitable product which will lead to the success of an organization.

So, I stop here in the next lecture we will focus on the product development process and
see the various stages of product design. And after that we will cover our next lecture

59
that is a last of this particular week that will be related to the product analysis that if you
have an idea how you will make it a successful idea and what are the tools that you need
to use during the various stages of the product development process in order to come up
with the product which can withstand the pressures of the market.

Thank you.

60
 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 04
Product Design

Namaskar, so now we are into the fourth lecture of week 1, and we are focusing our
tension on the basic principles of Product Design. If you remember very briefly I will try
to outline what we have done in the first 3 lectures. In the very first lecture I introduce
the course, we had outline of the course divided into 4 weeks and what we are going to
cover in the individual week that we have covered. In lecture number 2 we have seen in
detailed the product life cycle and how it influences the product design and what are the
various stages of the product life cycle

In lecture 3 if you have already gone through that lecture we will see that we have
covered the basic concepts of product design; in that we have seen that what are the
features characteristics or the policies of any organization which help it to design a
successful product. Or in nutshell in summary we can say that the policy that the
organization should follow for launching a successful product.

As I told in the previous lecture also, there is no single policy which can ensure the
success of the product, but different companies can follow different policies like, a
company can follow a policy of the cheapest cost for that product or another company
may follow a policy of highest quality for that product segment or there can be a
compromise between the cost and the quality, there can be a segment in which the safety
is the most important product policy.

We have seen; that what are the policies that the organizations usually follow in context
of the product design. Thereafter if you remember we have also covered that how to
launch a successful product. In that particular segment we have taken only one particular
tool that was SWOT analysis, strength, weakness, opportunity and threat specifically in
context of the organizations, that organization should do a check of themselves, self
check introspection so that they can come out with the solution or they can come out
with the product which can be successful in the market.

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So if the organizations focus on their strengths definitely they can come up with a
successful product in the market. Now today our target is to start thinking about the
design of the product or the design thinking that how we can design a product. Suppose I
have an idea, how I can culminate that idea into a tangible product, so those ideas to
reality, from idea to a product, that we are going to cover in this particular segment,
maybe for another 25 minutes. Let us first go through the basic concept of product
design.

(Refer Slide Time: 03:23)

You can see here, initially you have an idea; suppose I am sitting in my room and I am
facing some problem I am not finding proper environment or may be the humility levels
are too high. I may think of idea that how I can control the humidity in my room during
the rainy season, especially during the rainy season or how I can control the moisture.
Certain things may come to my mind because of the basic engineering I have studied,
because of the concepts of science that I have studied that is basically idea generation.

Maybe you will come up with the idea that how maybe we can do that, may be I will
read some literature I may go through certain books that how to maintain the particular
humidity or moisture levels in a room. So, that is basically your idea generation. You
start thinking about a problem and the tentative or alternative solutions to that problem
that is basically first step.

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Second is you just find out 3 or 4 alternatives, all right and when you have 3 or 4
alternative you will try starts sketching them and trying to just may be have a over view
concept of a solution, it is not the exact solution at this stage. At the second stage it is not
the exact solution it is just sketching or conceptualization of idea based on my literature,
review based on my experience, based on my discussion with my peers, with my
professors, with my students, I may come up with 3 or 4 broad solutions which can solve
my problem.

The third stage is the detailed design. Initially I have only done the sketching at next
stage I will do the detailing of the design that I have selected. I will definitely eliminate
some ideas here. Suppose I have 4 ideas I will try to eliminate 2 ideas and further I will
work on 2 ideas at the detailed design stage and their I will do the detail designing, I will
give the tolerances, I will give the dimensions, I will give the material, I will give the
manufacturing process, which will be use to make that product all those things will be
frizzed here. Frizzed means will be finalized here. And once we finalize all those things,
the design will be sent for manufacturing and then it will be manufactured in the form of
a tangible product.

So in a product design process basically starts with generation of ideas, then

conceptualization and alternatives for finding out solutions to the problems that we face,
then the detailed designing of our ideas, and then finally the manufacturing of the
product. In between somewhere here we will have a prototyping stage also in which we
will do a prototype of the idea or we will make a prototype or model of the product that
we want to make: it can be a fully functional model or it can be a partially functional
model, in which we will just try to have a look that how the product would look like. So,
prototyping stage will also be somewhere here.

And finally, we will get our product which as per our last discussion may be successful,
may not be successful, that depends on how well prepared we are as response to the
needs of the customer or the needs of the society. So if we are well prepared we have
done our marketing research properly, we have done our analysis correctly, then only this
product will finally become successful in the market. So these are the broad stages of any
product design process.

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(Refer Slide Time: 07:00)

Let us see the concept the Product Design is conceptualization of an idea about a product
and transformation of the idea into a reality, as we have seen in the previous slide this is
just to summarize, but I have already discussed as a result of the previous slide. So it is
the conceptualization of any idea and then converting that idea into reality initially that
idea will be in our thought process only, but with passage of time we will convert that
idea into a tangible product. For example, the LED screens that we see the television sets
that we have used. Initially they may be in the ideas of the researchers or the inventors,
but then after doing successive research fundamental research and then the applied
research and then finally, the engineering research the idea culminated into a product and
the product now is being used by all of us.

Similarly, here also any product design basically is culmination of an idea in form of a
tangible product, to transform the idea into reality a specification about the product is
prepared. I have already told specifications are prepared at 2 stages. Initially, we have a
concept design where we finalize may be suppose we want to design a new car what will
be the various stages first thing we will have to see that what is the need of the customer,
what are the specific needs of the customer at the conceptual design stage, we may have
to take a decision that whether it will be under in a SUV category or it will be in a sedan
category or it will be in a normal we can say lower automotive segment may be apart
from the sedan and the SUV category.

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So you have 3 categories of vehicle, so at the concept stage we may just view tinkering
around that which one will be more suitable in the market, but at the detailed design
stage our target is fixed now that the product or the automobile that we are designing we
will fall in the SUV category and we are designing SUV all specifications will be design
as per our idea which we have already finalized at the concept stage that is that we are
going to design a SUV vehicle for the particular segment of society or for a particular
specific set of customers.

So, to transform the idea into reality a specification about the product is prepared may be
at the detailed design stage the specification is prepared by considering different
constraints such as production process, customer expectations. So we will see that if
SUV has to be prepare what are the various components that will be used to assemble
and produce that what would the specifications of those component. For example,
suppose the gear box has to be used for the SUV we will see that what should be the
specification of the gear box it should be 5 gear, 4 gear, where the reverse gear should be
applied it should be in front motion or it should be the backward motion all those
detailed specifications are required during the detailed design stage.

And we will also outline that what are the specific manufacturing process is that are
going to be used for manufacturing the individual parts of that product. So specifications
are prepared by considering the constraints such as production process and customer
expectations. The word constraints is used because they limit our choice constraints is
basically limitation.

So, our choice of selection is limited by the constraints exposed by the customers, as well
as sometimes by the process is also many a time we may like to produce or particular
shape or give a particular profile to our vehicle. But, many times it may be limited by the
choice of the manufacturing process, that particular design may not be possible by the
process that is being used by a particular company for manufacturing that particular part
or that particular segment or that particular component in that product.

So there are lots of limitations and within those limitations we have to design our
product. So in product design stage all aspects of the product are analyzed. In our next
lecture our title would be product analysis.

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(Refer Slide Time: 11:32)

And there we will see that what are the various factors or what are the various
parameters that need to be considered during the detailed analysis of a product. So, a
product design stage all aspects of products are analyzed. Final decision regarding the
product is taken on the basis of the analysis, so that analysis, product analysis we will see
in our last lecture on product design.

This decision can be in any aspect related to the product, for example, dimension and
tolerances, type of material for each component. So, may be all these things we will get
finalized that dimension, tolerances, type of material etcetera. This decision can be in any
aspect related to the product, our decisions can be any aspect, whatever analysis we are
doing can focus on any aspect related to the product design. Now here you can see
dimension and tolerances, type of material. Let me tell you that a design is itself a very
very wide field, in design we can do the aesthetic design of a product, we can do the
mechanical engineering design of a product or we can do the industrial engineering
design of a product.

So a design can be done by different approaches, so if we are suppose designing a

particular chair, from the industrial engineering point of view our focus would be the
customer needs, the market survey. Then the functions that the chair should process then
we will see that the comfort or the ergonomics aspect of the chair that the person who is

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going to sit on the chair should feel comfortable if he has to sit for a long duration of
time.

For a mechanical engineering design point of view, we will see that how much load the
chair can take, how many number of cycles the chair can take before failure, How much
load the armrest can take? How many cycles of loading the armrest can take before
failure? What should be the angle? that is common area may be mechanical engineer or a
mechanical engineering design student will definitely focus on this aspect also. And then
we will design, How much should be the caste?, How many number of wheel should be
there? What should be the base? How whether it should be 3 legged based or a 4 legged
based? All those will come under the mechanical engineering design point of view for
the chair.

Whereas from industrial engineering point of view I have already highlighted that what
are the factors that we are going to consider, what type of analysis we are going to do.
So, that is from manager’s point of view when you see a product you will do different
type of product analysis, from an engineer’s point of view when you see a product you
will to take different type of products. So here our target may be maximum discussion
we will have from a managers or from an industrial engineering point of view or from a
industrial engineer’s prospective.

So we may not do all the design calculations and stress calculations and stress strain
behavior and all those things and failure criteria things related to the product design. We
are going to discuss the industrial engineering aspects that if a company wants to launch
a new product, what are the factors or what are the tools the designer should have in
order to come up with a good product.

So design team as I have told in the last lecture if you remember product design is a team
effort. So there will be people with different specializations who will sit together and
designing the product. So, definitely there will be people from mechanical engineering
background also, there will be people from industrial engineering background also, there
will people from management background, there will be people from legal background,
there will be people from you can say the marketing background, so there will be a
complete team of people who will lead to the design of the product.

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But, the title that we have product design and development is relevant in general sense
for all different disciplines of people may be their managers, may be their marketing
professionals, may be their industrial engineering background, students, may be they are
from mechanical engineering background, the tools and techniques that we are
discussing here are relevant to all particular disciplines who want to focus their energy,
or who want to focus their interest specially in coming a with new and new product.

So this 10 hour of discussion will you can say form a strong foundation for all aspects of
design related to the design of products. So, therefore, not therefore, I should say I have
focus this, because we are not going to design a product keeping into mind the
dimensions and tolerances. This will also be done by another engineer whose part of that
team, but our job is to simplify the overall design process and use the systematic tools or
product design that the product design becomes a successful design in the market.

(Refer Slide Time: 16:49)

So this is all related to I have I think summarized the product design concept to all of
you, now let us see the objectives of product design, that why a new product design
should be done or what with what objectives we should go for a new product design.
First you can see to ensure growth of the organization I have told in the very first lecture
that product design is done for if you remember just have a thought over it as a survival
strategy or as a growth strategy.

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So, here you first thing is to ensure the growth of the organization, second is to meet new
requirements of the customers, suppose we have a product and the customer gives
additional suggestions or additional feedback that if this feature is also incorporated the
product life would increase or the product acceptability in the market will increase, there
will be a increase in the market share, definitely a company will go for additional feature
in the product and that can be incorporated with the help of a product design process.

So first is to ensure growth of the organization second is to meet the new requirement of
the customers, third is to utilize the surplus capacity of the organization such as physical
facility and man power. So, many a times it may so happen that company has a capacity
usually we call it a capacity constraint number of companies have a defined capacity to
produce or to design a particular product and then manufacture it into a commodity or a
product which is required in the society.

Now, many times there is surplus capacity, suppose there are 3 different big shops in a
particular organization, only 2 are working one is not working or there is a capacity you
can say available which can be tapped or utilized. So company may think of coming up
with the new product so, that surplus capacity can also be utilized, many times surplus
funds are available and sometimes the companies do product design to increase the
companies market share and to target the new market segments.

So there can be target, overall target is same to improve or to increase the financial well-
being of the organization or the economic wellbeing of the organization or to ensure the
growth of the organization. Companies usually go for new product design and new and
new as we have seen in the previous slide also many examples were also given in the not
the previous slide sorry previous lecture, many examples we are also given in which we
have seen the companies come up with new and new products with different policies.

So, that they are able to maintain their market share number 1 and to improve their
market share as a number 2 approach, for example, sustainability or the other word that
we have used is survival. So survival and sustainability is one thing and then the second
thing is the growth, every individual seeks growth in his life. So, companies also seek
growth in their financial wellbeing. This is a summary of why the companies should go
for product design.

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(Refer Slide Time: 20:10)

Now let us come to features of a good product design, I think in the last 2, 3 lectures I
have been able to emphasize on the importance of product design, it is kind of you
perform or you come up with the product or you parish. If you are not able to innovate
create new and new products I think the company is not going to maintain its a balance
or maintain its position in the business environment.

So, if by now if you have understood the importance of product design, you will be able
to appreciate the features of the good product design and now you would be more eager
as well as more interested to know that; Yes the product design is important and how we
can equip our self with the knowledge that is related to product design and successful
product design.

Most of the time what people do, there is a famous saying I will try to just get it right that
people do not plan to fail, but they fail to plan. So, nobody ever plans to fail, but usually
the failure is in terms of planning, so no company would launch a product to be failure
product. So they will definitely like to come up with products which are successful
products and in order to launch a successful product the preparation also should be very
very robust so, that you take all factors into account before launching a particular
product.

So we are in this short duration course 10 hour course trying to learn the tricks of the
trade, trying to learn the different technique, tools that will help us in this process of

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product design, mind you must I tell you that even if we have done this 10 hour course
does not guarantee that whatever product we will aim at will be a successful product in
the market, but the chances of success will certainly improve if you will take the
informed decisions based on the discussion that we are going to have may be in this 10
hours of time that has been allotted to us for executing this course.

Now let us see get into slightly technical concept of product design and see what are the
various features a good product design, should have features of a good product design.
First of all the functionality part. I would like to define the function when we will go into
the next week and we will start our discussion related to value engineering as applied to
product design. There we will see what is a function, what are the various types of
function or different types of functions, then we will also see the anatomy of the
function, we will see the functional analysis, we will see how function behaves in respect
of cost, we will see how function and cost behaves in respect of value of a product.

So, all those things we will discuss here, but in today’s class let us just see the word
functionality the product must function properly for the intended purpose. Now I am
using this pointer it has an intended function, it has been handed over to me to flip the
slides as well as to point on a particular portion of this screen. So, I am seeing a red dot
here and it is written in red only functionality, if you can see the red dot here it is
performing its intended function satisfactorily. So I will say it is one feature of a good
product design that any product that we are using should satisfy its function for which it
has been design that is the functionality part of any product design.

For example, another example we take suppose we use a nail cutter, to cut nails and if it
is able to cut the nails properly we will say it has performed its desired function
satisfactorily, so it is a good product design, but suppose it is not able to cut the nails
properly we will say it has not performed its desired function so it is not a good product
design. First part and foremost part is the functionality, second is reliability, the product
must perform properly for the designated period of time. As we have seen that if we are
buying a pair of shoes, so in pair of shoes I may expect that they should perform reliably
for 2 years and if they perform reliably for 2 years, I will say ok it was a good product
design and they have performed reliably for the designed life.

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Next is productivity, the product must be produced with a required quantity and quality
at a defined and feasible cost. So the design should be such that we should be able to
produce it effectively and efficiently, many a time it may so happen that the product that
we have designed may take a too long time for manufacturing or production. So those
things are not required or may lead to failure of during the manufacturing process the
defective items produced are much more that will certainly influence or effect the
productivity of the organization. So these are 3 important points let us quickly go
through the other point.

The Quality is a relative term we will discuss this quality when we will discuss design
for quality, design for manufacturing, design for assembly, in that particular topic.

(Refer Slide Time: 25:49)

We will cover Quality, design for quality the product must satisfy customers stated and
unstated needs so that is another important point we are designing the product for
satisfying the customers need, so it should be able to satisfy those needs otherwise the
product may be of poor quality.

Then Standardization, the product should be made up of standardized part then only it
will undergo, it will be able to justify the cost if each and every component that goes into
the final assembly of the product is non-standardized, than the cost of the product would
certainly increase. So, it is always advisable that we should use as many standard parts in
the product as possible.

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Next is the Maintainability, so we have to ensure, we have to be double ensure that if
there is any problem in the performance of the product. It needs maintenance. There are
different types of maintenance strategies, that we are not going to discuss, but if we have
to maintain a product there should be adequate provision in the product that it is easy to
maintain, that is, it is easy to disassemble it and easy to carry out the maintenance
process, that also has to be ensured during the product design process only and it is a
feature of a good product design.

(Refer Slide Time: 27:11)

Then the concepts of product design very quickly may be in 6 to 7 minutes we will try to
finalize these things, first is Research and Development for any product design lot of
research and development is required you need to understand the various features, that
are already existing in the existing product and what is your USB in your product design
what is the best thing that you are going to incorporate in your product. So, that it
becomes successful. The research and development is an important ingredient of a
successful recipe of a product, successful recipe of a product has a important ingredient
that is the research and development.

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(Refer Slide Time: 27:53)

Then one another important topic that is Reverse Engineering, so Reverse Engineering is
the process of carefully dismantling a product understanding its design and developing a
product which is better than the existing one. We can use the basic concepts of reverse
engineering also during the product design process where we can dismantle a product try
to understand the design complexity of the product and come up with the mature design a
more robust design or a design which is better than the existing design, that is basic
concept of reverse engineering.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:32)

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CAD-CAM also we will cover, when we will cover the design tools we will have a
lecture on CAD. So, by using 3D modeling software, the designers can develop a
computerized model of the new product and analyze its design parameters. So this is
another aspect that we can cover that is CAD and CAM, after the design has been made
using CAD software, we can use the Computer Aided Manufacturing technique for doing
the manufacturing of that product. So, after the CAD Computer Aided Manufacturing
system produce the product by using CNC that is computer numerical control facility.

So CAD and CAM are other techniques which can be helpful to us for the developing of
new product. So, we can see that there are standard techniques which have been invented
designed, used by the engineers and scientist for launching the successful product

(Refer Slide Time: 29:40)

And we are just outlining some of them which are used by the present day designers.
Then there is a concept called Concurrent Engineering which saves lot of time in
concurrent engineering it is also known as simultaneous engineering it is a method of
designing and developing products in which the different stages run simultaneously
rather than consecutively.

So we will see in our subsequent lectures what are the various stages of product design
and in concurrent engineering all stages do not occur one after the other, some of the
stages which can overlap can start at a same time, so it saves time. So concurrent
engineering is a technique which is used to save time and to make our product more

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competitive by reducing the time to market. So it decreases the product development
time and also the time to market leading to improved productivity and reduced costs. So,
concurrent engineering is another technique which is useful for a successful product
design as it reduces the time to market as well as the costs.

So we have seen that there are different tools which can be use CAD is one such tool
CAM, concurrent engineering, reverse engineering all these tools we need to learn in
much more detail with specific case studies. So, that we use this tools to our advantage
and we can come up with the successful product design in next lecture we will see what
are the stages or what are the various steps which are needed to be taken in order to
launch a successful product as well as we will see that what are the various evaluation
criteria or what are the various you can say characteristic that we need to look at when
we are designing a particular product.

So we will see the steps of product design as well as the characteristics of a good, today
we have seen the features of a good product design, then we will see what are the
characteristic industrial engineering aspects for example, the functional aspects very
briefly we will see functional aspects in detail we will see in the value engineering week.
Initially tomorrow we will have just a brief discussion on functional aspects, we will see
the durability and dependability aspect, we will see the aesthetic aspects which we have
not covered till date then, we will see the economic aspects of product design and then
we will see the manufacturing aspects of good product design.

So, with this we come to the end of today’s lecture, we will meet again for lecture
number 5 of this week. And we will cover the different aspects related to the various
stages of product design process.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 05
Product Design Steps and Product Analysis

Namaskar friends, we have already finished 4 lectures on in this topic of Product Design
and Development. So, as you know the courses divided in 4 weeks. So, today we are
going to end discussion for week 1 in which we are discussing the 5th lecture related to
product design and development.

In week 1 our focus was on basic aspects of product design, the need of product design,
the product design steps and the product analysis. So the last 4 lectures we have already
covered most of the parts related to the product life cycle we have seen that what are the
various stages of product design process and we have also seen the product policy of an
organization.

So, in today’s lecture our focus is on you can see the product design steps and the
product analysis. So, we will quickly go through the steps because there are number of
different books written on this topic and there are number of stages which have been
outlined by various researches and engineers, but we will try to outline the standard
procedure which is most common, in most of the design process or most of that design of
products or most of the examples of that product design. So, let us see what are the
product design steps.

So, this is something which I have shown in the last class also we have seen this, but
initially you have ideas generation in which you develop idea or you generate idea then
you develop that idea in the form of a conceptual design.

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(Refer Slide Time: 01:52)

And then that conceptual design is taken to the detailed design process and from the
detailed design process you come up with the product here you can see a kind of gears or
cutters which are a final product of an idea which was generated at the initial stage.

So, product design basically to revise we know that it is the culmination of ideas into the
tangible product or the products in their physical form. So, you may have an idea and it
may lead to a product. Similarly, the products may not be tangible or may not be physical
in nature sometimes you have a product which is a software a product which is a mobile
app. So, different types of products can come because of the generation of the different
type of ideas. So, here you can see you have idea generation and the final products. So,
our today’s target is to go through the various steps that are followed for converting this
idea into the final product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 02:54)

So, you can see here this is the product design various steps that are used for product
design first one is synthesis, sketching as you have seen in the previous slide when there
were idea generations some sketch or some conceptual design or conceptual shape was
being drown by a designer. So, initially synthesis, then sketching analysis means you will
do or compare the various ideas as I have told in the previous lecture that they are may
be 4 ideas 5 ideas, out of those 5 ideas you will take only two ideas further.

It means there is scrutiny of ideas out of which you will select the best idea. So, that is
the analysis part here. May be the ideas may be compared based on the technical merit,
they come be compared based on their economic feasibility, they can be compared based
on the safety features, they can be compared based on the environmental factors, they
can be compared on the bases of legal factors. So, there can be different parameters of
comparison as well as evaluation and not all ideas will reach the next stage very few
ideas will reach next stage.

And I have told in one of the previous lectures the idea mortality rate suppose you
generate 100 ideas only 2 or 3 ideas will reach the market means they will be converted
into a physical or a tangible product. So, therefore, there is a need to generate lot of idea
so that some of them could be converted into the final product.

So, their analysis or evaluation of the ideas will take place at stage 3 followed by the
selection of the most appropriate or most relevant idea, then you will do the basic

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engineering you will make a rough design of a product using the engineering skills and
some of these engineering skills we will learn during the course of this lectures not
lecture, but during this particular course on product design and development. I should tell
you that we are into the third hour of our discussion and we have to do 10 hours of
discussion on this topic.

So, in the remaining 7 hours of discussion our focus will be more practical in nature to
acquaint you with the various tools that are helpful in the product design process. So, the
basic engineering skill we will develop during this course on product design and
development and that skill is there by used to make the design of the product. So, we will
learn some of the tools here at this stage. Then the detailed design is made once the
detailed design is ready as we have seen in a previous lectures. What is detailed design?
You will have all specification for example, related to the dimension of the product for
example, we are developing a chair.

So, in detailed design we have all the dimension the that what would be the length of the
chair what would be the width of the chair what would be the foam height what would be
the backrest, type of backrest, dimensions of backrest, material of backrest all those
designs the type of support system below the chair whether it will castor wheels or it will
be the fixed frame. So, all those design with the exact dimension as well as material will
be finalized during the detailed design stage.

So, now you have a complete design it can be in the form of an engineering drawing or it
can be in the form of a CAD drawing that is computer design drawing, last class we have
seen that what are the tools basically used for product design in which we have seen
CAD/CAM, reverse engineering, concurrent engineering. So, all those are tools which
are used during the process, but here in detailed design process the outcome will be a
CAD file or it would be an engineering drawing file or in the engineering drawing which
will mention all details, all specifications, all dimensions, all tolerances, all materials that
are going to get that product or that are going to help us in manufacturing that product

Once your detail design is ready next stage is the prototyping stage in prototyping stage
we will try to develop a prototype. As you may have seen the course structure towards
the end of our discussion we will go to rapid prototyping and rapid prototyping is one of
the most relevant most common technique which is used these days for making very

80
small prototypes or the prototype of a complete model that we are going to use for
further testing. It can be a functional testing, it can be a non functional testing we just
want to see that how the product would look like that can be made using any technique
of rapid prototyping.

So, that is prototyping will be done we will learn some of the techniques of rapid
prototyping such as a stereo lithographic apparatus, we will see may be laminating object
manufacturing depending upon the time we will see how much we can cover in rapid
prototyping. So, once synthesis sketching analysis selection basic engineering detailed
design is done next stage is prototyping I have already discussed in brief, next is the
manufacturing and in manufacturing you will manufacture the product full scale in
prototype you will only make few models, but in manufacturing it will be a full scale
manufacturing in which the complete factory will be used and the product will be
manufactured as per the design and as per the customer requirement or the demand in the
market.

Then after the manufacturing the product will undergo in service operation for example,
now I am using this pointer now it is in service, it was the conceptualize, synthesized,
evaluated, prototyped manufactured and now I am using it. So, in use we will say that it
is now in operation, so whether it is the operating successfully or it is not operating
successfully that will be tested during the operational time or during the operation.

And finally, the product development, so I have already told you that product design and
development is not a process which is time stagnant process, it is the moving process.
So, once the product is designed the designer will keep on working on in innovating, in
doing incremental innovations and adding features to the product, because the value of
the product is directly influenced by the features of the functions that product offer, so
that designers would keep on working in improving their product value by increasing the
functions or sometimes eliminating the unnecessary functions in order to add value to the
product. So, the product development process will keep on continuing and it is a
continuous process and you have seen that in the product lifecycle during the maturity
stage the company would defiantly love to add new features to make different types of
policies so that the product remains competitive in the market. So, product development
tenth number is a continues process which will help us in further improving the value of
our product to the customer.

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And next week our discussion will focus on the various concepts of value engineering
which is relevant in product development process. So, now, let us see this product design
steps one by one. We will see just a very brief outline of the various steps because we
have to cover the next stage of product analysis also in today’s lecture. Now synthesis I
will just read quickly I have tried to explain it with the help of an example that what is
synthesis and what is evaluation, let us see one by one.

(Refer Slide Time: 10:26)

Synthesis is try to develop different alternatives, sketching is may be use different

alternatives here can be the various ideas that you have related to the product.

So, first part is the different alternatives or different ideas next is draw sketches in exact
scale for different alternatives. So, you now sketch the various ideas that you have
conceptualized the idea. Then analysis, analysis different analyze different alternatives
with respect to operability, maintainability, inspection, assembling and dismantling
issues, cost parameters, production methods. Even I can add legal methods copyright
issue, IPR issues and then environmental concerns, waste disposal, recycling you can
name any issue it can be covered here analysis. You have the ideas you can analyze those
ideas based on number of parameters and then you will be left with a few of them
because some of the ideas would get eliminated because of the criteria we have chosen
for selection or analysis.

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So, finally, selection we select the best alternative I should say at this stage we may not
be selecting only one alternating we may be selecting 4 or 5 or 6 alternatives that may be
further you can say evaluated for different other criteria. May be many criterions we are
covering here, but there may be some criterion that may be left for a later stage analysis,
but this would lead to just short listing of the ideas. We may have may 10 ideas now we
have short listed to three ideas. So, those three ideas we will take further in our
discussion or in our analysis. Then the basic engineering as I have explained we will use
different tools like DFM, DFA that is designed for manufacturing, design for assembly
we may use DFMA tools, we may use designed for quality all these tools will be used
concurrent engineering, reverse engineering to come up with the design of the product.

So, in basic engineering design we prepare a layout in exact scale calculates strength of
the components select proper cost effective material as I have told now each and every
component we will design may be for a chair we can see in basic engineering design we
will see that what would be the foam or what would be the combination or thickness of
the foam that would be there in the back support, what would be the thickness of the
foam that will be there on the seat what will be the material of the foam and what would
be the back support what is a material that we are going to use for back support.

So, for a design of chair we will do complete analysis of the strength of the component
as well as we will select the material in the basic engineering design.

(Refer Slide Time: 13:12)

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Then coming on to the detailed design in detailed design we will prepare detailed
engineering drawing of each components. So, as all of you have studied or may have
studied the engineering drawing or engineering graphics or computer aided design course
there is a complete different views are plotted may be in first angel or third angel
depending upon the requirement. So, we will have different views of the object or the
product even the bill of materials is also there, the number of screws and bolts and other
things are also finalized the material that is going to be used to fabricate that job is also
finalized and fixed and frizzed.

So, in detailed design your design is now ready for manufacture you have found out or
you have designed the product as per the customer requirement and as per the technical
feasibility as per the engineering basics, may be as per the engineering you can say
application we have designed the product completely. I have taken the example of a chair
you can take any other example and see the complete design and there will be input from
various engineering sections for the detailed design of the product. And sometime it can
be a multi disciplinary design in which the engineers may be required from civil
engineering, from mechanical engineering sometime from chemical engineering also for
example, a paint factory, a paint factory would require engineers from mechanical, civil
and may be chemical engineering.

So, the overall product may require the inputs or skills of various sets or for various
engineers. So, therefore, it is important we focus our attention on detailed design so that
we come up with the design which is feasible which is technical as well as economically
feasible and which is profitable for the organization. And here number of tools will be
used that we will cover on the subsequent discussion. Then the prototypes is made if the
option is there then prepare a prototype and test it and for prototyping these days, as I
have already told rapid prototyping is a in thing and there are number of techniques will
for techniques which fall under the brought umbrella of rapid prototyping. Then the
manufacturing of the product if the prototype is not made then follow manufacturing
steps and solve manufacturing problems and assembly problems if any.

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(Refer Slide Time: 15:39)

So, manufacturing problem and assembly problems will arise only if we have not taken
care of the DFM or DFA or DFMA that is designed for manufacturing designed for
assembly and designed for manufacturing and assembly principles at the first instance.
May be when we if we take care of all these thing during the detailed design point or
detailed design step all these problem will never occur during the manufacturing stage.
So, this is the standard process therefore, we will try to iron out or smooth out or solve
all the manufacturing problem assembly problem during the manufacturing stage, but
these things can be eliminated or reduced if we make use of the product design tools at
the very basic design stage of the product design process.

Then the operation once the manufacturing is done, product is launched in the market
user start to use the product after that there is a operation collect feedback during a actual
operation of the new product if any problem exit try to a provide design based solution
also implement lessons in the future design.

So, continues feedback from the customers many a time you may have seen that the
automobile companies they take their vehicles back and do some retrofitting change of a
component why because the component is faulty and that design is not as per the
requirement and it is creating problem for the customer. So, they call the thing back and
then they replace it that is what is highlighted here if any problem persist try to provide
design based solution also implement the lessons in the future design. And finally, the

85
product development if any modification can be done implement the same in the next
generation product. So, product development process is a continues process and it will
continue with passage of time.

(Refer Slide Time: 17:44)

Now, the last part of our week one is product analysis quickly we will try to go through
the product analysis process. Now many factor have to be analyzed in connection with
the development and design factors varying in character and complexity. So, different
types of factors are parameter are there we will see one by one and the factors affiliated
with different fields in production and industrial engineering. So, these factors may be
related to the manufacturing or production or sometime from the management point of
view that we usually call as the industrial engineering point of view.

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(Refer Slide Time: 18:15)

So, this is the brief summary this has be taken from a very common book or very most
read book on production planning and control by the author Samuel Eilon.

So, this discussion is taken from that particular book and as per Samuel Eilon some of
these factor may be grouped as follows. So, when we analyze a product we can at first
have the marketing aspects then the product characteristics like in product characteristics
we will see functional aspects, operational, durability and dependability and aesthetic
aspects. In economical analysis we will see the profit consideration the effect of
standardization simplification and specialization the breakeven analysis and the
production aspects. So, majorly the red colour points give the 4 major aspects that need
to be studied related to the product analysis. Again I have reading marketing aspects
product characteristics, economic analysis and the production aspects.

So, in a on a broader scale when you are analyzing a product we have to keep in mind all
these 4 parameters. So, we will try to go to the one by one. Now in marketing aspect
once the product is selected then it is very important to know the marketability of the
product that is whether there exists the demand for that product in the market or it is just
may be the fancy of the promoters of the company that they want to come up with the
product. So, marketability is important all further steps are dependent upon the demand
of the proposed product and customer acceptability of the product. So, today the

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customer driven business environment. So, if customers are accepting that product then
we should further go ahead and design the product accordingly.

If there is no potential market then it is wasteful exercise to design and manufacture the
product. So, all the points can be summed up in one line only that as per the customer
demand we should design and develop the product. Now if it give the answer of the
following question what will give the answer the marketing aspects or the marketing
analysis.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:20)

What will be the expected demand for the product both the short term and the long term
demand? Whether the functions that are offered by the product desirable and acceptable
to the customer. This should be the output of our marketing analysis or the analysis of the
market that what is the demand and what are the functions which are expectable to the
customer. And from the customer point of view also we can do a further analysis what is
the age of the customer whether he is a urban or a rural customer or what is the education
standard of the customer.

So, from customer point of view, what is the demographic region from where we are
taking the sample. So, from customer point of view also we can do further analysis in the
marketing aspects. So, what was second aspect that is most important? That is the
product characteristics. So, from product characteristics point of view first are the
functional aspects of the product that is when the marketing possibilities have been

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explored, the functional scope of the product has to be carefully analyzed and properly
defined.

(Refer Slide Time: 21:13)

So, I am not going to delve too much in to the functional aspects why because we have
one complete week on value engineering and in that value engineering part we will focus
majorly on the functional aspects of the product design. So, definition of the objective
itself rarely tells us much about the predicted functional scope.

So, if we say that we want we are going to take an example of a washing machine. So, if
we say that washing machine the job is to wash the cloths it is one broad functional
scope of washing machine, but it may further have sub functions also which we are
going to see now. Now let us take an example, this example is again from Samuel Eilon’s
book. This is a functional aspect, a washing machine for example, has a clearly defined
objective to wash cloths which is the functional scope of the machine this does not state;
however, how the washing should be carried out.

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(Refer Slide Time: 22:24)

Whether the machine should be capable of heating the water prior to washing whether
rinsing or drying is possible or both are possible or they are to be done by the machine
and if. So, by what method and what should be the proportion between automatic
functioning and manual supervision.

So, what we do we need to understand here is the broad functional definition of a

washing machine is wash cloths, but how to wash cloths whether using a hot water or a
cold water or combination of both whether automatic, semi automatic. So, functional
definition of a product is very very important because it will lead to the design of the
product in the subsequent stages why because we have to use our engineering skills to
map these functional requirements of the customer. Customer may give a 10 functional
requirements we have to use the skills to map our engineering design with the functional
requirements of the customer. So, functional characteristics of any product therefore,
become very very very very very very important.

So, the functional analysis of this kind; obviously, affects the design of the machine its
complexity, its appearance as well as its price. So, when we satisfy the functional
requirements of the customer we have to satisfy them with constrains on the complexity
it should not become too complex the machine or the equipment or the part of the
product, appearance should be good as well as the price should be competitive. So,
therefore, it is not easy to satisfy the functional requirements with all these constraints

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and therefore, we need to study the functional analysis of the product in much more
detail.

Now let us see the operational aspects once the functions are satisfied the next stage is to
make the product easy to operate for example, I am using this pointer. There are only
three buttons here one is to be used for the pointer this red point moving on this screen.
The other two arrows give the movement of the slider flipping of the slide most easy to
operate a foolproof design easy to operate. So, whenever we are designing a product it
should its operational aspects should also be taken into account for example, when you
are driving a car on the gear lever your gears position of the gear is clearly marked.
Suppose it is not marked then it will become a difficult proposition for any driver to
operate the gear lever properly. So, the operational aspects of the product are very very
important.

For example, the mixture grinder, in mixture grander if the things are not properly
mapped or not properly marked or not properly explained to the user the operation may
become risky also because if you are putting your jar on the mixture grinder there has to
be indication or the mixture grinder will only start when you have fixed it properly if the
jar is not fixed properly on the machine the operation of start should not be possible. So,
that is operational aspect that it should be easy to operate as well as it should be safe to
operate.

So, in operational aspects when we are designing a product we have to keep these things
in mind that the product should be safe to operate as well as easy to operate.

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(Refer Slide Time: 25:49)

So, let us see now, the operational aspects. The product is not only expected to perform
its functions which we have already ensured during the functional analysis stage it
should not only perform its function satisfactorily, but it should be easy to handle and
operate at the customers and it should foolproof design. If you take me a for granted the
mobile phones if you buy nobody uses the manual that is given along set the mobile
phone we take the phone and learn it just by operating it. So, the operational aspects
mean that it should be foolproof design that person with a lower IQ level also should be
able to use that design and even a fool if he is operating the product should operated in
the best possible man otherwise the product may fail.

So, foolproof design the Layman’s definition I have tried to give you just to give you an
idea that as a designer what are the factors are what should be a target that the product
should not be misused, even if the person is not aware of how to use the product. Many a
time if you go to a hotel and stay there, there will be number of equipment may be a hair
dryer or hot water cattle or there can be other products that are placed there.

Now, as a customer if I am going there I may not have used that product before, but the
product design is such the handling is such that if you use your common sense you are
able to operate that equipment or a machine. Many times I have seen I have heard a
experienced also if you go to a hotel it becomes very difficult to find out that which tap is
for hot water and which tap is for cold water, but when this product has been designed it

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is very easy to write C and H on the tap. So, that if the C can be indicative of cold water
and H can be indicative of hot water. So, this is one basic principle of product design that
when you are designing the product you should keep this thing in mind that it should be
easy to operate as well as safe to operate.

So, second point on your slide you can see the product is used at different operational
conditions and the customer vary with respect to skill and knowledge and the designer’s
problem becomes complicated with addition of more and more function. So, one point
only combines 3 or 4 points together that is depending upon the customer skill and
knowledge we have to design the product and if you keep on adding more and more and
more functions to the product the operation may become slightly complicated and that
has to be taken care by the designer during the design process.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:29)

The durability and dependability, durability is in respect of time these two factor define
the quality and reliability of the product. Durability refers to the length of the active life
of the product under given working conditions. So, it is in respect of time suppose we are
buying a jacket. So, we would expect it to function may be for 3 or 4 year duration. So,
that becomes the durability of that jacket similarly dependability refers to the reliability
with which the product serves its intended function.

For example, we take a match box if all 50 sticks are able to light up we will say yes this
is the dependable organization or dependable company which is manufacturing this

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match box because all 50 match sticks have lighted up. On the other hand suppose only
20 match sticks light up for that match box we will say not a very dependable product
because only 40 percent or only 20 out of 50 match sticks have been able to light up. So,
that is basic definition of dependability.

So, you have durability you have dependability. So, if the product is both durable and
dependable we will say yes it is a product of quality and good reliability. Thus the quality
of the product is directly proportion of the quality of the inputs and the process to
manufacture.

So, here these two points also influence the type of material that is being used or that is
going in to the manufacturing of the product. Thus it is a function of cost. So, durability
dependability is a function of cost. So, a product may be more and more and more and
more durable that the cost will also increase simultaneously. So, we have seen that first
we have to addressed the functional scope of the product then we have to ensure that it is
easy to use it is safe to use and then we have to ensure that it is durable as well as it is
dependable and finally, we have to see that aesthetically it is pleasing to eye.

(Refer Slide Time: 30:30)

So, aesthetically means it refers to the external look good aspects of the product and it is
concerned with molding and final shape around the basic skeleton.

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Most of the time we will see that our bridges are standard run of the main functional
scope only, they satisfy a bridge just to cross the river, but in many western country now
in India also we will see some of the bridges are very beautiful designs. So, the basic
functional scope is to provide a passage to cross the river, but sometime the design is
such that it looks pleasing to the eye. So, that basically is the aesthetic aspects of the
product design. So, it is a external look good or it should look pleasing to the eye it helps
to the sales function of the product by attracting the customers and creating the first
impression about the product.

So, aesthetic aspects are also equally important in product design. So, product will
function properly as well as it should look good also and the designer use variety of tools
to build the aesthetic characteristics into the product. Such as now I will design for
example, this plus this particular product again I am taking this example may have been
white in colour, but in order to give it an executive look black pigment may have been
added to this polymer to make this product. So, you add colours some time you provide a
particular type of surface finish in order to make it look pleasing to the eyes and if it is
pleasing to the eyes a customer may be attracted to by the product. So, sometime the
designers use special material they use colour, colour combination, texture may be given
to the surface and some time the packaging is done in such a way that aesthetically the
product looks appealing.

So, it is not only the functional scope or the operational scope or the durability and
dependability, but it is also the packaging that matters. So, that is you can say the product
characteristics related to aesthetic aspects.

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(Refer Slide Time: 32:32)

Then the economic analysis you can see, during this analysis we need to address these
answers what will be the amount of investment needed not only to manufacture, but to
design and manufacture the new product, what are the estimated production cost per
piece we need to calculate, profit how much we will get and whether the prices proposed
are competitive in the market or not.

So, all these things have to be done at economic analysis stage. As I have told you that
there are four major stages first are the marketing aspects, second are the product
characteristics, third is the economic analysis and fourth are the production aspects that
we have to take into account. And currently we are focusing on the third one, one is
marketing we have already seen product characteristics we have already seen third one
are the economic aspects that we need to answer all these questions during the economic
analysis that is what will be the amount of investment production, cost per piece, what
would be the predicted profit margin and what are the prices proposed and how they are
competitive with the prices of the other products or the competitive products.

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(Refer Slide Time: 33:46)

Now this is the tools in economic analysis many times we use the break even analysis as
a engineering tool it is taught in various engineering economic courses in all across our
engineering curriculum or engineering discipline. Most common tool breakeven point,
during economic analysis we can even do the break analysis we can have a total cost
curve here you can see I am just revising there is a fixed cost line which remains fixed
infrastructure cost and other cost, then there are variable costs then there is a total cost
curve total revenue curve and where the total cost curve crosses the total revenue curve
that point is called as the breakeven point or no profit or no loss point.

So, usually the company do the analysis do all calculation, they have the data related to
the fixed cost, they have the data related to the variable cost and then based on the total
cost and the variable cost they draw this to total cost line the sales volume multiplied by
the profit per product will give you the total revenue if it is not profit, it can be you can
say the total revenue can be the number of product sold multiplied by the cost of the
product so that we will give you the total revenue. So, you gave a total revenue line, you
have a total cost line and a breakeven point and y-axis are the sales and x-axis is the
volume.

So, we want to find out at what volume we will reach a situation where we will start
making profit because here you can see that below the breakeven point or less this
direction when the unit sold are less than the break even units you are under loss because

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the total revenue line is less than the total cost line, but after the breakeven point you can
see the total revenue line is above the total cost line that is you have a profit area here.

This is a standard method standard technique which is taught to all engineers across all
discipline in all engineering issues. So, we are not going to delve much into this, but the
only point to explain here is, that during the economic analysis or for preparing a
business plan for a particular product or idea we need to calculate this breakeven point
that after how many number of units sometimes we can say after how many years of
manufacturing we will be able to start making profit. So, one of the important tools of
economic analysis.

(Refer Slide Time: 36:23)

So, then the last part are the product aspects we have seen the first three that is marketing
aspects, product characteristics and the economic aspects, the last are the production
aspects the design will be converted in the production shop where it will be transformed
in to a physical product to be offered to the customer. So, idea now can be converted into
the product using standard manufacturing processes sometime advanced manufacturing
processes also.

The successful transformation of the design into a saleable product is a challenge for the
organization. Even we take into account all the factors that we have covered in the last
two and half hours still sometimes it may become impossible for a company to lunch a
successful product, but certainly if we take into account all these factors our decision will

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be a informed decision, it will be a logical decision and it will help the company to at
least reach its target of being breakeven that they may not be making lot of profit, but at
least they will be able to recover the cost that they have invented in the whole process or
product design and development.

So, at production stage there are few engineering tools that we will cover during our next
lectures those will be designed for manufacturing, designed for a sampling and designed
for x. So, we will see all these tools in the subsequent classes. In week 3 we will see the
basic details of these tools with some examples that how these tools have been helpful in
lunching a successful product in the market or the how they have been helpful in you can
say simplifying the process of design.

So, with this I thing we come to the end of week 1 in which we have taken 5 lecture or
we have discussed 5 different aspects of product design starting from the need of the
product design to the product life cycle to the product policy of an organization to the
product design process and finally, the factors or the characteristics or you can say the
objectives to be taken in to account when you are designing a product. In today’s class
we have seen that what are the various steps or product design process and what are the
various factors or you can say characteristics that we need to take into account in contest
of the product design.

So, with this we come to the end of week 1. In week 2 our focus will be on value
engineering aspects and I will try to introduce the various case studies or application
areas of value engineering and that would be a important week for all of you why
because whatever we have discussed in week one is mostly covered as a curriculum
course in many of the engineering institutes in India, but value engineering is not
covered at under graduate level. So, those two and half hours of discussion we will be
very very very very relevant and important for all of you. So, maybe we will meet again
next time and start our discussion on value engineering.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 06
Value Engineering Concepts

Namaskar, welcome to the second week of our course on product design and
development, friends let us take a brief review of what we have covered in the week 1. If
you remember we have covered all the basic aspects of product design and development
in week 1.

We have seen what is the need of developing a new product, we have seen the life cycle
of a product when it is launched in to the market, we have seen the various stages of
product development, we have also seen the product analysis that what are the various
characteristics that we need to cover, prior to that we have also covered that what should
be the product policy of an organization, even we have covered the SWOT analysis that
is strength, weakness, opportunities and threats and the discussion was focused more on
the product design aspects of SWOT, otherwise SWOT can be used in all different
domains, but our focus if you remember was on product design that how is sort can be
used for product design and in order to launch a successful product in the market.

So we have built up a specific knowledge related to product design in our previous week
linking the previous week with our discussion this week we will see that how the concept
of value engineering as is clear on your slide are applicable to product design. Let me go
back again to the last lecture that we had in which we have seen product analysis in
product analysis if you remember there are 4 broad factors that are needed to be
understood or that we need to understand in order to design a good profitable successful
product.

If you remember we have seen first were the marketing aspects, second were the product
characteristics, third if you remember the economic analysis in which we have seen the
break even analysis, and the fourth were the production aspects. So, currently our
discussion on value engineering is related to the second important factor that is the
product characteristics. In product characteristics we have seen that there are functional

100
aspects, then durability and dependability we have seen the aesthetic aspects, so all these
things are required to be understood if we want to develop a successful product.

Now let us see the functional aspects in product characteristics first thing is the
functional aspect, so if you see just free your mind and think that any product around you
in your room or in your classroom or wherever you are listing to this particular
discussion, see any product why that product has been bought either by you or by your
parents or by the organization for example, you see an air conditioner, why the air
conditioner has been bought to cool the environment, so what is the function, basic
function of the air conditioner that is cooling the environment. Similarly why I am using
this pointer or this slide changer it has got some function therefore I am using it,
similarly why I am wearing this jacket, it is January going on there is so much of cold all
around and normal temperatures are low in order to protect my body I am using a jacket.

So, any product that you see around you we will have defiantly have a function and it
will have a functional value and that function has to be provided by that product and who
has to ensure that the function is being provided by the product or not. The product
designer has to ensure that the product is designed in such a way that it satisfies its
functional requirement or the functional property for which the product has been
designed. I think it is clear to all of you that for any product to be successful it should be
able to satisfy the intended function for which it has been design that also satisfactorily
and reliably, is the product is not able to satisfy its intended function reliably definitely
that product is not going to succeed in the market.

So, first and foremost when we analyze the characteristics of the product, we have to
keep a focus on the functional aspects of the product and for those functional aspects
only we have a concept called value engineering which is a function based technique and
which helps us to ensure that the product performs its desired function reliably, but
simultaneously ensuring that this function is achieved at the minimum possible cost.

So we will see that what is the concept of value engineering and how it is different from
other commonly used techniques like cost cutting and the other techniques of saving
money, in this case we will not compromise on the performance, reliability, quality,
efficiency any of the parameters will not be compromised, but our focus will be to view
the systematic approach to cut the cost or to reduce the cost satisfying all other

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requirements as desired by the product or desired from the product, by the customer, our
focus will be to ensure this particular aspect of the product.

So let us now see one by one slowly let us try to understand this week our focus
primarily will be on the concepts as well as the successful case studies of value
engineering, it has been applied word wide and there are so many success stories where
the concept of value engineering has helped people to design the products, to launch the
products, in such a way that they have been out rightly successful. We will see some of
those case studies also, let us first try to understand in today’s session we will just have
an overview of the value engineering concepts, try to understand the basic philosophy of
this technique and try to understand it with the help of some definitions and little bit of
we can say historical aspects of value engineering. And we will also try to see that what
are the advantages that we can derive if we use the concepts of value engineering.

(Refer Slide Time: 07:55)

So let us go one by one, let us first see the history this is Lawrence D Miles, he is
considered as the we can say the pioneer figure or the leading figure in the field of value
engineering and how the value engineering concept evolved, it evolved due to the
shortage of materials during the world war 2 and GE that is the General Electrical
company found that many of the substitutes have better or equal performance at less cost.
So, for any particular product what do you need, you need the materials or the substitutes

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Now, it is so happened that after the world war 2 or in some time overlapping time
during the world war 2 there was a shortage of materials, the designs of a particular we
can say artillery gun or defense equipment were not available. So, what did the engineers
do particularly may be at general electric this concept was develop that why not to use
alternate materials, why not to modify the design, why not to change the process. So 3
common things, 3 important things I have said first is design process and the materials or
other order design materials and the process.

So these 3 things if you change these are the substitute so, these led to better results,
substitutes were better as compare to the original design, original materials and original
processes. So, from there the concept evolved that there is always a scope of changing
the product in context of its design, material or the process use to make that product and
this is helpful for saving of cost. So this was the basic you can say triggering point of
launching the concept of value engineering the Lawrence D Miles launched an effort to
make the concept systematic.

Earlier it was not, we can say systematic, the concept was more of philosophical thinking
that if you change these things money will be saved, but then Lawrence D Miles took it
as a challenge and then he tries to systematize or put it in to systematic process step by
step process so, that anybody any engineer can apply these concepts and save the money
for his or her organization. So this is the concept finalized by Lawrence D Miles and this
then it let to the establishment of Society of American Value Engineers SAVE, SAVE in
1959, all the concepts over than we can say put together and a society was established for
propagating this concept among engineers and scientist. So this is the brief history of
value engineering.

Now whenever you have a new term on your platter you start thinking that this may be
similar to this thing or how it is different from this thing or how it is different from what
we already know for example, suppose we go and buy onions from the vegetable market,
what is our philosophy, what is our procedure, we usually go to the market sometimes we
go to 3 or 4 vendors ask for the prices and wherever we get the minimum price we buy
the quantity that we want to buy; isn’t it, I think all of us do the same thing.

Now, it means we are doing value engineering, we have some target in our mind that
what type of onions we want, what is the size of the onion, general quality of the onions

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that we want to buy and then we see 3 alternatives wherever we are getting the cheapest
alternative we are buying the onions from that vendor. So, everybody is doing value
engineering in his or her life, but the systematic analysis if we want to apply the same
concept in any engineering solution for example, this camera which is recording this
lecture if we want to analyze this concept or analyze this particular camera from the
value engineering point of view what do we need to do.

It is not as easy as buying onions we need to systematically breakdown the various

components into individual component, then see what is the function of each and every
component, then we have to see that can we combines some functions, can we eliminate
some function, can we do some design modifications keeping the performance same, the
performance should not deteriorate, performance should not die down that is our basic
concept.

So, buying onions for same quality or same taste or same package or same look, usually
we buy taking into account it should be good looking also, not good looking as a person,
but it should have a good packaging, it should not be stale, it should not be you can say
poor quality. So our quality is same we are comparing 3 alternatives and whatever
quality standard we have said we are picking it up, similarly for the camera design also
we need to keep the performance standard same, no change in the performance standard,
but we have to redesign it in such a way, so that the performance remaining same the
cost comes down, that is the basic concept of value engineering. So, everybody is doing
value engineering is in his or her life, but the systematic way of applying these concepts
we are going to focus during this session.

So let us quickly a see what is not value engineering. Value engineering is not cost
cutting many people say when you are saving money it is cost cutting, no it is entirely
different of focus area is entirely different must I tell you that in many cases the cost will
increase in many cases when you apply the concept of value engineering the cost may
increase, but the overall cost of that particular project would reduce may be when
considering the life cycle cost of the project or the product. So it is not cost cutting in
many cases the cost may further escalate on applying value engineering, but the overall
value of the product would certainly increase, so it is different from cost cutting.

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(Refer Slide Time: 14:48)

We will see in one of the subsequent lectures, that how exactly it is different from cost
cutting, it is not design reviews some of the people may say there is at design then few
you can say persons will evaluate that designs based on the cost no it is not design
review, it is a design process itself in this we will see the concepts of value engineering
and we will design the product as per the value engineering guidelines.

So there is no review or this is not a design review process from cost point of view it is
not project elimination that if you have may be 3 or 4 different projects available, so you
will see which one is cheaper, select the cheapest project no that is not project
elimination, it is not scope reduction. Sometimes people will say that for this camera if
you apply value engineering it may eliminate 1 or 2 parts, so the overall scope of this
camera will die down no, that is not the case almost or I should say even there we can be
increase in the functional value of the product after the value engineering process. It will
never lead to scope reduction, but I can say with confidence that the scope may further
improve, that is one advantage of value engineering.

Quality reduction I think I have today only within last 7 to 10 minutes I have told I think
3 times that there has to be no compromise on the quality performance, reliability,
serviceability, no compromise anywhere, only thing is using the fundamental aspects of
science and engineering and using a commonsense we will aim to bring the cost of the

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product down by our creativity innovation as well as the knowledge that engineers gather
over a period of time.

So there will be no compromise on anything that is quality reduction is not value

engineering, detailed cost estimation is also not value engineering and redesign you can
say slightly may be in value engineering we may suggest some new designs, but is will
not only the redesign process only. Redesign process may be you design the product
without considering the cost aspect no, in this case even if we are redesigning, we will
take in to a account the cost aspect also therefore, value engineering is not the redesign
process it is entirely different process. So, we can see all these points have nothing to do
with value engineering, value engineering is a different aspect.

(Refer Slide Time: 17:38)

Now some of you may the wondering what is a value engineering why question mark is
not put here because the answer is given may be on the same slide you can see what is
value engineering an organized study. So let me first emphasize on an organized study, it
is not philosophy, it is organized, it is systematic it is step by step, it is orderly, it has a
sequence, it is a systematic or scientific study, an organized study of functions, I have
already told with the help of example that each and every product that the customer buys
has a function. So, you have to take in to the account that function, it is a organized study
of the functions to satisfy the users need that we have seen why do we design products in

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the last week we have seen that products are design to satisfy the fulfilled or the
unfulfilled or the new needs of the customers.

So the functions it is focusing on functions to satisfy the users need if with a quality
product, quality cannot be compromised in this at the lowest life cycle cost through
applied creativity. So let us see one by one there is a user need, for some functions which
have to be satisfied ensuring the quality at the lowest life cycle cost and how it is
possible by applied creativity. So, you can see I will not look at the explanation or the
definition again let me just try to clear this definition to you because the next 2 definition
I am just to going to read and move forward with our discussion basic definition out of
this definition can be that we have to achieve the desired function now why desired
because the user wants that function to be achieved.

So it is the process of ensuring or it is to achieve the desired function reliably at the

minimum possible cost reliably is a quality parameter or we can say it is to achieve the
desired function at the defined level of quality, but at the minimum possible cost, that is
what value engineering has to ensure. So, again it is emphasized that there has to be no
compromise at all in the quality as well as the performance parameters.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:17)

Let us now see the other definitions I will read this definition for you, value engineering
is an analysis of materials, processes and products in which functions are related to cost
as I have already told and from which a selection may be made so as to achieve the

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desired function at the lowest overall cost consistent with the performance, again I am
reading to achieve the desired function at the lowest overall cost consistent with the
performance.

Let us see the second definition it is an organized, creative, cost search technique for
analyzing the function of a product with the purpose of value enhancement without
compromising with its quality, performance and efficiency. So, I think the concept of
value engineering is now absolutely clear to everybody that it is to ensure the desired
function is achieved reliably at minimum possible cost.

Now, if you see mathematically how you can relate this relationship or how you can put
this in to mathematics the value of the function is defined as a relationship of the cost to
performance.

(Refer Slide Time: 21:27)

Now V max is equal to performance maximum divided by cost minimum let me

emphasize here in place of performance, in many books or in different type of literature
you will get function also, it may be written as Value is equal to Function by Cost, V is
equal to F by C.

So this is a relationship between 3 things value of the product for example, this pointer
can have can be considered as a product order or the jacket can be considered as a
product. So, value of the product is directly proportional to its performance or the

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functional value of that product and inversely proportional to cost. So, very easily I can
say that this jacket can have a very good value if it provides me the warmth for which I
had bought this jacket and I have to pay less money for the buy this jacket or for
acquiring this commodity or for acquiring this product.

So it is directly proportional to the functional value, inversely proportional to the money

that I have to spend to acquire that product. So, value and as a value engineer what
should be my target as a value engineer my target is to maximize this value maximize
and minimize the cost that the customer has to spend, how it is possible providing the
functional value high functional value for that product.

So it is easier said than done it requires lot of search, it requires lot of innovation, it
requires lot of creative thinking, there after only you will be able to come up with ideas
which will help you to redesign the product or which will help you to select the alternate
material for that product or which may help you to suggest an alternate manufacturing
process for that product, so that your cost is minimized. This is a basic concept of value
engineering and how it can be related mathematically how value can be related
mathematically.

So, some of you may be wondering now if I think you have understood the basic concept
of value engineering some of you may wondering that I am using a jacket how it can
have poor value or why do we need to do value engineering. So, prior that I may
emphasize on 3 words first one is value engineering. The number of books you will find
value analysis and value management which is not a very common term, but value
engineering and value analysis are used interchangeably and people are usually not able
to understand the difference between the 2.

So value engineering are the concepts when they are applied at the product design stage,
design stage means I have an idea that I have to manufacture may be a pointer which
should be able to have dual functions that is it should be able to point at the screen and it
should be able to change the slides also. Now if I apply all my value engineering
concepts and during the design stage of this pointer I am doing value engineering for this
product.

Now, suppose this is already in my hand it means the product is already existing and I
am using it or the other users are using it, now suppose I want to apply the concepts of

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value engineering on this then I will see what are the desired function and how I can
achieve both the functions you reliably without compromising on the performance but at
a lesser cost, then I have brought this product all right.

So, then it becomes value analysis the product is already there, the functions are already
being achieved, but I further want to analyze it from the cost point of view. Ok so that is
the point basic concept of value engineering and value analysis, now these point list out
that why these product, why do I want to analyze this product for value or in another
words we can say why should I do value analysis if already I have done value
engineering during the design stage. So these are the reasons that why products
sometimes have poor value and therefore, they need to be analyzed for further improving
their competitiveness in the market, because if you remember the product life cycle that
we have covered in our last week there is a maturity stage and at maturity stage the
market share of the product is more or less constant.

So the company may would like to become more competitive by offering discounts to the
customers, discount on the product to the customer now how the company will give
discount if they are able to save some money in the cost that is adding up to make that
product. So, at that point of time companies may want to do value analysis of the
product, that use now alternate materials or manufacture it through alternate process or
they can redesign it slightly. So, that the overall cost of the product comes down at they
pass on the benefits to the customer and try to get more market share during that maturity
stage. Therefore, the value analysis is equally important as compare to value engineering
which is applied at the beginning or at the design stage of the process.

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(Refer Slide Time: 27:13)

Now let us quickly read these parameters what are the reasons for poor value in a
product, first is lack of or poor coordination among the designers, evident if designers
are not in harmony the product may have poor value, failure to network with customer
poor definition of needs and wants we have not been able to find out the functions that
the pro customer is desiring from the product. So, our marketing or our marketing
aspects have not been addressed properly, design based on habitual thinking or mistaken
beliefs usually change people do not want.

So, whatever is our design thinking we do not want to change which leads to poor value
in the product outdated or inappropriate design standards clearly evident a company may
be following the design standards for the last 20 years and many things may have
changed over period of time therefore, if old things are used you may not be able to
launch a product which has good value then incorrect assumptions based on poor
information, so information is not adequate fixation with previous design concepts.

So, whatever tools and techniques were used by the earlier designers in the company
same things are continuing therefore, the poor value may creeping into the product, there
can be other reasons also a during our discussion we will keep on identifying these
reasons which lead to poor value and with case studies we will see that why this poor
value has entered into the product and how using the concept of value engineering this
poor value was eliminated or the parameters or the function leading to this poor value

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were removed from the product and product that was redesign was better as compared to
the previous product which was not value engineered properly. So these are only some
reasons which are responsible for poor value in the product there are other reasons also
which I will address during the course of our discussion.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:13)

Now this is when to apply the value engineering concepts, so this I will try to explain
briefly, this is the cost or the money this is the life cycle, if you see cost to implement the
change is increasing and cost reduction potential is decreasing.

So this is the gap here that is the net saving potential, cost to implement the change why
it in increases because suppose I am designing a product my product design is on my
screen, for example, if I am using a software CAD software I have designed the product
on my screen if slight modification is required immediately I will change the file and will
not cost much, but suppose it has already been prototype some you can say models have
already been made and test marketing is going on at that stage if I change what will
happen the cost to implement will keep on changing and similarly the cost reduction
potential will keep on reducing.

So it is always evident that we should apply the concepts of value engineering in the very
beginning stage only or at the design stage only. Ok so the design team has the greatest
impact on the cost saving and if you remember in one of the previous classes we have
seen that the cost is logged at the design stage 70 to 80 percent of the cost of the product

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is logged or freezed or finalized at the design stage only, only 20 to 30 percent of the cost
is may be controlled during the manufacturing stage. So it is always important since this
technique is related to the cost aspect of the product it is important to apply this
technique at the design stage only.

(Refer Slide Time: 31:05)

Now this is a typical value engineering cycle it is given at Google, if you type value
engineering cycle you will get this diagram. So, very quickly I will just go through this
may be we will come to this again in the next lecture there is a Pre study Presentation,
Information Gathering and then this is the main value engineering cycle. This is common
to any engineering technique use you have to do a pre study, then you have to collect the
information, but this is the main value engineering cycle that is creativity and idea
generation, functional analysis, evaluation and selection in order to solve any problem
these are the 3 things.

And then finally, there is a presentation if the solution is acceptable next stage final
report not acceptable again it goes into the circle again you create, innovate, generate
new and new ideas do the functional analysis with those ideas and finally, do the
evaluation and selection.

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(Refer Slide Time: 32:09)

The application areas of value engineering construction projects are one area
manufactured product manufacturing is going on any product which is being
manufactured is a may be a computer screen or a computer CPU anything that is
manufactured is can be, can use value engineering concept, business systems and process
is can also use service organizations like hospitals, airports, hotels all these industries can
use that basic concepts of value engineering.

(Refer Slide Time: 32:22)

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So we can say that this is the applications application is not only limited to the tangible
product it is limited to the service industry also, maybe I will stop here for today’s lecture
we have seen today the basic concept of value engineering, the basic concept of function,
we will discuss the functions again in the next section and try to relate it with the product
design.

We have seen the basic concept of value engineering the definitions of value engineering
and some mix or some miss information that value engineering is similar to cost cutting
we have try to address that value engineering is not cost cutting or a design review
process it is entirely different technique it is a systematic technique and which can be
applied to different application areas that is it can be applied to design of new products it
can be applied to service industry it can be applied to construction project.

It has got wide range of application and therefore, I personally feel that every engineer
should at least have a basic working knowledge of value engineering and that is the
target we are trying to achieve through this series of lectures. And over a period of may
be next 2 hours on discussion on this course on product design and development our
focus would be on value engineering application in product design process.

So, with this we come to the end of today’s lecture in the next lecture we will see the
next stage or application of value engineering into various aspects of engineering or
product design.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture – 07
Problem Identification and VEJP

Namaskar Friends welcome to this lecture 7 on the course product design and
development, we are currently in our week second or week 2. In week 1 we have cover
the fundamental aspects of product design and development and week 2 we are focusing
our attention on the basic as well as the applied aspects of value engineering. If you
remember in lecture number 1 on value engineering, we have seen yesterday the brief
historical over view of the concept of value engineering, the applications of value
engineering in different fields we have seen it can be applied across diverse fields of
engineering as well as diverse fields of service industry.

We have also seen what are the basic issues in which value engineering can help us and
we have try to understand it with the help of certain examples that I have given regarding
the functions of the product, because value engineering is related to the functions of the
product and it relates the functions of the product to the cost of the product. And we have
seen the definitions and the basic underlining definition or the fundamental definition is
to achieve the desired function reliably at the minimum possible cost, without
compromising the quality performance or efficiency of the product. Now today our focus
will be on problem identification and value engineering job plan, it is written here VEJP
value engineering job plan.

So, problem identification and value engineering job plan is our focus of attention today,
in this lecture second or lecture number 2 on the concept of value engineering. Now let
us see that how problem identification can be done. So, you can see there are 5 W’s
which are well known in engineering that is who? What? When? Where and why?

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(Refer Slide Time: 02:48)

So, for any value engineering problem also we have to find answers to all these questions
that is, who means it is customer focus would need it, we need to understand that if we
are going to do a value engineering study, who are going to be the beneficiaries, who are
the stakeholders and what benefits this study is going to accrue or what benefits this is
going to give or pass on to the people who are involved in this process.

For example, if we are doing a value engineering analysis on the steering wheel of a
automobile, who are going to be the beneficiaries? The beneficiaries are going to be the
drivers who are going to drive that steering wheel. So, first point that we need to identify
or in defining the problem is who are going to be the beneficiaries of the value
engineering study or on the other hand we can say that who are the people or the
customers who are having some problem or a need or a requirement which has not been
met by any of the existing products.

So, it is kind of focus on the customer that customers may give us a feedback or a value
engineer may take feedback from the customers or the probable customers regarding
their needs and requirements and then finally, work on the basic concept of achieving the
functions which are desirable or which are given as a requirement by the customer and
then he can use the concepts of functional analysis to come up with the tangible product.

So, first is who? Who would need and that is the most important point, then what is
needed? That also I have explained I think briefly that the customer will specify his basic

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requirements he has no knowledge of engineering a customer may tell that I need a
mobile phone which can do this thing also or which can do a particular task for him.

Now, for example, a customer says I need a mobile phone which can calculate how many
steps I have taken in the whole day when the mobile phone was in my pocket, the
customer does not know anything regarding the sensors, but he has put his requirement
to the product designer or to the company or to the marketing professional. Now it is for
the professional or the engineer or the product designer to see that how technology can
help this to meet this specific requirement of the customer. So, first thing is who is the
customer, second is what is needed that is what is the function that has to be a
accomplished or what is the requirement that has to be met.

Then it is when? When is it needed may be there can be a time spend, time domain
which can be satisfied may not be that important in break through innovations because in
break through innovations you may take your own time, but the product will be a
breakthrough in the field of science and engineering. So, when are important in case of
may be incremental innovations where you are modifying the product slightly to suit to
the customer’s requirement. So, you have a 3 things who needs, who is the customer,
who is the beneficiary, what does he need, when does he need it and the next is where it
is needed means, there can be explanation regarding the where means, sometimes a
product may be required in a particular region only.

For example, if we are talking of something kind of a snow jacket or a snow wear it
would be required in the areas where there is lot of snow. So, where or the location
domain is also important when you are thinking of identifying a problem for value
engineering and why it is needed may be this is again clarifying the scope of the problem
that why this particular product or why this particular study value engineering study is
required or why a particular product requires the analysis using the value engineering
approach.

So, these are 5 W’s which will help us to formulate our problem that why do we need to
analyze this product or why do we need to use the concepts of value engineering in
product analysis. So, this is a common strategy for looking for problems many times we
also think of alternatives for example, we have a product at hand suppose I again take the
example of this pointer. So, we have this product at hand we can many times question

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that why is the shape is like this, why the size is like this, why only black color or many
times from value engineering point of view we can even go to the extent of saying why
do we need this pointer? Can’t we have any other option for pointing at the screen or
what can be the other options which can be useful for pointing at the screen for example,
there can be motion sensors in the our led display and if I move my hand the pointer
should automatically move there can that type of technology be developed.

So, all those questions or all these questioning technique will help us to identify the
problems and to modify the designs, which is the basic concept of value engineering
approach. So, problem identification you can see can be done with the help of
questioning technique and we will see during this 2 and half hour of discussion on value
engineering we will see a technique called FAST technique, in which how and why type
of questions will help us to solve our problem.

So, the questioning technique is a very very important well established technique for
finding out the problems for which the solutions can be provided. Now, what are the
steps in defining a problem now I have told we can go for a questioning technique, we
will learn some of the techniques this FAST technique may be in the subsequent lectures.

(Refer Slide Time: 09:00)

Now, steps in defining a problem, very very standard method there is nothing new in
these steps, number one is identify the background issues, number 2 resources and
constraints of the firm as we have if you remember in product design and development

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week one we have seen one type of analysis which was SWOT strength, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats. So, here we can see resources and constraints of the firm that is
resources may be, if they are adequate in number can be the strength of the organization,
if there can be certain constraints for the organization. So, all these opportunities, threats,
strengths, weaknesses have to be taken care during that if definition of a problem,
objective of the decision maker may be that is also equally important. Buyer behavior,
customer behavior, legal are we infringing into anybody’s domain, are we violating any
copyright issues or are we challenging somebody’s IPR.

So, all those things are also important while defining the problem that is the legal
environment also taken care of economic environment also, what is the market segment
we are targeting, who are going to be the probable customers of that technology that we
are going to develop or that we are going to change using the concepts of value
engineering. So, consumers also the economic environment also has to be taken care of,
what is the target segment of customers that we are targeting and marketing and
technological skills of the firm which can also come in the resources also the
technological skills can be considered as a human resource. So, that is also equally
important.

So, when we are defining a problem answers to all these queries or questions or points or
factors or characteristics have to be given, then you can define your problem. So, in
value engineering the definition of the problem has to be very very crisp, it has to be too
the point and it should incorporate all these factors that which are listed on the screen in
order to solve the problem successfully. Many a times it happens that we ignore 2 or 3
parameters or factors and later on when we come up with the solution there are legal
complications associated with the solution, there are environmental complications
associated with the solution.

So, it is always advisable that when we are designing a new product we should focus our
attention on all the possible complications that can come when we come up with the final
solution and therefore, the concept of project teams has evolved over a period of time in
which there are experts from different dimensions of engineering science technology
legal, marketing professionals, management. So, you have a group of team a plethora of
experts who work as a project team to find a solution to a given problem. So, therefore,

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all these factors have to be taken into account when we are identifying a problem to be
solved using the concepts of value engineering.

There are other tools also maybe 2 or 3 mathematical formulations also which help us to
identify that which product should we value analyzed and in the course of our discussion
we will come to those specific formula or specific methods also for finding out a
problem to be value analyzed. But here these are the general steps which should be taken
into account not only for any problem which is specific to value engineering, but also to
the problem of product design in totality. So, that also has to be taken care of I think in
the product development process in week one I have addressed that all these parameters
should be taken care of when we are evaluating the various ideas which we want to be
converted into the feasible products or the tangible products.

Now, coming on to the second part of our discussion today that is value engineering job
plan you can see on your screen there are the list of various steps that you have to follow
in order to successfully solve any problem or in order to successfully implement. the
concept of value engineering for any problem may be it is redesigning of existing
product or it is a new building that is coming up you are constructing a new building. So,
if you want to apply the concept of value engineering these are the various steps that you
have to follow systematically in order to solve the problem or in order to find the
solution here in order to come up with a solution.

(Refer Slide Time: 13:26)

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So, first is I will just read all these points for you, first one is orientation, second is
information, functional analysis, creative alternatives, evaluation, development,
presentation and implementation.

So, let us take a very simple example first is orientation, whenever we join an
engineering institute or any new company after completing our studies first thing that we
are you can say exposed to is orientation that is we are taught about the principles, the
culture, the working ethics of that particular organization where we have joined. So,
orientation in case of value engineering job plan is also may be training or kind of a
customization of group of individuals with the problem. So, first orientation we will let
us see what we have on the slide.

(Refer Slide Time: 15:15)

In orientation phase the value engineering team will identify the issues, prioritize the
issues you can see identify the issues, prioritize the issues then they will draft scopes and
objectives draft scopes and objectives establish evaluation factors, determine study team,
collect data prepare for value study. So, I have read this all for you. So, if you see first is
as we have already seen in the previous slides problem identification. So, identification
we have to do and problem definition we have to come up with.

For example one of the definitions can be to improve the fuel efficiency of a four-stroke
petrol engine this can be a problem definition that we are focusing our efforts towards
improving the fuel efficiency of a four-stroke petrol engine what will be the bottom line

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the bottom line is without compromising with the performance as well as the cost of the
product. So, it may so happen that the cost may increase initially when the efficiency is
increasing, but the value of the overall product is increasing why because the efficiency
is increasing, the fuel consumption will go down and your cost even if it remains same
the lifecycle cost of this engine will be better as compared to the existing one.

So, the definition has to be very very crisp. You can look around you, so many products
are there so many issues or problems are existing you can give a very crisp one line
definition of the problem. So, in orientation phase our target is to identify the issue and
give a problem definition that what we are going to achieve.

Then prioritize the issue, scopes and objectives means we have to come up with the
problem definition will be one line definition only for example, a bachelors project or a
Master’s thesis or a Ph.D thesis what is done you define a problem and then you give the
objectives. That in order to solve this problem these are the objectives that will be
satisfied or met or experimentally proved then only the overall problem definition will be
solved, or overall problem definition will be achieved. So, you can see scopes and
objectives are equally important then establish the evaluation factors in the example that
I have given what is the evaluation factor evaluation factor is the efficiency.

How you will improve the efficiency you may be working with if you have a mechanical
engineering background you will be able to appreciate it better you may be working with
the firing order you may be working with the changing changes in that design may be
material of the piston or the piston rings, so many changes you would incorporate, but
what is the overall evaluation factor after doing all these changes what should improve
efficiency, fuel efficiency should improve. So, your evaluation factor or comparable
factor or you can say comparison factor is efficiency, but making some changes in the
design of the engine you will see; what is the effect on the fuel efficiency of the engine.

So, that is what you have to determine that after solving this problem or after redesigning
the product what is going to be your evaluation factor. So, evaluation factors can be the
weight for example, you want to reduce the weight of the aircraft and you use alternate
materials for that what will be the evaluation factor that initially the aircraft the weight
was maybe whatever number of tons, x-tons.

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Now, after we can say changing the material what is the weight of the aircraft x minus
delta x. So, it means delta x weight has been saved because of the change in the material.
So, what is your evaluation factor here? Yes, it is weight. So, it can be weight it can be
time saved it can be cost saved, it can be efficiency improvement, it can be reliability
improvement, it can be ease of service, it can be ease of maintainability. So, anything can
be your evaluation factor, but it has to be identified in the very beginning of the problem
solving because you should know that what is your final target.

So, you have to establish the evaluation criteria or the evaluation factors then you have to
go for determining the study team. So, the HR part is also being played here you need to
identify that who are going to be the team members in your orientation phase only. So,
that the team effort leads to the success of the project. Then fundamental data or basic
data is collected about the problem and then we are ready with the basic, our team is
ready, the basic data is ready with us, we know the problem, we have defined the
problem, we have set the objectives for the problem solving, we have identified the
evaluation factor or the comparison factor. So, we are now ready to solve our problem.

So, our orientation phase is now over next phase is the information phase now you know
what you want to do, but now you have to do maybe kind of a literature review or a
literature survey or the state of the art investigation you have to do, you have to find out
that what all the technologies or what is the information that is available with you or
what is the existing knowledge that is already available and what we need to do to
further enhance this knowledge in order to bring it to a solution level for the problem that
we have identified.

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(Refer Slide Time: 21:15)

So, you can see, gathering and tabulation of the information concerning the item as
presently designed areas of high cost or low worth are identified. Now whatever is the
existing product suppose you are doing value analysis it means the product is already
existing. I have told in the last class the difference between value engineering value
analysis and value management now suppose you are doing value analysis in value
analysis you need to gather all the information, you need to tabulate that information
concerning the item.

So, as for the present design of the product you have to tabulate each and every data you
have to tabulate all the information. We will see how to tabulate this information how to
break down the complete product into its individual components, how to give the basic
definition that is a verb and a noun definition for each and every component, how to
relate it to cost that we are going to cover in our subsequent lectures.

So, for any product that you are going to value analyzed you need to gather all the
fundamental basic information which is already available based on that only you will
propose use your creative juices, you will use your innovative bent of mind to come up
with solutions which are better than the existing design. But that is only possible if you
have all the information related to the existing design of the product and that is essential
part of the information phase where you may use standard templates for recording down
the information related to the existing design of the product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 23:02)

Then is a functional analysis phase in which we will see on this screen you can see there
is a pencil which is shown just as an example in functional analysis we will see what is
the function of this lead, what is the function of wood, what is the function of the barrel,
what is the function of the band this metallic band, what is the function of this pink color
eraser. So, we will see in functional analysis it is a technique used to identify and
understand the needs of the project, product or service what does it do, what must it do.

So, we will see in the next lecture the complete discussion on the functional analysis
aspect of the various products and we will break down the product into its individual
component and see how functional analysis is done. But functional analysis is the most
important part of any value engineering analysis or value engineering study. So, this is
we have to see for any product that we are analyzing using concepts of value engineering
that what function that product has been designed for and we need to see that how that
function can be achieved without the existing design and what can be the other forms or
other designs or other materials or other processes which can help us to achieve that
function. For example, here pencil is used for making marks on a piece of paper.

Now we can see what can be the other alternatives for doing this, but at a relatively
lower cost has compare to this pencil and then we will see how much contribution this
lead is making in the overall cost of the pencil so that we can focus on certain areas

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which will help us to reduce the overall cost without compromising the performance of
this particular this simple product which every one of us makes use of.

Functional analysis supports creative problem solving as you know that we have to find
out the alternatives which can provide us the same function, but at a relatively better cost
effective manner. So, functional analysis supports creative problem solving by moving
the focus away from the expected solution and placing the focus on the required
performance or need. So, our focus is not on the existing design this pencil existing
design everybody knows that now as a value engineer my focus is on the function that is
required that is to assist somebody in making marks on a piece of paper and how this
function can be achieved. So, in value engineering our focus is not on the existing design
our focus is on establishment of a mechanism to achieve their function which is the
performance or the requirement of that product.

For example the camera that is recording this complete discussion basic function is to
record information whatever I am speaking it has to record the audio it has to record the
picture. Now when we value analyze our focus should not be on this camera design our
focus should be on the technology which can capture my audio and video maybe without
even this camera being placed in front of me. So, that kind of technologies our thought is
solution oriented not the product oriented, it is function oriented not the existing product
oriented. So, how that function can be achieved by using alternate arrangements that is
the focus because it has been proved that if you go for alternatives you save lot of
money.

In yesterdays class we have seen that L.D. Miles from where value engineering started
he came up with a systematic approach of problem solving where the new solutions, the
new designs, the alternate materials the alternate processes, yielded better products as
compared to the existing products. So, it is always advisable that we look for alternatives
and functional analysis is the most important stage of value engineering job plan and
therefore, I have spent a little more extra time on the functional analysis. So, on this we
will have a further discussion on the types of functions and the different you can say
examples of the functional analysis maybe in the next class. So, let us first complete
today the systematic approach of problem solving that is the value engineering job plan.

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Next is the creative alternatives that is once you know that what is the functional
requirement the next stage is that we have to look up for the alternatives.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:09)

Now what are the alternatives available let us see. The opportunity for the team to
produce alternate means of performing the functions associated the product service or
project.

So, here during this stage that project team or the value engineering team has to look up
for the various alternatives for solving the desired function. The desired function has
been listed already in the previous phase that was the functional analysis phase. So, here
we have to look for alternatives. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible in the
shortest possible time this can be accomplished through function based brainstorming,
everybody may have heard the term brainstorming, but here our focus during creative
phase is function based brainstorming our only target is our birds eye is function based.

We have to see that how the desired function can be achieved or what are the alternatives
possible to achieve the desired function keeping the cost also at the back of our mind. So,
all team members including the stakeholders and designers participate in the creative
brainstorming session. So, there can be number of brainstorming sessions to find out the
alternatives for solving that desired function.

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(Refer Slide Time: 29:35)

Then we go once we have 3 or 4 or 5 alternatives available we will go to the evaluation

phase in which the ideas generated from the creative phase are systematically evaluated
screened prioritized and shortlisted for their potential to save cost and or value. I have
already told that the ideas are such that they may not be saving the cost in all the cases in
many cases the cost may increase, but the overall value of the product should increase.
So, we will maybe screen the ideas evaluate the ideas and see that how much money can
be saved or how much value can be added to the product. Idea is found to be irrelevant or
not worthy of additional study are disregarded.

Since this is the evaluation phase ideas which are not worthy of further investigation will
be discarded. Those ideas that represent the greatest potential for cost savings and
improvements are selected for further development.

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(Refer Slide Time: 30:33)

Then is the development phase, the objective of the development phase is to develop the
idea in sufficient detail for the idea to be compared to the originally proposed solution.
Then it enables the proposals to be developed systematically and evaluated against the
proposed solution.

So, there may be a solution already existing. So, our new solution will be compared with
the existing solution and in many cases we may not be having a solution at the first hand.
So, our value engineering solution can be the only solution for that existing problem. So,
you will develop our idea, then it is the presentation phase, where the teams opportunity
to present the proposals is a better way than the originally proposed solution, you
compare the new solution with the old solution and then a presentation is made
comparing the cost and comparing the technical you can say comparison preparing the
economic comparison and all those things can be presented.

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(Refer Slide Time: 31:13)

It is also an opportunity for decision makers to question the team and assess the depth of
analysis that has taken place. So, maybe at presentation stage also further discussion can
take place to improve the, you can say solution further using some expertise available
with the expert team.

(Refer Slide Time: 31:58)

Then last is the implementation phase, we develop an implementation plan that how it
will be implemented in the organization execute the plan and monitor the plan to
completion. So, systematically right from orientation then to may be problem definition

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and then may be to evaluation, create creative phase evaluation phase and then finally,
the implementation phase there are 6 or 7 phases in which systematically if we move we
are able to solve the problem.

So, in value engineering job plan if we go by step by step by step we will be able to solve
the problem. So, I think this is all regarding the discussion today. So, today we have seen
2 important aspects of value engineering which are common. Second part value
engineering job plan has some additional steps which are not covered in the normal
product design process, those are the functional analysis phase and the creative phase.

So, if you see the major focus is on identifying the function of the product and providing
3 or 4 creative ideas to satisfy that function and other thing evaluation of the ideas and
maybe selection of the ideas can be based on the standard approaches, but the important
point is identification of the function and providing a creative solution to satisfy that
function keeping in mind the cost of the product in mind. So, over all we can say that we
know that how we have to solve any problem systematically using the value engineering
job plan.

So, with this I will stop the discussion today tomorrow we will start the discussion with
the basic concept of the functions and the functional analysis. We will see at least 2 or 3
examples in which a simple product has been analyzed using the functional analysis
technique and it has been divided into individual components and then for each
component we have listed the basic functions as well as the secondary functions.

So, with this we come to the end of lecture number 2 on in week 2 and overall it is
lecture number 7 on the course on product design and development.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 08
Functional Analysis

Namaskar friends, so here we are again to discuss lecture number 3 in week 2 and today
our focus will be on Functional Analysis. As all of you are well aware we have already
taken two lectures on value engineering. In lecture number 1 we discuss the basic aspects
of value engineering in which we have seen that what is value engineering, what are the
historical perspective of value engineering and what are the application areas of value
engineering and we try to see that what type of problems can be solved using value
engineering.

Then going to slightly on application side of value engineering, in the second lecture we
discussed that what are the issues related to value engineering why do we need to solve a
problem using value engineering and how we can identify a problem that is problem
identification for value engineering or for value analysis. Also we have seen a systematic
method or solving the problems related to value engineering that is value engineering job
plan. In our first two lectures we have also discuss that why a poor value enters into a
product, if you remember there were 5 or 6 points in which we have seen that why
products have poor value.

Moreover, we have also seen that why value engineering is helpful in solving the
problems related to construction activities, related to service sector, relating to
manufacturing of the different types of goods or products. So, we have seen by now we
have basic understanding that value engineering is a helpful technique and it can be
employed in various diverse fields of engineering and management and this can help us
to save lot of money for our organization.

So, functional analysis or functions are the backbone of any value engineering study. We
have to understand that what is the function the product is delivering or; what is the
function the service is delivering. If we take an example of a banking sector initially in
order to withdraw the money we have to go fill a form deposit the form we will get a
token and then we have to wait for some time the token number will be called and then

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we will be called to the counter to collect our money, but over a period of time the
procedures have changed.

Now, you have a single counter you go to the counter give your requisition and you get
the money there itself. So, what is that, that is saving money for the customer and the
time also is saved for the customer may be money is saved for the bank because less
number of people are now there in the bank, activity of you can say serving the customer
has been improved and from the customer point of view he has to spend less time in the
bank.

So, slide modification in the procedure has lead to benefit, not only for the banking
system, but also from the customer point of view. So, these are simple examples where
we can see the basic concept of value engineering can be easily applied. So, we have, we
need to understand the function now in this particular you can say example what is the
basic function the function can be withdraw and money. So, the basic function is to
withdraw money.

Now, we have to see how easily we can satisfy this function so that it is beneficial for the
bank as well as it is beneficial for the customer. So, with the change in the procedure it is
a basic function was satisfied the customer is coming to the bank he is withdrawing his
money and he is going back. So, the basic function is satisfied only change that has taken
place is a change in the procedure and because of the change the customer is also feeling
happy and the banking system is also maybe more efficient and effective.

So, the summary over all is the overall value of this particular transaction has improved
similarly any product that you see around you will be having some value associated with
it which will be directly proportional to the function that product is delivery. So, we need
to first understand that: what is the function that product is designed for and how that
function can be achieved at the minimum possible cost.

So, our today’s discussion will be to understand the different types of functions that are
there in the product then we will see the functional cost analysis or functional cost
mapping and try to understand that how that mapping will help us to identify the
functions which can be eliminated or combined or may be added. I am not saying that
always we have to go for function deletion or function elimination many times in value

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engineering we will be adding some functions to the product in order to improve the
overall value of the product.

So, let us now go through the presentation and try to understand the fundamental aspects
related to the functions and functions are the fundamental or backbone of the value
engineering technique and therefore, we are emphasizing on functions because all other
things in the approach are more or less systematic and is equivalent or it can be
analogous to any product design process. But the only difference that value engineering
technique has, is the function based technique and our focus is always on the functions
that the product are suppose to deliver or products are suppose to achieve.

(Refer Slide Time: 06:19)

So, let us now slowly try to understand the different types of functions that and then try
to understand the function cost relationship with the help of an example. Now you can
see on your screen value engineering defines function as that which makes a product
work or sell. So, a product works or sell if it achieves the desired function reliably
function is certainly the end result or action desired by the customer. Now in this pointer
what is the function to point on the screen. So, it is the end result of this product. So,
function is certainly the end result or action desired by the customer, customer wants a
function to be achieved reliably efficiently and effectively by the product or service or
we can reframe the sentences as product or service should achieve the desired function
reliably, efficiently and effectively.

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Now, form product designer point of view if I am designing a product I should ensure
that I must ensure and I will ensure that the product delivers its intended function reliably
efficiently and effectively.

(Refer Slide Time: 07:28)

Now, questions that help us to achieve a function are what is a purpose of the product.
Now suppose we have to now identify first thing is identifying the function of a product,
second stage can be analysing the function, third stage can be finalizing the function that
how technically we will achieve that function. First thing is identifying, now to identify
if I say what is the function of the camera very easily we can try to write it with the help
of pen and pencil that what is the function of a camera, somebody will write a sentence
to record the audio as well as the video of something.

So, maybe it is a long sentence and it may clarify the scope of the camera or may not
clarify, there may be other things also like the camera is also storing the information it
may be converting the information from a audio file into some other format. So, the
overall functions are not clarified by the single sentence that it is used to record the audio
and the visual details of any object or any system

So, the point is we need to first identify that what are the functions. So, for that what we
need to do? We need to break down not physically breaking, but we need to divide the
complete system into its individual components and then try to analyse that what is the
function of individual components and how it is contributing to the overall system or the

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overall product as in the case of the camera. So, we will have to first identify the function
and that we can do with simply asking a simple question what is the purpose of the
product second what does it cost because we have to relate the two things function and
the cost.

So, we have to see what is the purpose, what is the cost, what is the worth now worth
you can say can be the value of the product that whether it is worth to spend that much
money to acquire that product that will add to the worth of the product or that will be
analogues to the worth of the product. What alternative would do the same job now once
we have identified the function what has to be achieved then comes the creativity phase
in which we have to see that what are the other alternatives available what are the other
methods of achieving the same function, but at a relatively lower cost and is it exactly
what it does for the customer. And that is the two points are summarized, can be
summarized in a single sentence only that we have to see that what are the other
alternatives possible to achieve the desired function, but at a relatively lower cost. So,
that is our target of doing the functional analysis.

Now, let us see the word function usually there is a two word definition which is the apt
and most crisp way of a representing a function. Let us see, project or a product is
evaluated by identifying the function in two words, two words is the catch word here.

(Refer Slide Time: 10:30)

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And many times, from examination point of view also sometimes you may be required to
write the two word functional definition of maybe some common products. For example,
my watch what can be the two-word functional definition for this watch it can be show
time. So, it is a verb and a noun.

So, here you can see it is highlighted a verb and a noun. So, the first word will represent
a verb and the second verb will represent a noun. So, it will be a two-word combination
which will help you to identify the function of a particular product now even as an
exercise in your surrounding you can see maybe 4 or 5 different products and try to
identify their function with the help of verb and a noun. One a simple example I can give
you is a chair, all of you may be having chair around your some of you may even be
sitting on the chair. So, chair if you see the verb and the noun definition you can say
provide seat, provide s e a t seat. So, it is a verb and a noun definition of a chair and it is
a functional definition of chair.

Now, once you do the further analysis you need to see that how this product can be
redesign, how this product can or how this function can be achieved by without using
this chair. So, now, we are focuses the solution you are removing solution is chair. So, we
are removing the solution, but you have a function in your mind that I am standing and I
need a seat. So, you will look at the various alternatives which can help you to solve the
problem of providing a seat to any customer.

So, that is a verb and a noun definition one example I have already given you. You can
do exercise you can identify 10 products around you and write their verb and noun
definition. So, verb describes the specific action to achieve the intended purpose. So,
again I am reading, it describes the specific action to achieve the intended purpose. So,
noun defines the object onto which the action operates, defines the object onto which the
action operates. For example, transmit torque, so you can say what is the basic function
of a shaft transmit torque. So, transmit describes the specific action to achieve the
intended function, what is the intended function? To transmit the torque and then defines
the object onto which the action operates. So, this is the second word that is noun that is
torque.

So, you have verb and a noun definition for example, you can take a watch show and
time. Example can be an electrical cable has a function of conducting current. So,

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conduct is verb and current is noun. So, you have a verb and a noun definition of a
electrical cable that is conduct the current. So, that is basically you can see very simple
way to identify the functions of the product.

Now, there are different types of functions, different types of values for the product. If
you see around you the different products for example, I am wearing a neck tie and in
neck tie what can be the two purposes for wearing the tie one can be that it looks good
only. So, I am wearing the neck tie another thing can be that it saves me for my chest
from cold. So, way it has got maybe some other function also or maybe that function we
call as a use function. So, different products that you see around you will have different
types of functions.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:27)

So, similarly the products will have different types of value. So, you can have a use value
esteem value, exchange value, cost value. Let us see one by one what is the use value?
Value received from the performance of the product. So, if you are having a car and you
are driving from Roorkee to Delhi, 4 passengers travelling in that car, so the basic
function of the car can be transfer passengers, or transfer people. So, if 4 people are
getting transported or maybe they are moving or they are travelling from city A to city B
by a particular car, so car is delivering its use value.

Esteem value aesthetics and appeal of the product. Now suppose that car has a tag of a
well known multinational company and it is a very costly car it may have esteem value

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then it has esteem value also maybe, it is having both the use value because it is the
passengers are travelling in that car it has got esteem value also because it is a branded
car of a very well known company.

Then the exchange value amount accepted in trade for an item now suppose you want to
sell that car. So, then it will certainly have some exchange value and finally, the cost
value the money incurred to produce an item. So, one somebody has bought it for a
particular price or a company which has manufactured it by spending the resources
therefore, the car will have some cost value also. So, if you see all these 4 values will be
different I have given the example of a car. So, for car use value, esteem value, exchange
value and cost value all these values will be different.

But from a product designer point of view you have to take into account almost all the
values, but some of value engineering point of view our major focus will be on the use
and the esteem value. We may not be that much bothered about the exchange although
we have to take into account these values also, but use value and esteem value are the
most important value function that we have to take into account. We have to see that if a
customer is going to buy a this product first thing will be the use value for which the
product is useful for the customer.

Now, let us see these values can be related directly to the function if you see in our first
presentation if you remember we have seen value is equal to performance by cost or
performance can be performance of what performance of the functions for which the
product has been designed.

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(Refer Slide Time: 17:06)

So, if you see functions can be of two types primary functions and the secondary
functions. Now primary functions can be may be for an if you see a pencil the primary
function can be that you are able to make marks on piece of paper, so that is the primary
function of the product, but suppose the pencil it is also printed that save trees. So, save
trees become or that message becomes the secondary function for that particular product.

Primary function is to make marks, secondary function is the message that the pencil is
spreading to whosoever is reading or using that that save trees that you have to save the
trees for the betterment of the environment. So, every product will have primary function
and secondary function let us take another example suppose you are using a nail cutter.
So, the primary function will be cut nails, anybody is buying a nail cutter for simple
purpose of basic function that is cut nails, but it may be having a filer also. So, filer may
be the secondary function.

So, secondary functions help the product to sometimes the secondary function will help
the product to achieve the primary function also. So, that is a combination of the function
will always exist for every product. Now, you can see around you 4 or 5 or 6 different
products and try to see that what is the primary function of that product and; what are the
sorry additional secondary function for that product.

Now, same thing we will try to understand with the help of two examples. I have already
taken two examples of pencil and a nail cutter. Now let us see the example of this electric

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cattle, primary functions are the basic functions cannot be change, for any product your
primary function or the basic function has to be achieved it cannot be changed.

But secondary functions are the supporting functions can be modified or eliminated
during the value engineering study or the value analysis procedure. So, we can work on
the secondary functions and try to optimize the cost of the product but we cannot
compromise with the basic functions though those functions definitely will have to be
achieved in order to make a product successful.

Now, for electric cattle let us see primary functions it is written green colour only. The
primary function for electric cattle is boil water pour water safely secondary functions
are indicating level of water it should be cordless water filtration process or this thing
facility should be there and power indication should be there this red colour whether it is
on or off.

So, for an example, basic function is boil water, but secondary functions are it can be
cordless and water filtration facilities and all. So, you can see if you are buying a electric
cattle these things have to be ensured, these things may be there if they are there may be
they are adding some value to the product, even if they are not they are very basic model
of this thing should have these two facilities or boiling the water and pouring the water
safely. So, we have a combination of primary functions and the secondary functions here.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:28)

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Similarly, let us take an example of a mobile phone, what are the primary functions?
Make phone calls, send text message or portability. Secondary functions can be it may
have a camera, it should be able to record a video or a play video social networking may
be there on the side may be data and other internet connectivity should be there, games
internet apps various apps it should support. So, these are the secondary function.

So, for a very basic model of mobile phones these three thing should be satisfied. But for
advanced highly functional mobile phone all other thing should also be there. So, when
you are designing a product you have to see that what is the basic function that the
product has to achieve and then you have to see what additional secondary functions can
be added on top of the basic functions so that the product becomes sailable or it becomes
a success in the market. So, these are two examples we have try to explain.

Similarly, we can also say that there are use functions and there are esteem functions. So,
we have seen the 4 types of value it was use value for the customer, it was esteem value,
it was cost value and it was exchange value. So, different types of values similar
different, similarly different types of functions are also there you can have use functions
you can have esteem function. For example, sometimes there will be product which only
have use function and I have no esteem functions for example, the petrol or the diesel or
the gasoline that goes into your vehicle may not be having any esteem function, but it has
got a definitely got a very important use function. Whereas, the jewellery items that we
wear or may be the nail that goes into the wall or the winding that is done over the motor
has got use value sorry, but has not got any esteem value, but the jewellery items
definitely has got the esteem value.

So, we need to identify the products that which products have got use value and which
products have got esteem value as well as we have to make a compromise that how much
of use value should be added into the product and how much of esteem value should be
added into the product. There was slight confusion so let me again clarify the difference
between the two. Use value let us take at least two products use value first product can
be the petrol or the diesel or the gasoline it has got use value, but it has no esteem value.

Similarly, the nail that goes into the wall it has got use value, but has got no esteem value
all right, but now let us see the esteem value the scenery that you decorate in your
drawing room or in your sitting room has got the esteem value, but may not have got any

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use value. Similarly, a flower vase in which you put the flower petals that will also have
esteem value, but may not be having much of use value.

Third example can be the jewellery items that will like I am using I am wearing a ring
may have got esteem value, but has got no use value. So, we can see that there are
products which I have got use functions only there are product which have got esteem
functions only and there will be products which will have both the functions.

Now let us take an example suppose I am wearing a neck tie and I use a tie pin to support
the tie now tie pin is holding my tie at it place. So, the tie pin has got a use value
definitely it has got a use value because it is supporting my tie fixing my tie at it place,
but it has got a esteem value also if I use a diamond studded tie pin. So, if it is a diamond
studded tie pin it will be very costly, it may be of a very high and multinational branded
company. So, there will be a logo of that company on the tie pin. So, costly tie pin,
therefore we can say it has got a esteem value as well as the use value.

So, there will be products which will have both use value and esteem value or use
function as well as the esteem function and as a product designer I have to take a call that
how much should be the use function and how much should be the esteem function so
that the product is cost competitive in the market.

(Refer Slide Time: 24:55)

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Now, let us see the functional analysis how do we do the functional analysis. If you have
understood the basic and the secondary function very easily you can take a call on this
functional analysis. Now we have taken this may be lamp post we can see what are the
various parts here foundation is there somewhere here, foundation definitely will be
there, there will be anchor bolts there will be base, there will be extension arm for
holding the lamp, there will be housing, there will be of light bulb.

So, what we have done we have taken an assembled product and in that assembled
product, there we have divided it into its individual components. So, here you can see
what are the individual components foundation, anchor bolts, base, extension arm
housing and light bulb then we have tried to see what is the function and if you see the
function we have already seen verb and a noun. So, it will be a two-word functional
definition. So, functional we are representing by two words only. So, foundation what is
the function? Support load, resist load, transfer load, verb and a noun definition. So, out
of this the red colour is only the basic function for the foundation the other two are
secondary functions.

Similarly, for anchor bolts transfer load is the only basic function to the hold the pole is
the secondary function for the anchor bolts. So, for each and every part or component of
the you can say this pole or this lamp post we have divided it into the functions which
are the basic functions what are the secondary functions.

Now, when we redesign this pole or we want to achieve this function what can be the
overall basic function of lamp post it is to provide light or to provide illumination. So,
then we will see whether all these parts are required what are the basic functions that are
required or whether this is the only design that is possible to satisfy the function of
providing illumination or there can be some other functions in which some of these parts
can be illuminated and cost can be saved. But the target will be that we need not
compromise on the level of an illumination the area the lamp post is covering the safety
aspect also the reliability aspect also the durability aspect also. So, there will be no
compromise whatsoever own any aspects related to the product design or the product
quality.

But we will see that how this basic function can be achieved by minimum number of
components and without compromising the quality. So, we will not go into the detail of

145
each and every part, but the overall summary is that any product which is assembled
product we can divide it into its individual components and then see for each component
what are the basic functions what are the secondary functions and finally, try to find out
and work on the secondary functions only in order to redesign the product or you can say
come up with the alternate alternative product which can achieve the desired function at
a relatively lower cost.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:20)

Now, let us take another example, let us see the steps to perform the function analysis.
Very quickly I will go through this 4 steps - first is random function identification that is
identification of the function we have already seen, random function identification then
fast diagramming technique this we will cover in the next discussion. Cost to function
relationships this we will cover today’s lecture identify the functions that have the best
opportunity to improve the value.

So, to summarize this slide we have to first identify the function and then establish a
functional cost matrix or a functional cost relationship and then see what are the
secondary functions or tertiary functions contributing to the cost and try to eliminate or
combine those functions in order to improve the overall value of the product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 29:10)

Now, let us take one example. In random function identification it is beginning of the
function analysis phase, we have to identify a two-word functional definition. Randomly
determining verb noun combinations that describe the functions of the project or the
product under study, verb noun definition already explain to you. Listing the functions of
the entire product and identifying the basic functions we will try to understand it with the
help of an example. And the then bill of material of each component is prepared and
identify the function or functions of each and every part in the bill of materials. So, same
thing we have done for the lamp post same thing we can do, but cost we have not
considered there let us considered the cost also here.

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(Refer Slide Time: 29:52)

Now, this is a last you can say part of our discussion today that is the functional cost
relationship. If you have understood the function, the basic function, the secondary
function, the use function, the esteem function, it will be easy for you to appreciate this
slide this is for the wooden pencil and in wooden pencil you can see what are the various
component this pencil has got eraser at its end and a metal cap is used to fix this eraser
on the wooden structure or the wooden part.

Let us try to see now the component is lead, wood, metal cap, eraser, shaping of wood,
printing. So, all these are going into the manufacturing of the pencil now lead will make
mark again the functional definition two-word functional definition verb and a noun
functional definition - lead use to make marks, wood protect the lead, metal cap hold the
eraser, eraser remove marks, shaping of wood provide grip, printing display information.

So, for each and every component that goes into this adds to the total cost we have
identified the function. And what is the basic function of a pencil? To make marks and
that is achieved only by one component other are all adding to the overall cost and are
secondary functions and secondary functions are also important in order to ensure that
the basic function of making the marks is achieved successfully.

Now, from the analysis point of view we can see only 50 paisa or 10 percent of the total
cost is being spent on achieving the basic function of the product. The 90 percent of the
cost is or may be the overall cost is going into making, or into ensuring that the basic

148
function is achieved successfully. So, our focus area has a product designer or a value
engineer has to be this additional cost on secondary function and we can see what all are
the secondary functions that we can eliminate in order to or we can combine in order to
make it a valuable product for the customer.

So, in this way we will do the functional analysis and we will be able to redesign or
reinvent the product in order to improve its value. So, we will start our discussion in the
next lecture from this slide only and we will cover the fast diagramming approach in our
next lecture. I need to explain slightly more detailed analysis of this particular slide since
for this lecture our schedule is over so we will start our discussion from this slide again
in our next lecture.

Thank you very much.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture – 09
Function Analysis System Technique

Namaskar friends, so here we are to discuss lecture number 4 in our discussion in week 2
related to value engineering. As you are well aware that we are discussing the various
concepts of value engineering already we have taken three lectures on value engineering,
the basic concepts have been discussed, the historical prospective of value engineering
has been discussed, what is not value engineering has also been discussed, what is value
engineering has also been discussed.

We have also discussed why the products have poor value or poor value functions. Then
we came to the functional analysis, we have seen the value engineering job plan, what is
the systematic approach for solving, any problem using the concepts of value
engineering. Also we have seen if you remember the functional analysis in which we
have seen that how to define or identify a function using a verb and noun type of
definition.

We have also seen examples of basic and secondary functions. And if you remember in
basic and secondary functions we have taken example of an electric cattle and a mobile
phone. That for a mobile phone what are the basic functions and what are the secondary
functions. And in the last class or the last lecture we stopped at the function cost
relationship. And we will start our discussion today from the function cost relationship,
and try to understand the details regarding the function cost relationship and how these
type of a tabular arrangement of functions and cost can help us in our overall objective of
improving the value of the product.

Now, this was the slide that we have seen in last time. The only thing that was missing in
the slide was this 30.

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(Refer Slide Time: 02:11)

So, 30 percent is a profit for that product. So we can see; if again we see noun and verb
type of definition lead make marks wood protect lead, metal cap hold eraser. So, we have
divided the wooden pencil into its individual components and the process is that add to
the cost of the product. And the cost of the product is 3.5 rupees and which is added up
here. And profit is 1.5 and the price of pencil is selling price of pencil is rupees 5. So,
here you can see from value engineering point of view we have components and the
processes like lead, wood, metal, cap, eraser, shaping of wood and printing two
processes, shaping and printing and the material that is lead, wood, metal, cap and eraser.

So, all these add up to the cost of the product. And if you can see the functions or the
during the functional analysis chapter we have seen that we have to identify the function
from the very beginning and we have to use a noun and verb type of classification for a
function or a noun and verb type of definition for a function. So, here you can see for
each and every even for the processes as well as for the materials we have two-word
definition; make mark or we can say make marks protect lead, hold eraser, remove marks
provide grip and display information.

Through if you take a pencil just look at it for 5 minutes you will be able to relate to all
these aspects. That is the lead is the main component which is used for making marks.
Wood is used for a protecting the lead, metal cap is used for holding the eraser,
sometimes you will have a eraser at the backside of the pencil which is held by a metal

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cap. Then there is an eraser which is used to remove the marks. So, what we can gain out
of it, just give a thought to this particular analysis and think that what we can derive out
of it.

We have to find out that how we can improve the value of this pencil by redesigning, or
you can say taking decisions related to the customer needs or thinking of the alternatives
which can help us to achieve this desired function of making the marks on a piece of
paper. So, if you see here we see that most of the money, may be 60 percent of the cost is
only going into the secondary functions. Only 10 percent is the cost which is actually
making contribution for achieving the intended function or the desired function.

Now, what should be our focus as a product designer or as a value engineer? Our focus
should be this cost that is going. So, this cost is the total cost of the price that the person
is paying. A person is paying rupees 5 to buy this pencil out of which 1.5 goes to the
seller or the retailer and 60 percent cost goes in this material and only 10 percent is
satisfying the basic function or the primary function of pencil. Now you can see the how
much is scope of saving money.

Now, from this information we can very easily understand that if we are designing a
pencil to be used for we can say executives in the conferences which are organized in
five star hotels. So, in those particular conferences nobody may be interested in reading
what is written on the pencil or displaying the information. For examples in many pencils
we will see a message save trees or save girl child. So, may be that may be relevant to
young minds or the school going children or the college going children, college going
students, teenagers. May not be that relevant to an executive who is mature enough to
understand all these things and who has gone to a hotel to attend a conference.

So, if we are designing a pencil to be used by the executives in hotels for attending that
during their conferences or we can say during the discussions stage they have to use that
pencil, maybe we can avoid the printing which is adding cost to the product. But in case
the pencil has to be used by a school going children. So, different colour plots or a
cartoons on the pencil will definitely attract that customer and would be kind of adding a
steam value to the product.

So, when we are designing a pencil for a student who has to go use the pencil in a school
or for young children definitely we will go for printing. Similarly, in a hotel if the pencil

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has to be used during the conference may be nobody may like to use a eraser at the back
end of the pencil some people may try love to use a separate eraser for that purpose.
Those cases may be metal cap and eraser can easily be avoided.

This is an example to understand; very basic example to understand that how functional
analysis will help us to take decisions related to the product design, and save money for
the organization, and add value to the customer who is using that product. So, add value
to the product for the customer who is using that product. So, this is very simple example
of functional cost mapping or functional cost evaluation of any simple product.

Similar types of studies can be done for may be big buildings, design of bridges, design
of highways. So, may be all those aspects can also be analyzed using the same principle.
And this has lead to savings may be running into thousands and millions of rupees. So,
that is the kind of the savings potential that these techniques possess. And if product
designers make use of the principles of value engineering during their design stage they
can lead to substantial savings for the company.

So, let us now further we can say scrutinize this function cost to relationship and use
another tool which is widely used for function analysis which is the FAST diagraming
approach. So, let us see how a FAST diagram looks like and how it can be used by the
designers to take decisions which are more logical and which are going to lead to success
of the product in the market.

Now, just brief overview of the functional analysis system technique: the FAST
diagramming approach.

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(Refer Slide Time: 09:10)

Charles Bytheway developed FAST diagrams in 1964, just the historical point of view.
FAST diagrams are function oriented, these are not time oriented in network analysis
sometime or during in schedule graphs we plot on a time scale, but here we are not
plotting on a time scale, but we are plotting as in respect of the functions.

FAST permits people with dissimilar technical backgrounds to effectively communicate

and resolve issues that require multi-disciplined considerations. So, as you know that
value engineering is not only related to mechanical engineering or civil engineering or
electrical engineering it can be related to any aspect of engineering and science as well as
management. So, for any project team I have told you that there will be people from
diverse backgrounds, people may be there from marketing, people maybe there from
sales, people may be there from finance, people may be there from legal cell, people may
be there from environmental department. So, you will have a diverse team.

So, FAST diagraming approach will help you to just put everything on a piece of paper
every information related to the functions the product has to satisfy. And then people can
give their ideas brainstorm; even brainstorming is function based, brainstorming in case
of value engineering. So, all functions will be placed at their proper places in a
diagrammatic manner and then in the discussion can take place related to the
improvement of the project or the process. So, it will help to document the things
properly.

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FAST builds upon value analysis by linking the simply expressed verb noun functions to
describe complex systems. Now suppose we have to analyze a complex product for
example an aircraft. So, for aircraft the basic functions can be carry passengers, but in
order to analyze it from the value engineering or value analysis point of view we need to
breakdown the complete aircraft configuration into its individual components. And some
of the components will have interesting functions also, and then for those functions we
need to analyze that how the functions can be clubbed together or eliminated or may be
modified in order to solve the overall objective of cost consideration or overall objective
of cost justification

So, FAST will build up; breakdown the complex system into smaller elements which are
easier to analyze. We will see FAST diagram with the help of one or two examples and
then it will become absolutely clear that how a FAST diagram would look like, and what
type of decisions we can take based on the FAST diagramming approach.

Now, you can see FAST is not an end product or result, but rather a beginning. So, what
we will do it is just representing the complete product into its individual components and
then trying to understand the function of each and every component so that we can have
a you can say creative view of what else can do the similar type of task and what can be
done to avoid or may be some problems that are existing in the system. It can also help
us to identify areas where new technological developments have taken place and which
can help us in overall improving the value of the product. Maybe in a complete system,
maybe to overall automobile, there may be a material which has been developed which is
impact resistant.

So, when we do value analysis of an automobile we will try to include that material in
the front side of that automobile, so that the crash worthiness of the automobile
improves. And the value to the customer also improves, because now the automobile has
become more safe for the customer and he may like to buy a that kind of an automobile
without any further increase in the cost. So, piece wise or piece mill when we do the
analysis for each and every component it become the successful analysis, and many of
the components which are redundant can easily be eliminated.

Similar is the case with human body: may be if we go to the evolution I am not an expert
of that but earlier the body has evolved and the unnecessary parts in the body have now

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been eliminated because of the rules of evolution. So, whatever is not required has to be
eliminated. Similarly, in a product when we will do step by step by step analysis and we
will do the analysis of or each and every component of the product we will understand
that there will be certain parts which are not at all required in the product and can easily
removed out, and subsequently leading to improvement in the value of the product.

So, we will try to understand the FAST diagramming approach, and how a FAST
diagram looks like in the subsequent slides.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:18)

You can see FAST diagram it is a tree type diagram visual layout of products functions.
We will see with the help of an example. It starts with the basic functions and builds to
the right with supporting or secondary functions. So, it will list all the primary as well as
the secondary functions. Why do a FAST diagram? Just one-line answer: understand the
functions to be eliminated or improved to deliver the basic functions. So, these are the
two or three objectives for FAST diagram.

We need to understand what are the basic functions, which is the product should satisfy,
and what are the functions which are redundant and which can easily be eliminated. Or, I
should not say eliminate sometimes some functions will be combined together and made
a third function which will be helpful to us.

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(Refer Slide Time: 15:17)

This is standard FAST diagram: functional analysis, system technique diagram. You can
see there are two lines: let us see this is line number vertical line one and then the right
hand side vertical line two these are the scope of study. Whatever functions are there will
be this is you can say boundary lines for the study and all functions will be listed inside.

If you see the blue lines from this side, we will ask how type of questions. How this
function is achieved, then next how this function is achieved, next how this function is
achieved. And from this side we will start asking why: that why this function is required
because of this; why this is required because of this; why this is required because of this;
because here we can see why do we do this, how do we do this, when do we do this, you
also do this.

So, when means it is not in time domain, but when is that is this you are being when we
will do this or during it is giving a vertical scale that when this particular thing will be
done. So, it is fixing up that will be this particular function this things are also the going
on simultaneously. That we will try to understand with the help of the diagram, but first
let us see the overall picture of the diagram.

As I have told you in the very beginning related to the concept of value engineering that
five W’s are very very important that is questioning technique is used to identify the
problem. So, here also we are using three important questions that are how, why, and
when. So, from one side we are asking how type of question, from other side we are

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asking why type of question, and then when that particular function is done that is also
listed in the FAST diagram.

So, whenever you see any FAST diagram these are the three directions in which you
have to focus; direction which is horizontal direction and the vertical direction. And
when you move from left to right you have to ask how type of questions, and when you
move from right to left you have to ask why type of questions.

So, let us now see a function as written here is active verb plus measurable noun which
we have already discussed in the previous class, where we have seen that for example,
for a watch the definition of function can be show time that is verb and a noun. Similarly,
for we can say camera record information again it is verb and noun type of definition.
So, wherever function is written you will get two-word verb and a noun definition of that
particular function. So, this is overall skeleton of a FAST diagram

Now, we will try to fix some example in this diagram. In this diagram then they will try
to see that how a FAST diagram can be drawn for a pencil or for an overhead projector.
Let us go to that.

(Refer Slide Time: 18:15)

This is again I just ask how, ask why already I have explained and there we can see, OR
logic can also be used, AND logic can also be used, so may be that we will try to
understand when we see that example.

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(Refer Slide Time: 18:35)

This is again how and why type of questions. So, when the customer needs are satisfied
by the functions that the product is providing. It means, the product is going to be
successful. So, FAST model is complete, when the customer needs can be mapped to the
functions. So, if the customer may be if you draw a FAST diagram may be it can be an
assignment to you that you draw a FAST diagram for the washing machine. So,
somewhere in between you will see a function wash clothes. So, wash clothes are a
requirement of the customer and if it is getting satisfied, it means that the overall
representation of the functions on the FAST diagram is successful.

Now let us try to understand I can understand that it is not that easy to comprehend until
and unless you see a particular example. So, we have taken two examples to clarify this.

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(Refer Slide Time: 19:28)

Now here you can see this is pencil FAST diagram or you can say FAST diagram or you
can say FAST diagram for a wooden pencil. Now you see there are how type of
questions, why type of questions, and then this is one function and this is another
function, this can be this can be higher order function, this can be lower order function.
So, first is hold pencil and on this side on the far left side, on the left scope line you have
keep records. Now let us take example and ask ourselves how and why type of questions.
We start from here.

How we can keep the records by maintaining the information? How we can maintain the
information by recording the information? How we can record the information by
making the marks? How we can make the marks by depositing some medium? Medium
can be pen or a pencil, right now we are not clear that we are going to use a pencil, but
maybe we will deposit the medium. How we can deposit the medium? Medium is lead or
ink. Something by applying the pressure how we can apply the pressure? By transmitting
the force and by supporting the lead. So, both things have to be done in order to apply
the pressure.

So, there are OR, AND logics come into picture that we have to transmit the force also
and support the lead also. Then how you can transmit the force by accommodating the
grip? And how you can accommodate the grip by holding the pencil? So, we can say
higher order function keep record, lower order function maybe we can say hold the

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pencil. So, by holding the pencil you can keep the records. So, this is we can say we can
sometimes call it as a critical path also.

So, from how type of questions from left to right we can see what is the relationship
among the various functions or what is the relationship among the various we can say
methods with which we can achieve our higher order functions. So, it is not methods
basically we can call it functions only, but what are the functions which will help us to
achieve our higher order function.

So, here you can have an idea. If you start from right hand side start asking why type of
questions. Maybe you can try it on your own. If you start why a type of questions you
will see why should we hold a pencil; why should we hold it; in order to accommodate
the grip; why should we the accommodate the grip? Because then only we will be able to
transmit the force. Why do we transmit the force? In order to apply pressure; why do we
apply pressure? To deposit the medium on a piece of paper; why do we deposits some
medium? Medium means again I am revising it is lead or ink, now we are depositing the
medium in order to make marks; why do we make marks? In order to record information;
and why do we record information? To maintain the information; and why do we
maintain the information? For keeping the records.

So, if you move from right to left we have to ask why type of questions, if you move
from left to right we have to ask how type of question. And when we will protect wood,
wood will improve the appearance and improve the appearance it will display the
information. So, at this level only when we are using wood these things are also
happening at the same time. Because we are using wood for covering the lead so wood
can help the other functions also. It will improve the appearance as well as it will display
the information. Suppose you are using plastic here then also there will be some
additional functions or secondary or tertiary functions that may come into picture.

So, from here we can see there is another path also which is related to the eraser, secure
eraser, apply pressure, absorb medium, remove marks, correct information. So, similar
type of because this is the pencil we have seen in the first slide today pencil has a metal
cap as well as a eraser. So, what does that mean? That means that you have a secondary
purpose also. So, primary is to make marks, but secondary is to help erase the marks
which may not be correct.

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So, we can see now whether this is required or it is not required. If it is not required you
can even eliminate this particular function of the eraser and the metal cap. So, FAST
diagram will help us to identify which are the functions which are not required.

This is again an example of the overhead projector of FAST diagram.

(Refer Slide Time: 24:01)

Again you can see from the left hand side you ask how type of questions, right hand side
you ask why type of questions. This is the fast model for the overhead projector. Let me
just go to one direction to other. If you start higher order function is to convey the
information, how we can convey the information by projecting the image. How we can
project the image by generating light. How we can generate light by converting the
energy. How we can convert the energy after we receive the current. Then how we will
receive the current when the current will be transmitted.

And if you start from the right hand side start asking why; why current is transmitted? To
receive the current. Why do we need to receive the current? To convert the energy; why
do we convert the energy? To generate light; why do we generate light? To project
image; and why do we project image? To convey information; and when the image is
projected we have to ensure allow safety, facilitate portability, focus image, support
image, amplify image. So, when the image is projected these are the other functions
which also need to be satisfied.

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So here you can see; when we convert the energy it will generate heat when; it will
generate heat that heat needs to be dissipate heat and then the heat will dissipate may be
with the help of a fan, it will generate noise. Now, you can see for yourselves that we
have taken very simple example of an overhead projector that everybody uses. And use
the FAST diagramming approach to breakdown its individual components and try to
understand the function of each and every component.

Now, suppose with the technological advances we come to know that there is a source of
light which is available and which does not produce any heat all these things can be
eliminated. Because, our function is to generate light. So, light has to be generated as per
the existing technology, there is a source of light which also produces heat, which has to
be taken away and for that you have additional functions in the product.

Now, suppose we know from our background that there are sources of light which do not
produce any heat all these functions will be completely eliminated, and your product will
become simpler product, there would be no noise, there would be no heat. So, it will
become a more valuable product for the organization as well as for the customer whose
going to buy the product.

So, we have tried to understand that how the basic FAST diagramming approach can
help us to list out the functions of the individual components of a structure or of a
product or of a assembly, and try to eliminate or redesign or reinvent the product in such
a way. So, that our product adds value to the customer.

So, that is the basic concept of FAST diagramming. We have seen that pencil can also
have certain modifications in order to suit the customer requirements. Similarly the
overall projector can also be redesign in order to suit the customer requirements. So, with
this we come to the fundamental or the basic aspect of FAST diagram that what are the
benefits of FAST diagram.

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(Refer Slide Time: 27:33)

We can now I think, all of you can try to find out a product. When I am giving you
washing machine, you can take washing machine whatever you are using and try to make
a FAST diagram for the washing machine. And then you will see that that FAST diagram
will help you develop a shared understanding of the project. It is common you can say
knowledge for everybody; everybody can use same FAST diagram and try to understand
the functions of the product.

Identify the missing functions; define, simplify, and clarify the problem; organize and
understand the relationships between the functions; identify the basic function of the
project, process or product; improve the communication and consensus; and stimulate
the creativity.

So, all these are the advantages of the FAST diagram approach. If you are able to
construct a FAST diagram for the product that you want to value analyze, all these
advantages will automatically accrue. And you can easily lead to may be identifying
there are some missing functions you can add those missing functions, there are some
additional functions which are not required you can eliminate those additional functions.
There can be functions three or four which can be combined together into a single unit
that can also be done if you know the FAST diagramming approach.

And it will stimulate as it was given in that first or second slide that it is not the end
product of your value analysis, it is the beginning, it will help you to create new and new

164
ideas. It is just the representation of the complete product in its functional form or as per
the functional analysis.

So I will advise, I would request, I would ask all of you, I will urge to make a FAST
diagram may be one or two FAST diagrams for different products that you see around
you. So, with this we come to the end of our discussion on functional analysis and FAST
diagramming approach. We will have our last session on value engineering which will be
related to the various case studies which have been performed or which have been
reported are available. We were the successful implementation of value engineering has
been shown. So now, we will go further down into the application areas of value
engineering.

Thank you very much.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 10
Case Study on Value Engineering

[FL] friends, today we are going to have our last discussion on Value Engineering as you
are aware we are in the process of discussion on week 2 in which we are discussing the
various aspects of value engineering. Just to have a brief glimpse of what we have
already discussed in the last one week that is related to value engineering. We have
discussed what is value engineering definitions of value engineering and we have also
covered the different aspects related to functional analysis and how we can analyze the
functions with the help of examples we have try to see for a mobile phone that what are
the basic functions and what are the secondary functions.

Similarly, we have also seen for an electric cattle that what are the basic functions and
what are the secondary functions and we have also seen that how functional cost
evaluation can help us to decide that what are the functions which are immaterial or are
not relevant to the success of the product and those functions can thereby eliminated.

In the last lecture if you remember we have learnt a very important technique that is
called the FAST diagramming approach in which we have seen that using the fast
diagram we can identify some of the functions which are not relevant. If you remember
or you can again see we have seen the functional cost evaluation of a pencil using in that
the cost was not considered in diagramming approach. But the cost was considered in a
previous lecture and in fast diagramming approach we have seen the functional analysis
of a pencil as well as the functional analysis of a overhead projector.

So, we have taken certain application points of view of value engineering also and today
we are going to close our discussion on value engineering with the complete application
of the techniques in a specific case study and the case study has been selected based on
your personal usage we are not taking a case study in which we are using a specific
mechanical engineering component and which may be difficult to understand for all the
diverse group of students were attending this course. We have taken a general type of

166
case study in order to explain that how value engineering can be applied to solve the
basic problems or basic day to day problems, So, let us start the discussion for today.

(Refer Slide Time: 02:41)

The case study is for a divan everybody uses a divan at his or her house. So, the case
study is related to divan and this case study is a furniture industry that is a Gayatri
Industries is Sangli Maharashtra and the item to be studied is divan. So, it is not a very
technical component although it require certain degree of engineering also, but it is a
general component, a general furniture item which is used by each one of us and it is
easy to relate to this item therefore, we have selected this particular case study which is
you can say functional analysis of a divan. So, we will see if you remember we have seen
in functional analysis that we break down the complete product into its individual
components and then try to analyze those components in context of the cost.

So, if you see a divan just have a look at the structure of the divan there is a top then
there is a side flanges there are legs, there will be a frame on which all these other parts
are mounted. So, let us first try to understand the functional analysis of the divan.

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(Refer Slide Time: 03:53)

Now, what are the steps that we are going to follow I have already told functional
evaluation we will do that is the second stage. So, functional analysis worksheet is
prepared for the different parts of the product. So, I have highlighted different parts of
the product and for each product or each component we will try to give a functional
definition. Must I ask you that what is the functional definition or the method of giving
the functional definition which we have already covered in the last four sessions.

I think all of you, everyone of you should be able to answer that it is a verb and a noun
type of definition which we use to define any product. So, define any component of a
product or a product as well on the whole also. So, if I ask you what is a functional
definition of a divan, so you can see provide seat maybe that seat maybe for sitting or for
sleeping. So, for divan the functional definition is verb and a noun, but now we want to
analyze it and to improve the divan therefore, we will go into the individual components
of the divan and try to establish the functional definition of each and every part of the
divan.

So, for first we will generate or maybe complete this functional analysis worksheet
which will be prepared for different parts of the product which we have already done for
pencil and for many other components. Functional evaluation is done on each part
numerical evaluation sheet is prepared, creativity worksheet in which we will try to
develop different types of alternatives for improving the value of a product which in our

168
case today is divan. So, creativity worksheet will be prepared now selection of
alternative is done through the decision matrix which is a common decision making
technique.

Then we will what are the findings and what are the recommendations and finally, the
conclusion. So, we have to complete this case study in today’s session therefore, I will be
slightly fast for today’s lecture. So, here you can see this is a functional analysis of parts
of a divan.

(Refer Slide Time: 05:51)

So, you can see broadly there are five parts first is the steel frame the top part, steel
frame that is complete, then the bed top divan tops also we can call it divan top side strip
side strip short and leg strip. So, there are 5 components that makeup the complete divan.
So, again I am calling the names steel frame, bed top, side strip which is long, side strip
which is short, maybe on the shorter side and then the leg strip.

Now, let us see the quantity side strips are 2, functions if we see side strips long are 2 and
side strip short is 2. So, maybe we can see the functional definition as I have already told
we will have a verb and a noun type definition. So, we will say steel frame has got
functions it will hold the assembly together, it will hold the various parts together
provide strength to the structure and provide grip. So, steel frame of the divan has to
satisfy all these function. Similarly the side strip has to support the frame and improve
the appearance. So, similarly for each and every component or the part of the divan has

169
got certain functions this is the first stage of evaluation. Then we have to see which of
these are basic functions and which of these are the secondary functions.

Now, let us try to understand that now basic functions are hold assembly is the basic
function of the steel frame, but hold the parts together provide strength and provide grip
are the secondary functions. So, this is for the part and for the assembly also because we
are doing a functional analysis of the assembly as well. So, the basic function is of the
steel frame is to hold the assembly together. So, we can see steel frame bed top side strip
leg strip all these has got functional definition and we have further subdivided them into
the basic and the secondary functions.

If you remember our main focus is on satisfying the basic function of the product and we
are not least bothered, but we are less bothered about the secondary functions and we
always look to redesign the product in such a way so that the secondary functions are
either combined or they are eliminated or maybe sometimes they may be added on to a
basic function in order to improve the overall value of the product for the customer. So,
here you can see there are so many secondary functions being achieved by different
components or parts of the divan.

Now, our job is to see or redesign the part in such a way that the overall cost of divan
gets minimized, but without compromising the quality performance reliability durability
of the product. So, without compromising all these quality characteristics we have to
establish that how the cost can be reduced for the divan in our question and for the
product in general. So, let us see now this is a first part that is a functional analysis
worksheet dividing that product into its individual components and identifying the
functional definition and then establishing the basic and the secondary functions of the
various parts of the product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 09:18)

Now, let us see now here we see the cost because always in value engineering there are
two important things one is the function second thing is a cost and then we have to map
the two things together. Now let us see there are 5 components as we have shown in the
previous slide there is a steel frame, bed top, side strip, side strip short long both and leg
strip and the quantities are also given. And cost in rupees you can see 495 rupees for
steel frame, 465 rupees for bed top.

So, similarly the cost for individual components are given and the overall cost of the
present design is rupees 1526. Now this is the basic information we have seen that how
to solve a value engineering study first part is the orientation. So, this is the orientation
of the problem in which we have highlighted all the basic information which is related to
the functions and the cost of the divan.

So, this particular design of divan is costing us 1526 rupees and this is just the
representation of the same data on a scale in which steel frame maximum cost, bed top
slightly less and the leg strip are the least costly parts that go into the manufacturing of
the divan. Now we have to see that how we can use the concepts of value engineering to
save cost for the company or for the organization which is making the divans. So, this is
the basic information we have not done any creative analysis, we have not done any
redesigning, we have just systematically put the information which is already existing on
our paper and we know now that what is the contribution of individual parts and what are

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the functions to be achieved by the individual parts. So, with this information we will go
to the next stage.

(Refer Slide Time: 11:09)

The next stage is the functional evaluation of different parts, now in case of a divan we
have because of the paucity of time we were not able to discuss value engineering in
totality. So, there is a term called interacting functions. So, one particular product is not
only performing its own function, but it is also helping the other parts or products to
perform their function. So, there were always be interaction between the various parts
and that has been studied here we have tried to see this AB, how A and B are interacting,
how A and C are interacting and how A or D are interacting.

So, here we can see the grading is given 3 2 and 1. So, what is the meaning of 3? 3 is
major performance, two is medium performance and one is minor performance. Now
suppose A and B, if we see A is steel frame and B is bed top now the bed top is fixed on
the steel frame. So, they have a very good interaction. So, one is supporting the other
therefore, we have given their grading 3. And if we see 1 D and E has 1. So, D is side
strip and E is leg strip. So, not much conflicting or not much supporting. So, we will say
that we are given the grading minor performance. So, in this way tabular form or matrix
form we can give relative weightage to the interactive functions or the interactive parts
and you can see we can calculate sum up all these gradings we have given three two and
one relative grading of the interacting products. If you add up three plus 3 plus 3 plus 3

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we get 12, 2 plus 2 plus 2 we get 6, similarly 1 plus 1 2 and 1. So, relative grading has
been given A has got the maximum weight. So, weight is assigned to A that is steel frame
12 weight and overall weight percentage cost we can calculate based on the previous
slide if you see. Steel frame what is the contribution of this cost in the overall cost of the
product.

So, the overall cost of the product is 1526 and we can see 495rupees are being
contributed by steel frame only and we can very easily calculate the percentage
contribution of steel frame. So, here we can see percentage contribution is calculated
percentage of cost and the relative weight is also calculated using this matrix approach
and these criteria of giving major performance, medium performance and minor
performance. So, here you can see the weight is given by blue and this is a percentage
cost I think yes maybe this is correct.

So, in this way we can plot this data.

(Refer Slide Time: 13:54)

Now, creative phase, now this is the just the information that steel frame is contributing
this much and the legs are called leg frames are contributing this much and then we have
given the weights to the individual components and we can also calculate the percentage
contribution. If we do not want to go into the weights phenomenon or weights technique
we can directly see the percentage contribution of individual part in the overall cost of
the product.

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Now, we have to see that how we can make this divan in a cheaper manner or what can
be the techniques or what can be the options available with us to reduce the cost of the
divan without compromising the cost and quality and performance, without
compromising the cost means that we are not going to compromise on the performance.
Sometimes we may reduce the cost of the product by compromising the performance, but
that is not the case in value engineering.

So, our focus would always be to map or to match the performance with the cost so that
the cost is not reduced, but performance improves further. So, what are the creative
phase, what are the options available we can see. The following ideas were generative
during the creative phase, maybe you have to look for alternative first is make the design
simpler, use the wheels for movement, make it in powder coating, reduce the thickness of
the board, use waste pieces of required size in some places, reduce the size of the board
in some places, reduce the gauge of the pipe. So, these are some of the options available,
but we have to select only those options in which the performance is not getting
compromised.

(Refer Slide Time: 15:34)

Now, here we can see this is again the value gap that can be calculated. We have
functions again hold assembly steel frame. So, this is A B C D E 5 parts are there. So,
existing cost is also given up to this information already has been projected the overall
cost is 1526. Now the worth is also calculated tentative alternative can be four this side

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boards and legs and all these they can be the board and one part fifth part that is we can
see that is part number 5 if you see to the leg strip. So, it is a being suggested the leg strip
can be avoided. So, this particular component can be eliminated. So, this is being
suggested that it has got no worth. So, it can be eliminated.

So, cost of leg last part e part leg strip or leg support can be eliminated and the estimated
cost we can say 1180. So, it is getting eliminated, but it is not affecting the overall
performance of the product. So, that is one thing that we eliminate a one particular part
and thus you save some money for the product, so 75 rupees getting reduced from this.
And the value gap has also been calculated that 495 the worth of the product is 390 and
the value gap is 105 the board 65 rupees the estimated cost is 400 by this data is
generated through the creative phase where it is suggested that you can reduce the
thickness of the board slightly. So, their cost has been calculated for the reduced
thickness. We are not going to going to the values that how much thickness has to be
reduced, our purpose is to do the cost analysis therefore, we had directly going for the
cost.

So, similarly for steel frame also there is a change and the cost has been reduced,
similarly for the board also cost is reduced say and for side strip and leg strip for all that
there is you can say substantial reduction in the cost and this is the value gap that we
have achieved. In steel frame we have been able to say 105 rupees and for the board we
have been for the you can say the second part again we can see the bed top which is
made up of board we are also able to save and then the side strip and long strip also we
have been able to save some money using this creative phase in which you can see four
number reduce the thickness of the board, use the waste pieces of required size in some
places.

So, if you redesign the part you can have a value gap of 346 rupees that exist and this is
the worth that has been calculated. So, we can target 1180 by modifications in the design
of the product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 18:26)

Now, here you can see function cost worth analysis existing cost is given in blue color,
steel frame that 495, you can see it is touching 500 there and then the red color is the
estimated cost in rupees estimated means this one that we have seen that what is the
actual worth of that part that goes into the manufacturing of divan. And finally, is the
value gap, so value gap exists for each and every part in many cases you will see when
you will do the value engineering analysis you may not find any value gap which means
there is no point in putting your efforts in that particular component because it has
already been optimized and there is no better component available to replace that
particular component. So, value gap become zero no opportunity to do any analysis on
that.

But here you can see green color for each and every 5 parts that are used for
manufacturing a divan green color is evident everywhere which means there is a scope of
putting efforts to reduce the cost of the product without compromising the performance.

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(Refer Slide Time: 19:28)

So, this is again evaluation phase. Now again, we have existing design of the product, we
have modified that design now we have to compare the two designs together. And as I
have told you if we are saving money, we are saving around 380 rupees you can sorry
346 rupees being saved by the change in that design. So, you have design one which is
existing you have design 2 which is redesigned part using the creative phase. So, we
have a redesigned part then there is a value gap that is existing. So, we are saving 346
rupees. These 346 rupees should not be at the cost of any reduction in the performance.

So, therefore, we can see we will evaluate the designs based on the rigidity lightweight
durability and appearance. So, alternative I change gauge of the material pipe that is this
is one alternative as compared to the existing design and alternative II is reduce the
thickness of the board wherever required. So, in the creative phase we have seen that
there is a scope to redesign the product in such a way that we are able to save some
money.

We have then the worth cost worth function cost worth analysis in worth we have seen
that yes there is a chance or there is an opportunity to save 346 rupees because of the
design changes. Now we have trying to have two design changes here one is change in
the gauge of the pipe maybe you can use a different gauge for the pipe and the reduce
thickness of the board wherever required. So, now, we have three designs which we can
compare one is the existing design, second one is the design with the reduced gauge of

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the material that is pipe and third is a reduced thickness of the board. So, now we have to
compare these three designs.

Now again using a same technique of matrix we can calculate the weightage of the
parameters. Now what are the parameters that we have to compare? There are four
parameters A B C and D we will see A and B; A 3. So, it means rigidity and light weight
are having major interaction A and rigidity and lightweight, but somewhere there is one
only that this C and D it is C1. So, you can see C and D durability and appearance does
not make much of A interaction. So, the score given is 1. So, we can calculate the score A
and B as I have again explained very good interaction rigidity and lightweight. So, that is
good interaction than maybe it has to be considered. Then A and C, A rigidity and C
durability. So, that also has medium interaction two.

Similarly, we can do 3 plus 2 plus 2 – 7, 2 plus 2 - 4 and 1 is 1. So, total this is a

weightage given to the various factors that is A has been given 7. So, it means rigidity is
that in the final score of seven that is the highest rating factor or highest weightage factor
than A minimum weightage factor D is the appearance. So, in case of a divan if you see
as a product always the divan will be covered by the bed sheet or the mattress. So, the
appearance is not very prime important criteria or a prime criteria for you can say
analysis, but rigidity is very important, weight is also important and durability is
important. So, the first highest score goes to rigidity, second score goes to lightweight,
third is durability and fourth is your aesthetics or the appearance. So, this way we can
calculate the final score or the weightage of the various parameters.

Then we will compare these parameters now we have four parameters and what we have
to compare. We have to compare three designs one is the existing design, second one is
the design with the gauge length or different gauge pipe and third one is the design with
the reduced thickness of the board, these 3 we have to compare.

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(Refer Slide Time: 23:37)

Now, let us see 3 designs here – 3 designs existing design which is the first design then
reduced gauge pipe and reduced thickness of the board - rigidity lightweight durability
and appearance scores 7, 4, 1 and 1. So, here we can see it is 1, yes it is 1 and 1 correct
absolutely correct. So, there the scores are given 5 for excellent, 4 for very good, 3 for
good, 2 for fair and 1 for poor.

Now, maybe you can collect the data from the customers or do the test marketing where
people can use these products for a specified period of time and take data from them and
then you can give the scores. Now for the existing design and rigidity point of view a
score of 4 is given, for alternative I again score of 4 is given and alternative II again
score of 4 is given. So, we multiply the weightage factor which we have already
calculated 7 by 4 and we get a score of 28 on rigidity for existing design. For modified
design also change in the pipe we again get a score of 28, for reduced thickness of the
board again we get 28. So, for all the 3 designs rigidity point of view there is no change
in the rigidity and score is 28 only.

But from lightweight point of view if we are reducing the thickness of the board the
score is 20. So, here you can see the score is 20 here, for alternative I 16 and existing 12
which means that the existing design is much heavier as compared to the proposed or the
new design. So, you have a new design change in the gauge of the pipe 16 and change in
the thickness of the board 20, so your lightweight maybe alternative number 2.

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Similarly from durability point of view score remains same, for appearance point of view
there is no change in the appearance score remains same. So, from lightweight point of
view we can say that alternative II is scoring high. So, this can be the, this is some simple
technique a sample data for performing the evaluation using the matrix technique. So,
this we have covered because this is a important tool which can be used in other
comparison issues also or other comparison problems also. So, this is equally relevant in
the value engineering problems.

So, let us see now what conclusions or what can be the final outcome of this case study.
So, we have tried to redesign the divan in such a way that we have now two additional
alternatives available with us without compromising the appearance and the durability
and the rigidity, but the weight definitely is changing. So, what does that mean? If I get
three products there is no change whatsoever in rigidity durability and appearance, but
one is lighter definitely I am going to choose the lighter product for maybe same cost or
even sometimes for a higher cost also. Let us see the cost comparison also.

(Refer Slide Time: 26:46)

So, from cost comparison point of view if we see the 5 parts here, other costs are also
included now maybe is which remaining same. So, existing design as we have already
seen 1526 rupees this much data already, but was alternative I which is changing the pipe
1303 rupees and alternative II change in the thickness of the board 1227 rupees. So, we

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are getting the cheaper product without compromising the rigidity durability appearance,
but lightweight product.

So, always I will try to go for alternative II. I would as an engineer or as a manager I
would like to redesign the product in such a way that my cost is reducing without
compromising the performance of the product and that is the basic essence of value
engineering that for all problems all across so, or all around the globe if we use these
concepts we are able to achieve the function, but at a relatively lower cost without
compromising the performance and reliability or other parameters which are the quality
characteristics for that product.

(Refer Slide Time: 27:55)

Now, we can implement this, the samples as per alternative I and alternative II or
manufactured and tested with the customer, I think here we have a spelling mistake.
Reports were found to be satisfactory for both alternatives. In alternative I and
alternative II weight reduction was found with cost reduction. The proposal was put to
the management finance department for approval.

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(Refer Slide Time: 28:18)

So, maybe we have seen that we can always redesign the product and we can say money
for the organization that is the basic concept of value engineering.

Now, value engineering were used for cost reduction without the change in the product
design and its value. The total savings incurred were, we have done some change in the
material, but the overall design more or less remains same. That total savings incurred
per product by the implementation of the above recommendation are 19.6 percent for
alternative II and 14.6 per percent for alternative I. So, more cost saving in alternative II
which is lighter in weight. In future furniture product designs can be modified so that the
value of the product can be enhanced.

So, other industrial engineering techniques can be used for further improvement in the
product. So, this is not the only technique which will help us to improve the performance
of this particular product that is a divan, but there can be other tools also which some of
them we are going to cover maybe in our subsequent lectures. So, in today’s lecture we
have try to cover the case study related to the actual application or actual implementation
of the principles of value engineering in solving our problems or solving a day to day
product problem. So, if you see as an assignment you can see around you any product
and try to do a value engineering analysis of that product using a standard approach that
we have seen here.

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So, with this we come to the end of week number 2 of our course on product design and
development. In week 1 we have covered the basic concepts of product design and
development the steps involved in the product design process the product life cycle and
other related aspects. In week 2 we have covered everything related to value engineering
the functional analysis, the functional cost analysis and finally, we have seen fast
diagramming approach and today we have seen a application based case study based on
the principles of value engineering.

So, in out next discussion in the next week we will start our discussion on the design
tools or various tools which are used for the product design process and which help us to
launch a successful product in the market.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 11
Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Namaskar friends, so we are going to start our discussion on week 3 that is related to the
various design tools that are used for product design and development. Let us have a
brief review of what we have already discussed in the previous 2 weeks. In week number
1 we have discussed the basic concepts of product design in which we have seen the
need of product design, we have seen the product life cycle, we have seen the various
steps involved in the product design process and the other aspects related to the
importance of product design.

In week number 2 our focus was primarily on the functional aspects of product design in
which we have seen the concept of value engineering, we have also seen how value
engineering can be applied in various diverse fields of engineering as well as in service
industry. We have seen the functional analysis approach, we have seen functional
analysis and cost evaluation approach, we have seen the FAST diagramming approach
and if you remember in the last lecture we have taken case study of the functional cost
evaluation of a furniture item that was a home divan.

So, right now we are prepared enough to understand the concepts that go into the product
design. Today we will start our discussion related to the design tools, as you know that if
we have to design successfully we should be aware of the various design tools which are
used for the product design process. So, now, our focus is more from theoretical point of
view to the application point of view, in the last class also lesson number 10 we have
seen the application of concepts of value engineering for solving a real life problem that
is solving the cost issue related to the cost of the divan.

So, we have seen that application base learning is much more relevant and important for
short courses like 10 lecture courses or 10 hour courses. So, it is important that we apply
our concepts to the application point of view and today also we will try to understand the
concept of quality function deployment with the help of an example, in which we will
see a comparison of the pizza manufacturing companies or pizza delivery companies and

184
see that how the concept of quality function deployment can be used for improving or for
benchmarking or for comparing the quality of 2 companies.

Let us now start our discussion on the quality function deployment. First we will just
have a brief overview of the historical aspects of quality function deployment, the history
goes back to the year 1972 when it was first introduced at Mitsubishis Kobe Shipyard in
Japan. So, this is technique which is maybe now approximately 40 years old maybe more
than 45 years old it is a method of structuring customer requirements and translating into
technical specifications as a basis for a new product development. So, this is the
technique which will be helpful for the development of a product or for the design of the
product.

(Refer Slide Time: 03:46)

So, it is you can see 2 important terms have come in this sentence, first term is customer
requirements. So, we will see how we can make use of the customer requirements in our
design process as well as the technical specifications, here you can see technical
specifications. So, when we will see the application of quality function deployment we
will see these 2 things are the most important things customer requirements and the
technical specifications. So, these 2 things will help us to make our decisions.

So, it has been translated into English as quality function deployment and more
commonly it is called as the QFD technique and in Japanese they call it as “ HIN
SHIITU KINOTEN KAI ”.

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(Refer Slide Time: 04:35)

So, this is a Japanese name for this technique of quality function deployment. Now the
definition you can see QFD is a method for structure product planning and development
that enables a development team to specify clearly the customers wants and needs, and
then to evaluate each proposed product or service capability systematically in terms of its
impact on meeting those needs.

So, basically we have 2 things here, we will take input from the customer that what a
customer wants for example, we, we can say if we are doing our quality function
deployment for a design of an automobile. We will ask the customer that what are his
requirements, maybe we may say, he may say that he needs a 4 seater vehicle. what
should be the bhp, what should be the efficiency, what should be the we can safety
features in the car or the automobile or we can say what can be the type of drive it can a
manual drive or a gear drive. So, we will take all feedback from the customer and then
we will document it properly, we will give equal, maybe equal or maybe relative
weightage to the various demands or the needs or the requirements of the customer and
then we will try to map these or try to correlate these with the technical specifications.
And then after we have the matrix we will compare the designed products with the
already existing products in the market or already existing automobiles in the market and
benchmark our product that how competitive that product is going to be once it is
launched in the market.

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So, basically our focus here is on 2 important aspects, aspect number 1 is the input from
the customers and the aspect number 2 is how to meet those customer demands and
requirements technically or how the technical you can say specifications will be able to
match the customer’s requirement. So, same thing has been highlighted in this definition
also, in the product planning and development process, we need to specify clearly the
customers wants and needs and then finally, we have to evaluate each proposed product
or service capability systematically in terms of its impact on meeting those needs.

So, technical content is has to be there in order to map this customer needs with the
actual products. So, let us see now the concept of QFD maybe 2 slides we will discuss in
order to understand the basic concept of QFD.

(Refer Slide Time: 07:07)

It has been developed to help translate requirements as seen by the customer into
technical specifications that can be used by the designer and production engineers. Now
it will relate the 2 things the customer requirements with the technical specifications, it is
a method of linking customer requirement to technical specifications.

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(Refer Slide Time: 07:45)

It helps to focus on needs of customers by using matrices and charts, usually we do it

with the help of house of quality and we will try to understand this house of quality in
today’s discussion. Now, QFD concept is a systematic approach for translating customer
requirements into appropriate requirements at each stage, right from first stage, all of you
know research and development to engineering, engineering to manufacturing and
manufacturing to distribution and sales.

So, you can see first stage is research and development from there we go to engineering
specifications of the product, from engineering specifications of the product we go to the
manufacturing of the product and then from manufacturing the product goes to
distribution and sales. So, QFD is a systematic approach of translating customer
requirements into appropriate requirements at each stage or appropriate specifications at
each stage, right from the conceptualization that is research to the final sales in the
market, maybe automobile designed at the R and D center of any big automobile
organization or company and finally, it is sold in the showrooms and the customer can go
and buy the automobile.

The complete journey of the product is covered right from the conception till it reaches
the customer.

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(Refer Slide Time: 08:46)

Now, the phases of QFD, comprehensive quality function deployment may provide 4
phrases we can see, phase number 1 is the product planning that is how also called house
of quality, today we will see how this house will look like what are the various rooms in
this house and what is the significance of each room of this house that we will try to
understand today.

So, the first phase of quality function deployment is product planning, it will translate the
customer requirements into the product technical requirement to meet them. Product
design translate the technical requirement to key part characteristics or systems, in part
characteristics we can say the dimension, the specifications, the tolerances and other
parts. Process planning identify key process operations necessary to achieve the key part
characteristics, now we have already you can say done the house of quality, it is now for
example, for this pointer we can say the technical specifications of each and every part,
what is going to fit? What will be the dimension of this thing? What will be the size of
the slot all that is fixed that the product design stage.

At third stage process planning, now we have to see that how we can achieve this design,
which process will be used, how we can cut this portion, how the mold has to be design,
so, that is process requirements. So, identify the key process operations necessary to
achieve the key part characteristics, now this part has got certain characteristics if you

189
can see it has got a specific shape you how to generated this shape, how the mold will be
designed all that will be covered in third stage that is process planning.

And in the last production planning or process control establish process control plans,
maintenance plans, training plans to control the operations. Finally, we will do the
quality check of the product that we are producing, but in today’s lecture our major focus
is on house of quality. These are the 4 stage is of QFD which will help us in a successful
product design. Let us see the QFD matrices, because here we will do we will use
different types of matrix operations where we will give different weightage to different
types of requirements which will be the voice of customers and the technical
specifications we will try to relate them using a matrix system and then try to do some
decision making based on the data that we generate out of this different matrices.

(Refer Slide Time: 11:20)

Now, let us see what are the different matrices. QFD is a main tool to bridge the
customer requirements and the process evaluation this matrix helps in understanding the
customer voice usually we call it many books you will see it will be written as VOC that
is voice of customers. So, this matrix helps in understanding the voice of customers and
response as well as transformation of this voice into the technical specification. So, we
will try to understand with a very simple example. I understand that all of the learners for
this course or all of the students are registered for this course may not be engineers

190
therefore, the problems that we are considering are not actually engineering problems
they are more of day to day problems.

In value engineering also we covered the problem of a divan. I could a very easily taken
a case study related to mechanical engineering, but my focus was that everybody should
be able to have a basic fundamental understanding of the process of value engineering
and therefore, divan was taken as an example. Today also all of us relish pizzas. So, we
have taken an example of a pizza which is in your day to day life. You see pizza and you
will be able to relate the concept of quality function deployment with the application of a
pizza because everybody can relate to that product.

So, the different matrices as I have already told customer voice will be correlated to the
technical specifications. The cascading of the information is achieved by series of
matrices which is therefore, we club it into the form of a house. So, there will be
individual matrices and when club together maybe there are individual rooms and when
these rooms get connected together you build a house and that house is called as the
house of quality. We will see what are the individual matrices and how these matrices are
interrelated to each other and how we can make a house and how decision making or
what decision making can be done based on this house.

So, let us try to understand the individual, you can say matrices here. QFD is known by
the house of quality I have told you individual matrices combined together a house is
conceptualized or it is made and that house is called the house of quality it is called the
house of quality because of its triangular roof structure we will see in the next slide. The
house of quality is a kind of conceptual matrix that provides the means for inter
functional planning and communication.

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(Refer Slide Time: 13:42)

Now, maybe a product may have different functions. So, here we will do the analysis of
inter-functional that is how one particular function is you can say related to the other
function and how the different functions influences each other. So, that we will try to
understand.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:04)

Now, this is you can see a house of quality. All the matrices are shown here top let us
start from the top it is a correlation matrix, then the technical requirements relationship

192
matrix, competitive technical assessment, operational goals or targets, voice of customers
importance ratings, customer competitive assessment.

Now, here we can see this straight if we move horizontally this is related to the
customers only. You have voice of customer as I have taken an example of an
automobile. For an automobile the customers may have certain requirements which can
be the fuel efficiency, the safety, the comfort, as well as the break horse power or the
sitting capacity all those or the weight of the automobile with different relative
weightage. So, all that will come under the voice of customer that what the customer
actually wants.

Then the importance ratings - the weight of an automobile may not be to relevant for
various you can say customer. So, the weightage will be less, but as we see in different
advertisements on the television we see our people or maybe in India we have a huge
fantasy towards the fuel efficiency whenever we buy a car our focus is what would be the
fuel efficiency. So, may be fuel efficiency is one requirement of the customer and which
may get the highest weightage here.

So, that weightage is also assigned and there are standard statistical techniques to
calculate these importance ratings also, but right now we are not going to go into that
detail that how we will calculate the importance ratings, but we will try to understand the
overall house of quality in detail. So, we have voice of customer, we can have 4 inputs
here then we have relative importance of this voice of customers and then as we have
seen in the all the previous slides that we try to establish a relationship or inter-
relationship between the technical requirements and the voice of customer.

Now, if suppose one is fuel efficiency here we will see how technically we can achieve
that fuel efficiency maybe redesigning of the engine or redesigning of a particular fuel
injection system. So, that will come here as the technical requirement. So, you have
voice of customer, fuel efficiency and a technical requirement which will help to achieve
that customer requirement and then we have the relationship matrix and this relationship
matrix usually we will have 3 ratings for the relationship matrix. Suppose fuel efficiency
is directly related to one of the technical requirements we will say they have a strong
relationship and in other case one of the voice of customers may not be that related to a
particular technical requirements we will say they have a weak relationship among them.

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So, we have a technical requirement matrix, voice of customers and this is the correlation
matrix between the various technical requirements because one technical requirement
may have a positive influence on the other technical requirement or one technical
requirement may have a negative influence on the other technical requirement. So, based
on that we will fill this correlation matrix also. So, we have understood correlation
matrix, technical requirement, voice of customers, importance ratings and the
relationship matrix all these will be filled and then from customers competitive
assessment way, this is kind of an output that we get based on this analysis.

So, here we can put 2 or 3 competitive companies and try to relate or benchmark, our
particular output with the relative companies that what the other companies are doing or
what are there you can say targets or how they fair on the voice of customer maybe we
may be better than them in 3 of the options are 3 customer requirements. But maybe may
fair poorly for the fourth customer requirement or 2-2 or sometimes it may so happen
that we are not competitive on any of the customer requirement with the competitive
company.

So, this will help us to benchmark our performance with in context of needs and
requirements of the customer our company as compared to the competitor company and
finally, this is competitive technical assessment that which technical requirement has got
more you can say importance as compared to the other. This is the inter technical
requirement competitive assessment we will try to understand this with the help of an
example. And then we can have the operational goals or target this is one standard house
of quality which is used maybe by most of the companies for accessing their product.

Now, this is the customer matrix as we have seen, this one this straight line horizontal
line all the rooms here are represented again here the matrix evaluate the voice and
response of customer on a particular product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 19:25)

So, you have voice of customer here importance ratings, this is a relationship matrix in
previous slide you can see, this is relationship matrix and then you have the sometimes
you can also add complaints here and then the customer competitive assessment that how
the customer rates the competitor’s product as compared to your product.

So, this is a horizontal base for the house of quality or the horizontal rooms and then next
class this we can see what we have to fill in this already I have explained just quickly we
can read the various details of various rooms.

(Refer Slide Time: 19:56)

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You can see voice of the customer it is an input to quality function deployment this
implies actual needs and wants of the customer and it is referred as the heart of the
matrix as further evaluation depends on this matrix because we are going to design a
product based on what the customer actually wants.

So, this is the most important part of our house of quality. Importance ratings it shows
the importance level from customer point of view. Complaints it represent the
dissatisfaction of the customer. Customer competitive evaluation it refers to the fact that
how customer rates the product of the company in relation to its competitors. So,
whatever product we are designing this will help us to compare our performance as
compared to the competition or the competitors or the performance of the competitors.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:50)

This is the vertical already we have seen, your correlation matrix which will correlate the
various technical requirements suppose we have five technical requirements here. So,
this will correlate the all the 5 that which one has a positive influence on the other one or
which one has a negative influence on the other one. Then the relationship matrix already
this is part of the horizontal rooms also this is related to your voice of customers and the
importance ratings and then the competitive technical assessment and operational goals
or targets. So, let us now try to see this is translation of voice into actionable measurable
requirements, whatever is our voice of customers that room coming here this will help us
to achieve those targets technically.

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This evaluation of relationship between the technical requirements already I have
explained evaluation of the strength of relationships between the voices and the technical
requirements; how much the company fares against its competitors or for performance
against its competitors. Goals or targets set by the company to achieve competitiveness
means this will tell us the target here we will get the assessment and accordingly we can
take the decision making, this is the overall. This is the customer section customer
requirements or voice of customers important ratings and then the relationship matrix
this is the overall house of quality in general in most of the books you may find 1 or 2
changes here and there. But in general it would look like this only the major sections will
remain same correlation matrix will remain same, technical requirement, voice of
customers, importance rating and customer competitive assessment will be same in
almost all the books or literature that you find around on internet.

(Refer Slide Time: 22:37)

Now this is one example we are going to take that is house of quality of a pizza as I have
already told I think the text maybe little smaller, but I will read it for you. Now if I ask
you may be what is this matrix? This is the correlation matrix the technical requirement
matrix, relationship matrix, voice of customers, importance ratings, competitor’s
assessment, competitive technical assessment and operational goals or targets we are not
keeping here because we are just understanding the basic house of quality model.

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You can see now, you will wondering what is 6 5 1 and 3 we will see what is G F P G
this we will try to understand now. Now you can see that what are the customer
requirements, I will read it for you the customer requirements for any pizza company or
for a many pizza company is it should be good in taste price should be low texture
should be good, means it should be good looking or the topping texture should be good it
should be low on fats and it should be healthy maybe healthy ingredients are used, it
should fresh and hot delivery should be ensured and appetizing appearance means you
should feel hungry once you see the pizza. So, you can see these are the requirements of
the customer .

Again I am reading it for you it may not be clear on the screen - good taste, low price,
good texture, low fats and healthy fresh and hot delivery appetizing appearance. So, this
is you can say the voice of customer this is what the customers want. Now the relative
importance rating you can see here 6 5 1 4 2 3. So, here you can see good texture is not
that important less rating highest rating is for good taste.

So, maybe a customer may say that 6 is the rating for good taste which means that it
should be tasty, texture and other things may not bother much, but it should it is a food
item it should scintillate our tasting buds or taste buds. So, we say it should be good in
taste therefore, the rating for good taste is higher from the customer’s point of view. Now
how we can achieve this voice of customers technically maybe the person who is
preparing the pizza in the kitchen means this is the input for him and how he can do that
he can do it with the help of pizza color, weight, shape, size, thickness, low fatty
eatables, optional eatables, delicious and fresh toppings density of toppings.

So, maybe these are the technical things which can help to achieve the voice of
customers and then we have to draw a relationship matrix between the two that which
technical requirement is related to which customer requirement. So, which technical
requirement can satisfy the customer requirement that we will see. So, if this is a
representation of a scale that scale you can see. So, this is a voice of customers the purple
portion is your technical requirements, this is your correlation matrix between the,
among the various technical requirements this is your relationship matrix green color.

So, relationship matrix you have low relationship is given a rating of one, this is standard
some in some books you will find 1, 3, 9 also, but they does not make much of a

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difference. So, in this case they are taken it as 1, 3 and 6, so this represent low
relationship. Solid represents medium relationship and solid with a dot represents high
relationship. So, you can see good taste with this technical requirement weight shape size
and thickness has got the highest relationship that is the high relationship then the taste is
also related to the density of toppings which has the low relationship. So, density of
topping and weight, shape, size and thickness are 2 things which are related to the good
taste.

This is the specific you can say information in many cases it may be low fatty eatables
may also have a representation on the good taste, but in this particular case it is not non
representational. So, this way 1, 3 and 6 rating is given and different ratings are given for
example, appetizing appearance maybe this has got medium relationship with delicious
and fresh toppings appetizing appearance, this has got a medium relationship you can see
here.

So, this relationship is there and G, P means you can see this is G means good, F means
fair, P means poor. So, we are comparing our product with company A and company B.
So, from taste point of view the company A has good and company B has got fair. So,
this is a house of quality which we can generate. Now we can do the calculations also
and you may be wondering that how these numbers 3 45 30 11 have come now let us try
to understand this. This is calculated in this manner the pizza color 3 into 1, let us go to
pizza color this is pizza color only one relationship established here this solid means
medium relationship 3 and the rating is 1. So, 3 into 1 this comes out to 3 and then the
second weight shapes size and thickness of the pizza it has got here 6, 6 into 6 - 36 plus
this has got a medium 3 into rating is 3, 3 into 3 is 9, so 36 plus 9 is 45.

Similarly, we can do the calculation and for the relationship matrix and establish this
importance ratings. Now this can also help us in our decision making that when we have
to make a tasty pizza we can say successful pizza successful pizza means it is successful
from the point of view of business. We know that where we should focus our efforts 3 is
for pizza color. So, color has the least you can say requirement from the customers point
of view, but you can say weight, shape, size is most important. Second most important is
the low fatty eatable. So, these days’ people are getting more and more conscious about
their health. So, may not like to take a pizza which has got fatty eatables. So, if you are
low in fat and we can sell that idea that the pizza is made up of you can say eatables or

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materials or ingredients which are low on the fat content. The various customers may get
interested to buy our pizza.

So, here the relative importance of the technical requirements has been established and
we can work on these two parts in order to satisfy the customer requirements and we can
benchmark our product with the products of the other companies also and see that where
we stand and may become successful after analyzing the results in a systematic and
logical manner.

So, this is one tool which help us to convert the customer requirements into the technical
requirements and then analyzing the technical requirements among each of the different
technical requirements among each of them or among each other. So, one thing that sorry
I forgot to mention is the correlation matrix. In correlation matrix we do the inter
functional analysis. So, we go pizza color you can say going this way and this is optional
eatables that is going this way. So, they have a relationship if you get optional eatables
they have a influence on the pizza color.

Similarly, density of toppings has a, you can say influence or maybe relationship with
delicious and fresh toppings. So, this way we can see that which of the technical
requirements are you can say related to each other positively here also we can have
positive and negative we are not explained it here because the pizza is a simpler
products. So, all technical requirements may not be competating or may not be effecting
positively or negatively otherwise we can have here also positive and negative ratings
and see that which technical requirement will have a positive influence on the other
technical requirement or if the otherwise it has a negative influence on the other
technical requirement.

So, I think now I have tried to explain the role of each and every room of this house of
quality and this is an important you can say skill if you have as an engineer or a manager
you can try to relate the customer requirements with the technical you can say
requirements that can be met using your engineering skills or the engineering knowledge.

So, with this we come to the end of our session or lecture number 11 on product design
and development course and today our focus was on house of quality. In our next session
we will discuss the basic concepts of computer aided design.

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Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture – 12
Computer Aided Design (CAD)

Namaskar friends, welcome to this lecture number 12 on our course on product design
and development. As you are aware that we have already finished our discussion for two
weeks, and the broad topics that we have covered in those two weeks were on the basic
concepts of product design and development the product life cycle, the product design
steps the value engineering concepts we have covered in week 2. And then we have seen
the FAST diagramming approach which is very well known approach for the functional
analysis of a product. We have also seen the functional cost relationship, matrix and the
functional cost relationship methodology to improve the design of the product.

Now, we are into the week 3 of our discussion on product design, and we are discussing
the various design tools which can help us to make a good design. In our lecture 1 that is
overall lecture number 11 and lecture number 1 for week 3, we have discussed one of the
important aspects of product design and development that is house of quality, in which
we have seen that how the voice of customers can be related to the technical
requirements. And we have tried to understand it with the help of a pizza selection
company or select or a selection of a pizza company, we have seen that how the voice of
customers or the customer’s requirements needs and responses can be mapped to the
technical requirements with the help of a relationship matrix.

We have also seen that there is a importance relative importance column or room in the
house of quality, which helps us to we can say differentiate or categorize the various
requirements of the customer. And house of quality the output can be that we can use the
information available or information derived from the house of quality, for
benchmarking our performance with the performance of the other companies.

We took an example of a pizza company, there can be number of other examples where
house of quality has been used and there can be slight modifications in the various rooms
of the house of quality. For example, the house of quality that we have seen was not
having any complaints room, there can be a complaints room also in the house of quality.

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More over we did not feature much on the goals and objectives of the that company in
our example, which was kept as it is only. So, there can be additions or we can say
modifications in the various rooms of house of quality.

But some of the rooms will definitely remain the same, that is the voice of customers, the
relative importance of the various we can say requirements of the customer, the technical
requirements matrix, the relationship matrix between the voice of customers, and the
technical requirement matrix, then the correlation matrix showing the interrelationship
among the various technical requirements.

So, all these are the common rooms in any house of quality issue or problem you will see
all these rooms existing and the information available is mapped using these rooms, and
then the decisions are taken based on the house of quality; the overall picture of the
house of quality, the overall output of the house of quality. So, with the house of quality
we can maybe compare our product, we can even find out that which technical
requirement has to be given more importance and which technical requirement is not
much influencing the customers needs and requirement, and can be left out or can be
eliminated.

So, it has got practical implications also, it is not just a theoretical tool which can be
used, but it is a practical tool which can be applied scientifically for understanding about
the product design process. Now let us go to the next stage of the product design, we
know that what are the technical requirements that have to be met, what is the
requirement of the customers what do they want. Now we have to design the product and
for designing the product we have to make a model of the product.

Because usually we say graphics or engineering drawing is the language of engineers.

So, we need to understand that how we can put whatever is the requirement of the
product on a piece of paper, and how the product would look like what would be the
various parts of the product, how these parts would interact with each other, how they
will be assembled to each other. So, we have to explode the product into its individual
parts and components, and then these parts have to be designed individually and then
they have to be combined together to make a complete product.

Now we have to understand that whatever decisions whatever information we have taken
out from the house of quality or what are the technical specifications or requirements

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required to or maybe important to meet the voice of customers, now we have to work on
those technical specifications or requirements in order to design the product successfully,
and for that purpose in mind computer aided design is an important tool, and we will try
to see that what this term means and how it will be helpful to us for designing our
product, moreover we will see that what are the important softwares which are useful for
computer aided design process.

So, let us go one by one, and try to understand that what are the various aspects of
computer aided design.

(Refer Slide Time: 06:40)

Now, here this is the first slide you can see a very rough sketch or maybe we can say one
other basic or primitive ways of representing information. Here it is written CAD which
is a simplest way of representing any piece of information; here you can see another
component here. So, this is the way the products would be you can say designed using
the CAD tool. So, in CAD it is computer aided design, but it is not only the design it
starts from the drafting or may be sketching to final engineering drawing to some part of
analysis and we can integrate our designs with the analysis tools also, and it can be a
complete package which can provide us engineering solutions.

So, we will try to understand that what is the basic fundamental behind this term, that is
computer aided design.

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(Refer Slide Time: 07:44)

Now let us see try to understand the definition of computer aided design. So, computer
aided design is a use of a wide range of computer based tools. So, I have already told in
the previous slide that it is not just one tool or one software which you can use and
design, it is a combination of tools depending upon our requirement, and then we will see
in the subsequent slide that how these tools can be combined together to finally, make a
product or to design a product. So, it is a wide range of computer based tools that assist
the engineers, architects and other design professionals in their design activities.

So, computer aided design is not only one software, but it is a combination of software
which combined together in order to assist the engineers, architects and other design
professionals in their various activities of product design and development.

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(Refer Slide Time: 08:41)

Now let us see various CAD tools where do they fit in this red triangle represents the you
can say intersection of the various concepts that is the definition of CAD tools based on
the constituents.

So, there may be software which may only be good at computer graphic concepts only.
May be only you can design something may be different tools are there, you can just do
the sketching on the screen and then you can save it for further use, but no analysis can
be done based on that sketch. So, maybe you have simple computer graphic concepts,
then you can have a geometric modeling where you can do some dimensioning and a
drawing can be made, and then there can be analysis tools may be you have you give the
density of the material, and you give the size and shape of the material, you can compare
that which material should be used in order to make a lighter product, the geometry
remaining same, the dimensions remaining same only the material is changing.

Now, we have to see that we want to design a lightweight material or lightweight

product. So, which material should be chosen in order to make it light or it is easy once
you know the density there is no need to do the analysis, but in many cases it may be a
multi material concept in which the complete product is made up of maybe 5 or 6
different materials. So, they are if you give the input of the material for each and every
part of the product, and then compare the two may be concepts that in one particular
product you have 6 different material, in other product you have 4 different materials and

206
their densities are different of the material, and you want to compare which one would be
heavier which one would be lighter. So, that type of simple analysis can also be done.

So, there would be CAD tools they fit in here this triangle. So, they will have the
graphics facilities also, geometric modeling facilities also as well as little bit of analysis.
So, there would be standard software’s which will which may not be having a very high
analytical capability to in order to solve their engineering problems. Some of the
software’s may only be limited to drafting of the problem into an engineering drawing,
but we will see that what a can be the capabilities of the various CAD software or what
are the combination of tools which can be used to solve any problem using the concept
of computer aided design.

So, here we this is a very good slide to explain that where CAD tools usually fit in. So,
just to summarize there are three you can say edges. So, as per the edges it three
important capabilities they possess. So, one can be (Refer Time: 11:40) computer
graphics geometric modeling and analysis.

So, any good CAD software can be used for solving simple problems of maybe related to
the weights, weight reduction or maybe sometimes related to the modification based on
the shape and the design or you can say the size. So, different things can be analyzed
using the design tools sometimes we may also use the concept of finite element analysis,
which will fit in here in the purple box here. So, we have graphics geometric modeling
and analysis we will see in the subsequence slides that how CAD can help us to solve
various problems.

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(Refer Slide Time: 12:16)

So, computer aided design is used to draw the things. So, this is the first part that is
skteching and the geometric modeling. So, we are not talking of the analysis right now,
but we will come to analysis also that CAD can be integrated with the analysis softwares
also; analysis softwares are now being in built into the CAD softwares to solve simpler
problems also.

So, computer aided design is used to draw things very basic definition of CAD, CAD
design software is used in many industries including automobile industry, aerospace
industry, medical devices defense plastic injection molding, just the tip of the iceberg.
CAD can be used in almost all engineering industry; this is just to the list of the major
users of CAD softwares or CAD applications. So, if you wish to join automobile or
aerospace company, you should know the fundamentals of CAD not only the theoretical
fundamentals of CAD you should know how to use apply the concepts using the various
software platform.

So, you should know hands on training you can have or you can learn or you on your
own the different software’s which help you to design a particular part or at least to
model a particular part using the various options available on that platform. We will try
to understand maybe the fundamentals of those also.

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(Refer Slide Time: 13:53)

Now, we are here company the conventional design process and the computer aided
design process. So, you can see in the conventional design process, what are the various
steps you can see recognition of need, problem definition, synthesis, analysis and
optimization, evaluation and presentation. Standard approach already discussed in our
week 1 where we have seen the product design process.

Now, in computer aided design we have geometric modeling engineering analysis,

design review and evaluation an automated drafting. So, you can see the computer aided
design process is slightly different from the conventional design process, and this we will
try to understand each one of these steps one by one. So, once you know maybe from the
house of quality you have found out that what are the technical requirements which have
to be met in order to meet the customer requirements or the voice of customers, now we
are working on those technical requirements and try to trying to design a product around
those technical requirements, and for that we need to first model the geometry of the
product.

So, this is what is outlined as the computer aided design process or what are the various
steps involved in the computer aided design process. So, right here we have all the
information related to what actually we want to design, and based on the design we will
follow these steps and come up with the design which is now ready for prototyping and
manufacturing.

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(Refer Slide Time: 15:44)

Now, first part here is the geometric modeling; when geometric modeling you can see in
computer aided design geometric modeling is concerned with the computer compatible
mathematical description of the geometry of an object. Now some of you may be
wondering who are not from engineering background, that how data is saved on our
system; usually we see a picture it is a square there can be a circle inside. So, how this
square and circle is stored in the memory of the computer, there it is saved as the
mathematical description of that square and the circle.

So, that CADs and geometric modeling it computer compatible mathematical description
of the geometry of the object is saved inside the system that is inside the computer. The
mathematical description allows the image of the object to be displayed and manipulated
on a graphics terminal through signals from the CPU of the CAD system. Now we can
display we can manipulate, we can work on that, we can cut a section, we can make a
hole inside our geometry if it a 3D geometry we can extrude hole out of it or maybe we
can add certain features on the geometry. So, all that is done we see on the screen the
actual geometrical translations, but in the backend or in the software these are all
mathematical operators which operate or there is a mathematical description to each and
every shape that we produce on the screen.

So, that is the representation true representation of those things is not in the form of a
square which will be saved in the memory of the computer, it will the mathematical

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representation of that circle which will be saved in the memory of the computer. Maybe
there may be two words only written for that circle on your screen you will see a circle,
but on in the memory you may have only the central coordinates of that circle as well as
a radius or the diameter of that circle. So, in your CPU you are storing two pieces of
information that is this radius and the center of the circle, but on your screen you get a
complete display of the circle. So, that is a relationship between how the geometry is
modeled on your screen. So, you should know what is happening at the backend of the
system.

So, geometric modeling is nothing, but it is the representation of your data on the screen.
If you want to model a square, it may ask you that give the center and the radius and it
will generate that circle on the screen, but at the backend it will be stored as a radius and
the center points on the center coordinate. So, first part is geometric modeling. So, if I
want to solve any problem or a structural problem, I want to see the impact strength of a
table maybe the table on which we are placing our books and computer and laptop, I
want to see how much impact it can take.

So, first part of the design of the table would be I have to represent it on my computer
screen, it can be a 2D model or a 3D model, and once I model it I have to give what is
the length, what is the width, what is thickness of that apply, what is a steel frame that we
are that is used to support that table. So, all that will fall under the geometric modeling
stage only. Then the next stage is engineering analysis. So, first part is representing our
problem on the piece of our screen or on a piece of paper, but in computer aided design,
it is paperless we will model everything on our screen.

So, first is representation of the geometry on the screen and that is called as the
geometric modeling. In next stage we have the engineering analysis.

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(Refer Slide Time: 19:49)

In engineering analysis in the formulation of any engineering design project different

types of analysis is required. Now just two important types of analysis I am trying to
explain here; first one is the analysis of the mass properties, it provides properties of a
solid object being analyzed such as a surface area, weight, volume, center of gravity and
moment of inertia.

Now I have told you that the software these days are not only the drafting softwares that
you can make a geometry on the screen, but they have the analyzing or analytical
capabilities also. So, we can analyze maybe a particular thing based on our requirement;
so, maybe we can compare the weight of the various designs, we can compare the
surface area of the various designs the software will give us the output that what is the
surface area of this particular design.

Now, suppose we want to compare as we know that the heat transfer is a function of the
surface area, and we want to design a particular surface in order to minimize the heat
transfer from that surface. So, we will see we may have 4 or 5 designs, now we would
should know that which design has the minimum surface area, so that the heat transfer is
minimum from that product or from that object. So, the CAD software will help us to
compare the surface area, that surface area is minimum for a particular design. So, we
will take that design why? Because the heat transfers from that design, that particular
design will be less.

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So, these days many CAD softwares have got the analysis capability also, and one of the
analysis can be the analysis of the mass property. Another can be the finite element
analysis where we will discretize the product into the very small elements, and then we
can apply the boundary conditions on those elements or on that geometry and see the
behaviour of that geometry, we can see what are the types of stresses being developed,
what are the strains being developed, what are the displacements happening. So, all that
we can do in finite element analysis. With this technique the object is divided into large
number of finite element which form an interconnecting network of concentrated nodes.

So, it is only showing that we can divide the complete structure into its individual
components or smaller finite element, and then apply the boundary condition. For
example, we want to solve a cantilever beam problem, we can model that thing divide
that beam into the individual components apply a load here and see how it will deflect
what would be the maximum displacement that is happening or what are the type of
stress is being developed on the application of load.

So, those types of problems can be solved using the finite element analysis, everything
on your computer screen. So, CAD these days is not only related to drafting, but it can be
we can say combined with the analysis procedures also, and can give us a complete
design of the you can say product.

(Refer Slide Time: 23:07)

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Then the third stage is the design review and evaluation, which means checking the
accuracy of the design it can be accomplished conveniently on the graphics terminal. So,
we can do the design evaluation. Then the automated drafting involves the creation of a
hard copy engineering drawings directly from the CAD data base. Now whatever we
have designed successfully as we can see as I have already told that maybe we may have
4 or 5 designs, and we want to select a design which has a minimum surface area.

So, we can do the execution of our program and see that which particular design is
giving us the minimum surface area that design now we have selected, and we can do the
drafting for that design with all dimensions and all details and we can even generate a
hard copy for the on word transmission to the prototyping department, where they can
start manufacturing the prototype of that product using any of the standard prototyping
techniques. From our discussion point of view we would be focusing on the rapid
prototyping tool as one of the tools for prototyping our designs or models.

So, if last part in CAD would be automatic drafting in which we will be passing on the
information or the finalized information to the next stage.

(Refer Slide Time: 24:27)

Now, this is a generic CAD process you can see taken from OCW open course where
MIT EDU. So, you here you can see you have a engineering sketch maybe a rough
sketch of a product that you want to make may be a rough design of your mouse that you

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operate, the mouse with which you operate your cursor on the screen. So, if you can have
a rough sketch of that mouse what can be the next stage?

When you start you put all your settings units grids whatever, maybe units can be
whether you are going to use absolute unit you are going to use centimeters or a
millimeters or what all those units and grid all that will be set here, then you have to see
whether you are going to three dimensional or two dimensional model. If you are going
to use three dimensional models, you can see this may be a cube, cylinder, hole inside a
square.

So, there will be this is maybe out by these two you can see you can generate a third
geometry. There is a solid cube here there is a cylinder here, cylinder from cube you
subtract this cylinder you get this shape. So, if you are working in 3D this type of
operations you can do, you have a solid thing, this is a thing you want to remove from
this thing, this is the final product that you get. So, this type of modeling you can do in
3D from 2D point of view, you can create lines, radii, part contours, chamfers like this
you can add cutouts and holes like this. So, you can do a two dimensional CAD
modeling you can do a 3 dimensional CAD modeling in which you can generate three
dimensional volumetric shapes.

So, then you can do the annotations maybe changes and then you can do the final
dimensioning length, breadth, width, centimeter, millimeter, kilometer whatever
dimensioning is required verification of the drawing and it can go to the output, and
output can be a CAD file or a drawing which can have a extension of dxf or it can be
IGES files. IGES files is usually used as a interface with the other analysis softwares and
can be used as a input for the analysis softwares like the finite element method. So, you
have IGES files output also coming from the CAD process.

So, in CAD process we may have to we may choose a two dimensional modeling
process, we may choose a three dimensional modeling process and accordingly we can
use simple operations like this to in order to get our final shape. This is our final shape in
three dimensional a modeling this is in two dimensional. So, we can make different types
of shapes this is just the representational shapes, whatever shapes that you want to make
you can make there are number of operations which can help you to get the exact shape

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of the product that you want to make, and here you can see there is a command given
extrude, rotate.

So, you can use these commands in any standard CAD software to generate the exact
shape of the product that you are trying to design. So, this has CAD has got lot of
capabilities these days and is a very helpful tool for the designers.

(Refer Slide Time: 27:55)

Now, let us conclude that what can be the advantages of using the CAD. First is to
increase the productivity of the designer. So, it has completely revolutionized the process
of design. So, we can see that using a screen very easily if you develop an expertise
maybe or one software you will be able to make all the standard shapes and size even the
non standard shapes and size is very easily.

So, it improves your productivity as a designer, create concept design of a product better
visualization as we can rotate the views we can change the views we can have different
views from different angles. So, display in several colors to appeal the customer display
or inner details of the assembly. So, we can have cut section views also in case of CAD
that is one thing, reduction in the design, cost editing or refining the model to improve
the aesthetics, ergonomics and performance.

So, whatever design we have made we can analyze it from the ergonomics point of view,
we can analyze it from the aesthetics different color com color combinations can be tried,

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we can also sometimes performance may not be totally functional or totally possible, but
in many cases we can try to analyze the performance also based on the CAD models that
we develop. So, it improves our productivity.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:20)

It improves the quality of designs, it can use of analysis of tools such as FEM analysis
tools as I have already discussed, you can do FEM analysis based on the CAD model,
stress analysis, vibration analysis, computational fluid dynamics, thermal analysis, fluid
analysis can be done very easily.

So, we can integrate our CAD model with analysis software and you can do a complete
analysis of the product, greater accuracy in design calculations and reduction in errors.
So, human intervention is there, but since it is system based and auto correction features
are also there in many design software. So, the chances of error get minimized and the
design calculations are more or less accurate, then we can study the product from various
aspects such as a material requirements cost, value engineering, manufacturing
processes, standardization, simplification.

So, there are number of advantages of using the CAD software, and if you compare it
from a manual design being developed by a draftsman, which is a design representation
only a drafted information on a piece of paper, here we can integrate our draft or the
geometric model with other number of other softwares and come out with a complete
design of the products. So, it has got lot of advantages that quality of design also is better

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because it has been analyzed not only from one point of view, may be from different
points of view or that design philosophy in totality can be implemented using the
softwares.

(Refer Slide Time: 31:03)

To improve the communication yes, because many times, I may be using although many
standards exist on numerous standards exist for the engineering drawings, but sometimes
there may be a slight modification here and there by a person who may be using some
known standard procedure.

So, in that case in case of CAD that is not possible, it leads to better visualization greater
legibility standardization of design drafting the documentation procedure, because it is
software based similar type of output would come out and which has to be interpreted by
the other you can say people of the team also the similar manner, because it is standard
approach, use of design data for analysis drafting and documentation, process planning
tool and fixture design manufacturing inspection.

So, whatever standard output that we regenerate out of a CAD software, can be used as a
data for the subsequent operations of product design and development.

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(Refer Slide Time: 32:04)

So, this is the last slide for today major CAD software products are AutoCAD, Pro
engineer, Solid works, CATIA, Unigraphics, I-DEAS and there are number of other
companies also which are these days developing the CAD software.

So, in summary CAD is a very good technique or very important technique for product
designers and since in our course we have to discuss this topic of product design and
development for 10 hours only it is not possible to have a complete tutorial on any
standard CAD software, but I would advise each of the learner to at least the register for
any company training or in your college wherever possible try to learn at least one or two
CAD softwares, list is there you can even add to this list, you can append this list
whatever software available you can just start working on the screen, set try to click
various icons on the screen and try to design some products based on the computer aided
design philosophy. Because it is going to be the most important we can say step in the
overall product design process.

So, we can have the concept we can model the concept maybe rough sketch, but final
output has to be very very technical in nature, it has to very very specific in nature and in
order to generate that specific output for the next stages of the design process, we need to
have knowledge of the CAD software. So, I would advise each one of you to learn at
least one good CAD software for the product design process.

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In our next class we will try to learn another tool which are very very helpful for the
product design process.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture – 13
Robust Design and Design for X (DFX)

Namaskar friends, welcome to lecture number 3 in week 3. And we are today going to
discuss the basic concept of robust design and design for X. But before we start our
discussion a lecture number 13 overall and lecture 3 of week 3, let us have a brief
overview of what we have discuss till today.

So, we have tried to understand the product design process as well as have tried to learn
certain skills tools which are helpful to us in the design of a product. If you remember I
or I can give it as an exercise that in the last 12 lectures name or list any 3 to 4 tools that
you have learnt in the course of the lectures. So, we have already had twelve lectures and
we have already learnt certain application based tools which are useful during the design
process.

So, right from understanding the voice of the customer or the need of the customer and
trying to relate it to the technical requirements of the product we can all technical
functionality of the product, we can see that we can design a product using certain
softwares which we have seen in computer added design. We have also learned that tool
called value engineering in which we have learnt a specific technique called DFMA that
is designed for manufacturing and assembly.

And if we go back we have seen in product development concepts that is the number one
or product design and development concepts that is week 1 we have learned the product
life cycle, we have learnt that what is the product design process, and we have also
learned that what are the characteristics that we need to take into account when we
analyze the product.

So, right starting from the market survey to the analysis point and finally launch of the
product in the market there are different stages and at every stage we need to understand
that how scientifically we can think about the product, how logically we can think about
the product, how we can think about the product a from economic point of view, how we

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can think about the product from mechanical engineering point of view, how we can
think about the product from production point of view.

So, it is a complete we can say overall total picture and we have to see it in bits and
pieces and then combine these bits and pieces in the form of a successful product. So, it
is not a one man job or a single person job who can design a successful product. It
requires inputs from various sources, and when these sources in information combines
together it is able to culminate into or the efforts of so many individuals are finally
culminated into a tangible or a successful product. So, let us now see today another
aspect that is the robust design.

So, some of you may be wondering that we are discussing. So, many different tools, but
the overall objective of these tools is to make a sound design, to make a successful
design, to make a design which is acceptable to the customer, to make a design which is
acceptable to the market. So, our overall effort, for example we can say take an example
from the value engineering background the FAST diagramming approach, the computer
aided design, the quality function deployment, the product life cycle, all these are tools
which will help us in the successful design of the product. So, each of them is
interconnected and this overall knowledge about the concept will help us to come up
with the successful product design.

And in that series we can now think of discussing robust design that now till last 12
lectures we have seen that how the ideas can come, how to nurture those ideas, how to
segregate those ideas, and then we have seen that how we can achieve the function we
need to have different alternatives, then we will select one or two alternatives. When our
alternatives are ready we will gave give them some shape that can be done using CAD
software in which we can do the geometric modeling or the drafting.

So, we have now a shape ready with us and we have to see that when this product will be
launched in the market, what type of condition it is going to undergo. And then we have
to see that its performance should not get affected because of certain factors. So, we will
now see that how we can make our product robust that it is able to perform under
different types of operating conditions. So, robust design basically is a design which is
not influenced by the different parameters through which it is subjective, so we
subjected.

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So, when we are designing a product we have to insure that it is uninfluenced, it is
independent of the various parameters that may affect its performance. And that we will
try to understand with the help of example. So, once the design is ready we have to
incorporate all these things that are relate to the performance of the product. Right now
we were focusing on the functionality, we were focusing on the shape, the size, we were
focusing on the colour. So, we have seen so many different parameters related to a
product design.

But now we will focus our discussion will slightly move towards the second part that is
once the product is launched in the market how it will perform. So, its performance we
have to foresee and we have to design it in such a way that it is able to perform its
functions properly or it is able to deliver the requirements for which the customer is
going to buy our product. So, for that we have to see that what are the tools and
techniques that we should keep in mind so that the product delivers when it is called
upon to do its intended job or intended function.

Moreover, we have also to ensure that when this product is fabricated it is assembled, it
is manufactured the cost should not increase exorbitantly high so that the product loses
its competitive advantage in the market. So therefore, we have to see that how all these
parameters are important, how to control this parameter, so that our product is successful
or is successfully launched in the market. So, all these things have to be taken into
account during the design stage only.

So, this is the slight background, so that the our audience or everyone who is attending
this course is able to correlate that we are not discussing topics independently all these
topics are integrated into one common thread that is the product design and development.
Now let us see that how we can make our product robust and what do we mean by a
robust design.

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(Refer Slide Time: 07:54)

Now a system, in our case it is a product is robust, if it performs properly in a wide range
of conditions. So, robust means it should be able to sustain under different conditions.
Usually we say I got a very robust body which means that the effect of temperature and
humidity and sweating and little bit of cold does not affect his body. It means, the body is
insensitive to changes is in all these conditions or all these environmental conditions.

So, the robust body usually we say sometime for automobile also we say that that
particular automobile has got a very robust body. So, robust word from we can say literal
meaning is maybe strong and sturdy and it is not influenced by the variations or changes
in the parameters. So, a product is robust if it performs properly in a wide range of
conditions.

So, let us take some examples of robust products. A pen that writes until the ink is empty
is can be considered as a robust product. But if the pen stops writing after a few months
still ink is there in the product we can also say that this product is not a robust product.
This can also be related to the concept that we have already discussed during our product
analysis stage where we have seen durability, dependability, reliability. So, these
parameters can further be correlated to these parameters. Maybe this particular example
can be given for durability dependability also.

A car that starts at minus 20 degree centigrade can be said as a robust design why,
because it is not getting influenced by the temperature which is subzero temperature. But

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a car that does not start at this temperature we can say is not a robust design; because it is
we can say influenced by the very low temperature. Then a vacuum cleaner that
maintains suction levels can be said as a robust design or vacuum cleaner that loses the
suction can be said as is not a robust design.

So, these are just illustrative examples to understand that what we can call as robust. So,
we can call up designed robust if it is not influenced by the parameters or the
uncontrollable parameter. There will we some parameters which we can control, but our
products should be such that it should be able to sustain different types of parameters. It
should be insensitive to the variations in the various types of parameters in on a broader
scale.

(Refer Slide Time: 10:35)

So, we will try to understand what do the robust design take into account. In the design
of a new product any design activity can we called robust if it leads to. Now we have to
see that how we can design a robust product, we have to ensure that it has a long life. As
I have already told in the example of a pen it can also be related to reliability which we
have already discussed in product characteristics.

It should be consistent with use, it should not happen that maybe after a specified period
or after a specific time the products starts to disfunction. So, that has to be ensure maybe
it has to perform consistently. To be more consistent from product to product, so there
should be consistency level of performance for different product. For example, a

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company is manufacturing shoes. So, each product or each different product coming out
from the company should be consistent in quality and performance.

To perform consistently as temperature and other conditions change; that example

already we have taken of a car that if it is able to start at minus 20 degrees centigrade we
can say yes it is a robust design. So, it is not getting influenced by the changes in the
temperature.

(Refer Slide Time: 11:50)

So, it should perform consistently under wearing condition. So, we can say we have to
incorporate in our product all these characteristics. So, that the product performs
robustly.

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(Refer Slide Time: 12:04)

Now general rules for a robust then how we can ensure that the product will perform in a
robust manner.

Now, let us see always identify critical characteristics that quantify customers
satisfaction. Now let us take an example of a shoe. What can be the customer
requirements from a shoe? First thing is it should be comfortable to wear, for some
customers it can be it should we light in weight, then it should be pleasing to the eyes; so
maybe these are the two or three important customer requirement from a pair of shoes.
So, we have to identify that what are the critical characteristics and then we have to
ensure that all these critical characteristics are met, so that the product is robust. So,
always identify critical characteristics that quantify the customer satisfaction. And then
always look for ways to reduce variation in these critical characteristics.

So, from a robust design point of view if I am buying a pair of shoes and my critical
characteristic is that they should be comfortable to wear. Now maybe after 6 months or
after 7 month suppose I find them uncomfortable or maybe itching or there can be other
problem that they have become loose, I will say no they are not very comfortable shoe
and the designer has not incorporated the concept of robust design into the shoe. Why,
because now it is changing with respect to time. In many other cases there with the
design may perform poorly because of the environmental condition, sometimes with
respect to time, sometimes with respect to other factors which are beyond the control of

227
the customer. So, we have to ensure that the product that we designed should perform
reliably with the duration for which it has been designed.

So, in order to incorporate that we have to see that what the customer wants and that
think should not be compromised, maybe over a period of time or under a specific set of
conditions. Like we have taken the example of a car in which we have seen the car
should start even at minus 20 degree centigrade also and it should start at may be plus 47
degree temperature also.

So, this variation of temperature should not affect the ignition of the car or the starting of
the car. And if that if the design ensures that it means it we can call it as a robust design.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:36)

Now, let us see the robot design in detail. Robust design is a concept developed by Dr.
Genichi Taguchi- Taguchi is methodology I think is important for every engineer. It is
defined as reducing variation in various product characteristics. So, the variation because
of which the product may become unusable that has to be reduced. In other words
making the product or process insensitive to variation; so we have to ensure that at
variation should we minimized or the product performance should be consistent
independent or insensitive to the variations; that we have to ensure. This variation can
come from a variety of factors, sometimes there are called as the noise factors also. We
will see that what is a noise factor and what are the controllable factors.

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So, let us further take the classification of the noise factor.

(Refer Slide Time: 15:36)

You can see three types of undesirable and uncontrollable factors can cause deviations
from the desired performance. Now these are called different types of noise factors. Now
first one is external noise factor, operational environmental variables such as temperature
humidity are examples of external noise factors; example already taken. Internal noise
factor the problems caused by deterioration, such as wearing of parts, manufacturing
imperfections, like machine settings extra are internal noise factors.

Now, in internal noise factors we can say that suppose we are machining a shaft and we
are using a single point cutting tool to turn the shaft. Internal noise factor can be that
over a period of time the work holding device and the tool holding device has worn out
and there is little bit of movement between the two land the work peace which is spoiling
the surface finish of the product.

Now, because of this wear and tear of the work holding and the tool holding fixture we
are not getting the desired performance. Under ideal conditions or a new machine the
tool and work piece would have been absolutely at their place and the performance
would have been consistent and we would have got the desired level of surface finish,
whereas with the worn out parts we are not getting the desired performance. But since
the parts are worn out they may not be in our control why because this would be one of
the outputs that a surface finish is not good.

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And then we will see what can we the variations. And sometime this variation may not
come to our mind also that the surface finish is poor because of the wear and tear of the
machine elements. And therefore, we can say that they sometimes turn out to be the noise
factor or the random variables or the uncontrollable factors.

So, I think external noise factor temperature example already taken, internal noise factors
and unit to unit or variational noise factors it indicates difference between individual
product which are produced to same specifications. Now suppose taking a simple
example I have to travel from Roorkee supposed to Delhi by bus. Suppose I go ten times
every time there will be a difference. The journey remains same, the distance is same, the
mode of transport is also bus, but because of the parameters number of parameters like
the traffic or the fog or we can say some traffic jams or some accident on the way; so
because of so many uncontrollable parameters which are beyond my control the time will
always be different.

And all those the type of variations can be indicated. It indicates the difference between
the individual products. In my case it is a journey from Roorkee to Delhi which are
produced at the same specification. Specifications remains same: I go by bus, I start at
the same time, maybe 10 clock in the morning from Roorkee, but my reaching time at
Delhi will always vary all other factors remaining same. So, that difference can be
explained by the variations which are uncontrollable variations or noise factors.

So, basically as a product designer I should always or I must always ensure that the
product is consistent in its performance and is not affected by the variations in the noise
factors.

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(Refer Slide Time: 19:14)

Let us see now Taguchi: Doctor Taguchi suggested a robust design method. What is that
robust design method? It is a systematic method for identifying process parameters that
are more sensitive to inherent process variation and minimize the effect of causes of
variation. So, we have to identify the process parameters that are more sensitive to the
inherent process variation. And try to minimize the effect of these parameter. So, that the
product is consistent in its performance.

The primary goal of the robust design is to evaluate these losses or maybe to find out
these losses because of the noise factors, and determine the process conditions that
would assure the product manufactured is initially on target. And the characteristics of
the product which would made the performance insensitive to the environment and other
factors. So we have to see, we have to ensure that the product manufactured is initially
on target. So, first we have to ensure the quality of the product and the characteristics of
the product we have to ensure which would make performance insensitive. So, the
performance becomes robust, it is not sensitive to the variation of the noise factors.
Those row noise factors can be environmental or other factors.

So, I think this, I have already sentence or these two sentences I have already
summarized in a single sentence only that as a product designer we need to ensure that
our product is insensitive to the variations of the noise factors. And if we can ensure that

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then the product becomes acceptable, the product becomes successful; the product is
appreciated by the customers who are going to use that product.

(Refer Slide Time: 21:04)

Now designing performance into product: we can see how we can ensure that the product
can be made robust. Let us see the Taguchi is recommended three stage process for
building performance and quality into the products, in totality making the product robust
in its performance. The three stages are system level, parameter and the tolerance design.

(Refer Slide Time: 21:28)

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Now, let us just read this and then I will try to explain this with the help of an example.
So at system level: already we have seen the functional design. We have already engaged
week two one value engineering and functions we have discussed in much more detail.
So, I will not go to functional design again, I will try to explain this with the help of an
example. So, this is the first step in the design and it makes use of the technical
knowledge to reach the initial design of the product. So, at this stage we will only go to
the initial design of the product that delivers the basic desired function performance.

So, first thing is the basic functional design of the product. For example, the if you have
use the table lamps which were used for studying during the orders or maybe when
combine, there are roommate sharing a room, everybody live the table lamp to study. So,
that table lamp a functional design was a simple design two links a holder and a bulb
there, but now you see the design of the table lamps there are so many varied designs
available we aesthetically well designed, functionally well designed.

So, first step is to ensure the basic functional design of the product. This includes that
designs system subsystem and finally the elemental level design. So, this I have already
told for example: the bridges that we see in India most of the bridges are the basic
functional bridges only and ensuring that the traffic can pass over the bridge. But if you
see at a higher level, you will see certain bridge designs which are not only functional,
but aesthetically also pleasing and maybe sometimes maybe having additional functional
functionality also.

So, first design level is the elemental level design or the functional level design, second
is the parameter design; this is step aims at finding the optimal setting of design
parameters. At this stage to obtain the optimum parameter a physical or mathematical
prototype is built for the product based on the functional design.

Now, next stage would be the setting up of the parameters: the specifications of the
product, the size, the shape, and other parameters will be finalized at the parameter
design stage.

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(Refer Slide Time: 23:46)

And the last stage is the tolerance design. In this step the tolerances on the product
design parameters are determined considering the loss that would be cause due to
society, caused to society when the performance deviates from the target. So, right going
from the society because cause to the customer when the product will not perform its
function reliably.

Once the system has been designed along with the values of parameters the designer has
to set the tolerance of the parameters. So, we will see that at what range we have to set
the parameters. In tolerance design the manufacturing tolerances that minimize the effect
of the noise factor and manufacturing cost is determined.

So, there are two parameters here; manufacturing cost is one parameter and the effect of
noise factors is a second parameter. So, when we are setting the specifications of the
tolerance range we have to ensure that the design is insensitive to the noise parameters.
So, insensitive maybe you know what is insensitive that it is not affected by the noise
factors. So, these are the two things that need to be ensured during the product design
process, when we are ensuring that the design is going to be robust. So, manufacturing
cost as well as the noise factors.

Now let us take an example of a water bottle to explain these three points. That is system
level, parameter level, and the tolerance design. Little bit confusing, but let us try to
understand it with the help of a design of a bottle. At the first stage that is the systems

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stage we will see that we have to design a bottle. What is a functional requirement of the
bottle? We can say verb and a noun carry water or carry liquid it is not that only water
will be it can carry maybe sometimes we use the same plastic bottle for bringing oil or
petrol. So, we can say for a bottle the functional design is carry fluid or carry liquid.

Now, the first part can be functional design. Now the second part that is the parameter
design we need to ensure what will be the exact shape of the plastic bottle, what will be
the colour of the plastic bottle, and then what would be the capacity of the water bottle or
the fluid bottle. So, we have to ensure all these parameters for the design of the product.

So, first stage is concept design or the functional design that is it has to be able to carry
the fluid, second is that it should be able to carry a specific quantity of fluid, it should be
able to look good, it should have a specific shape, it should have a shape which can we
held very easily. So, that is a parameter design. And at last stage that is a tolerance design
we will see that if it is manufactured what can be the tolerance given to the mould in
which it is being manufactured so that it is consistence with the performance.
Performance means it is supposed now to carry maybe one liter of the liquid. So, it
should not happen that the die is designed in such a way that it is only able to carry
instead of 1 a liter it is able to carry less than maybe a 2 percent or 1 percent less liquid
as compared to the actual design.

So, we have to insure second may be a tolerance design stage we have to see the when
the bottle has to be closed by the cap the threads inside the cap and on the outer
periphery of the bottle are consistent to each other. And follow the concept of
interchangeability which means that this bottle any sample from the bottle and any
sample from the cap should be able to assembled to each other. So, that is a concept of
interchangeability. So, we have to set the tolerances in such a way that the performance
of assembly of this bottle and the cap is done properly and there is no error in that
particular thing.

So, from the functional design to the parameter design to the tolerance design this will
ensure that the product is robust and it achieves its target for which the product has been
designed. So, if we are not taking account at each stage the concept of robustness
sometimes at a later stage the product may face a problem. Sometimes it may so
happened the bottles that we are producing are not to the required size and in some cases

235
the quantity is more than 1 liter, and in some cases the quantity is less than 1 liter. And
then your overall you can say authority or is challenged or overall authority in the market
for that brand it gets challenged. So, it is always advisable that we should ensure robust
design of the product.

Now, this is simple example very quickly I will go through this example.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:42)

An automobile manufacturer wants to improve the quality of the painted surface on its
cars. So, there is a automobile company, there is a paint on the car, the quality the
manufacturer wants to ensure that the quality should we excellent. The quality is
measured by the gloss reading on the surface. So, there is a instrument which measures
the gloss reading on the surface. The manufacturer wants the painted surface to have a
higher gloss reading; which means that the instrument that measure the gloss reading it is
expected that the maximum gloss reading should come in order to ensure the quality of
the painted surface. And to be robust against the environment; so it should be robust
against the environment over a period of time it should not get influenced by the
environment.

The environmental factors particular temperature and humidity are known to affect the
painting surface. Thus, a robust design will be used here. Now you we have to ensure
that even if the car is parked in the open or it is subjected to the temperature or direct
sunlight the surface should not get influenced.

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Now, what are the parameters that we can control? We can control few parameters.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:57)

Now while depositing the paint on the surface or on the body of the car we can control
the flow rate of the gun, flow rate of the paint, we can control the pressure in the paint
gun, the viscosity of the paint gun and the cure temperature. So, these are the four
parameters that we can control in order to deposit a paint which gives us the maximum
gloss reading.

(Refer Slide Time: 30:26)

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But there are few parameters which are out of our control that is the temperature and
humidity for depositing the paint on the surface. Now, four parameters are within our
control for depositing good quality paint on the surface of the car body, but there are two
parameters during the process which are beyond our control. So, in order to improve our
process what we can do? We can control these two parameters also by making our paint
shop air conditioned, so that we can control the temperature also, we can control the
humidity also, but currently maybe the manufacturer who is using a paint shop may not
be able to control these parameters.

So, if the parameters are beyond the control we call them as the noise factors if it is a air
conditioned room we can control air temperature and humidity also, they also become
the controllable parameter. Then if there is a variation in the paint during service it can
be because of certain other uncontrollable parameters which can be the bonding between
thus paint and the body it can be certain parameters which are random in nature, which
can be anything ranging from the skill of the worker to maybe the adhesion between the
paint and the body.

So, different parameters can be there which are right now may be beyond our control, but
if with proper investigation and results can be brought into control. But as a product
designer my aim should be that I have to ensure a design which is robust in nature, which
is insensitive to the noise factors and it delivers when it is called for to deliver the
intended function for which the design has been put into place.

So, with this we come to the end of our lecture number 13. And I have tried to just
introduce the concept of robust design with the help of an example. We have tried to
understand that there are few controllable parameters which we can control, there are
few uncontrollable parameters which we cannot control, and our product or process
should be designed in such a way that it is insensitive to the uncontrollable parameters or
the noise parameters.

In next lecture we will start our discussion from design for manufacturing and design for
assembly. We will see what is DFX, and where do DFM and DFA fix into or fit into the
concept of DFX.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture – 14
Design for X (DFX)

Namaskar friends, so we are now in to lecture fourteen of our course on Product Design
and Development. And we have divided the total discussion into four weeks and we have
already completed week 1, week 2, and we have discuss the basic concepts of product
design and development, we have consider the functional aspects of product design by
specifically addressing the problem from the value engineering point of view, we have
already seen the examples of value engineering.

In third week we are trying to learn certain important tools which help us in the product
design process. In first lecture we have learned a important tool through which we take
the input from the customer, and try to match that input with the technical specifications
of the product and try to benchmark our product in comparison to the products of the
other companies.

And try to take certain important decisions related to the product design process, that tool
was discuss that was quality function deployment and we have discuss the house of
quality. In second lecture once we have the voice of customers we know what customers
want, we know how technically we can meet those specifications of those requirements
of the customers we go for the actual design of the process and therefore, we considered
important design tool that is computer aided design, in which we have seen what are the
steps involved in computer aided design and we have also seen that what are the
important software, which are used for solving or designing the problem using the help
of with the help of computers.

We have also seen that today the computers are not only used for drafting the problem or
for sketching or giving the geometry to the problem, softwares are also helpful in
analyzing and providing solutions to the engineering problem. So, the CAD as discussion
helped us to I have a basic understanding about the tool and how it is helpful for the
product design process. In third discussion or third lecture on week three or in week
three, we have discussed the robust design procedure and how we can differentiate

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between the controllable parameters and uncontrollable parameters and we have
concluded that it is our duty to ensure that our product is insensitive to the variations in
the noise factors and therefore, only the product will be usable for the customer and it
will be acceptable in the market.

So, with this background now we are slightly moving towards actualizing our product.
We can conceptualize it from the customers or from the demands of the customer, we can
design it on the screen using CAD, we can put certain things into the product certain
things means a robustness, we can put the quality into the product by appropriate
selection of materials, now we have to see that when we are actually going to fabricate or
manufacture the product what are the things that we have to keep in mind.

So, we have to design the product in such a way that when it is manufactured, it is easy
to manufacture. We are not doing a course on manufacturing technology in which we
will learn the processes like primary forming and deforming or material removal
processes, we are not actually producing the product, but we are actually designing the
product, but during the design stage only we have to ensure that it is easy to manufacture
or fabricate or assemble the product at a later stage.

So, during design only we will ensure that all these conditions are met, and for that we
have to ensure that our design is excellent and DFX is an important term that is used
nowadays that is design for excellence. So, excellence not in terms of performance or
quality or reliability or durability, but excellence in terms of manufacturing also in terms
of cost also in terms of assembly also. So, we have to ensure that the product design is
excellent in nature.

Now, from where the term x come into picture let us quickly go to that.

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(Refer Slide Time: 05:00)

Now design for excellence generally it is called as DFX, design for excellence or DFX is
a systematic design approach that entails wide range of guidelines and standards. So, first
thing is, it entails wide range of guidelines and standards we will see examples of one or
two such guidelines today with a specific example or a specific application. So, it entails
wide range of guidelines or standards. So, we can also say that DFX is a set of guidelines
and standards which, we should follow during our design process. These are focused on
optimizing the product realization life cycle.

So, these guidelines are helpful to us to make our product successfully in order to make
our product economically as well as help us to actualize the life cycle of the product or to
some extent we can say to minimize the life cycle of the product. In reality the term DFX
is better thought of as design for x, where there variable x is interchangeable with one of
many values depending one or many values depending on the particular objectives of the
venture. So, we can say it is DFX, x can take any value. So, x can be it can be
manufacturing, it can be assembly, it can be quality, it can be reliability. So, DFX then
becomes design for manufacturing depending upon what is our area of focus if we are
focusing on the design which we want that it should be manufactured easily we will say
design for manufacturing. If we have a designer hand which we need to assemble easily
we will say it is DFA.

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So, x can take any value, but in general DFX means design for excellence. Now here in
this particular point I have emphasized on one thing that these are set of guidelines,
which helps us to actualize our product also it helps us to save some time. So, this can be
explained from another point of view that in previous you can say business environment
usually the design center will be a certain or will be assigned the task of designing the
product. The manufacturing facility will only be used to manufacture the product.

Now, there are two separate entities, the design center and the manufacturing facility.
Now the design center will design the product based on the knowledge base of the
designers and requirements of the customer. Now this design maybe in the form of
drawing sheets we will be sent to the manufacturing facility for manufacturing the
product or for manufacturing the prototype, but there may be certain guidelines or certain
set of rules which have been violated by the people who are involved in the design
center.

When this design reaches the manufacturing facility, the manufacturing engineers or
production engineers will highlight maybe in many cases they will send the design files
back to the design center with their comments; that these are we can say features or
tolerance requirements which cannot be achieved by the manufacturing facilities
available and then therefore, it has to be redesigned.

Now, once this design or in the form of drawings reach back to the design center, they
will see redesigned the product and again send it back to the manufacturing facility. So,
this iteration maybe a single iteration, it can be double iteration three times it may
happen, but it takes or eats away lot of precious time, which has to be controlled or
completely eliminated.

So, in the present context there is no company in which the design center will be a
compartmentalized center or will be in independence center. These days for launching a
new product into the market there will be a product team in which there will be
individuals from marketing, sales, finance engineering background, then production
design, legal different people with different specializations will comprise the overall
product team.

So, that all these problems of iterations are taken care of and the design team when it
gives the product or the design of the product it is final in all its aspects and it is not sent

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back from the manufacturing facility to the design team, and the role of information
technology cannot be ignored in achieving this thing or this particular objective. So, the
DFX, DFM, DFA, DFR or this DFQ all these are concepts which want or which aims at
reducing the overall cycle time for launching or overall product design time for
launching the product in to the market. So, we can see that if we use the concepts of
DFX, we have a product design will be not only robust in nature, but will also save lot of
time for the organization and a manufacturing cost will also be optimize.

So, we will try to see that how the concepts of DFX can help us achieve our objective.
So, this is I think I have explained it that how DFX is not only helpful in giving us a
robust design, but is also help full in saving lot of money also for us as well as saving lot
time for the organization.

(Refer Slide Time: 11:15)

Now, these guidelines ensure the issues related to manufacturing I have already told, cost
quality assembly and serviceability are addressed at the design stage only.

So, our design will be good in all these aspects. If these guidelines are not adhered
during the design stage, it can lead to engineering changes occurring at later stages of
product life cycle which are highly expensive and can cause project delays and cost
overruns. So, I think whatever I explained in the initial discussion part for today’s
discussion are completely outlined or are explained in a much better manner in these
sentences. That if we take care of these guidelines we achieve good manufacturing, low

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cost high quality, easy assembly and good serviceability if we adhered to these
guidelines. If we do not adhered to these guidelines, it can lead to highly expensive
product, product delays and cost overruns.

(Refer Slide Time: 12:26)

So, we are losing on all accounts if you do not follow these guidelines during the product
design process. Now this is the very good diagram you can see, some of the common
substitutes for X. I have told design for excellence, design for x can be substituted. So,
here are few examples design for manufacturing, design for assembly, design for
manufacturability and assembly design for production, and on this side you can see
design for cost, design for service, design for safety, design for reliability. So, X can take
any name, but the overall objective of the product designer is to ensure that the product is
good quality low cost, easy to manufacture, easy to assemble; ease reliable, is easy to
service.

So, when you take into account all these things then it means you design for excellence.
The product is robust and is insensitive to the variation in the noise factors. Now we will
try to understand maybe design for manufacturing and design for a assembly in today’s
discussion with the help of certain examples. Now what is design for manufacturing? It
is ease for manufacturing. So, DFM is a method of design for ease of manufacturing, of
the collection of parts that will form the product after assembly. So, design for
manufacturing means that if we have a product that we want to manufacture that design

244
should be such that it is easy to manufacture. We will try to see that how a set of
guidelines can help us to achieve this objective that the design is easy to manufacture.

So, here we are trying to optimize the manufacturing process, we are trying to design the
product in such a way that it is easy to manufacture.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:16)

Now, design for manufacturing is a development practice, emphasizing manufacturing

issues throughout the product development process. Usually this happens at the
manufacturing stage only, but here you can see from this sentence emphasizing the
manufacturing issues throughout the product development process, that is at the design
stage also we are thinking that how this design will be manufactured when it goes to the
manufacturing facility. It is not only that I am focusing on the design that it should look
good it should be in this color the profile should be like this, but I am also thinking that
when this product will go to the manufacturing, which machine will be used to fabricate
this, which tool will be used to fabricate this, which tool will be used to finish this.

So, I am thinking of the manufacturability of the product also during the design stage
only that is the beauty of this concept. Successful DFM results in lower production costs
cost without sacrificing the product quality sorry. So, if we ensure that the design is easy
to manufacture, we save lot of cost and the quality is also consistent.

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(Refer Slide Time: 15:48)

So, these guidelines should be taken into a account when we are designing a product.
This is the entire manufacturing cost we can say; for any manufacturing system there are
inputs there are outputs. Now input can be raw material, labour, purchased components
output is the finished good or are the finished goods. Now you have equipment going in
to system, information tools, energy supplies, services, raw material, labour purchased
component everything going into the system is a input and everything will entail some
amount of cost.

So, this is the cost that goes into the system and it comes out in the form of the finished
goods, and there will be certain waste also or discarded or rejected or discarded goods.
Now what are the manufacturing costs of a product we can see?

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(Refer Slide Time: 16:38)

The manufacturing cost of the product can broadly the components assembly cost and
overhead cost, from the previous slide only we can breakdown the manufacturing cost
into its individual constituents or components. Components can be standard components,
components can be customized components. So, if there are standard components they
will be procured from the market if we are customized we have to manufacture them
then for a customized component we need to have a raw material, there will be
processing cost there will be tooling cost.

Similarly, for assembly tooling means sometime processing, can be the actual machining
cost, but tooling cost can be the specific tool or a fixture or a jig that is used which there
can be difference or in many cases tooling can also be included in the overall processing
cost.

In certain plastic parts the tool may have a different perspective, because the tool is the
main we can say focus of or the die is the main focus of the plastic manufacturing
process. So, may be depending upon the type of manufacturing, we can bring them
different or we can club them together also it hardly matters, but this as to understand
that what is the manufacturing cost for a product, then the assembly cost labour cost
equipment and tooling cost overheads can be support maybe consultants or the other
support and the indirect allocation cost. So, this is just a general description of the

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manufacturing cost of the product, now we have to ascertain that this cost it do not
overrun and is easy to manufacture means the cost should also be minimum.

Now this is a little bit of explanation of manufacturing cost, I have already explained
component cost parts purchased from the supplier custom parts made in manufactures
own plant or the suppliers according to the manufactures designs specifications, the first
was component cost, assembly cost, already discussed overhead cost, support cost like
material handling quality assurance, purchasing, shipping, receiving facilities indirect
allocation not directly linked to a particular product, but it must be paid for to be in
business.

So, these are the just a brief the fixed cost incurred in a predetermined amount regardless
of the number of units produce, that is setting up of the factory work area or cost of an
injection molding machine. Variable cost incurred in direct proportion to the number of
units for example, the cost of is fixed cost, variable costs or very common terms used in
the breakeven analysis, whenever you draw the curve you use these curve for fixed cost
remaining horizontal, then variable cost depending upon the number of products
produced.

So, in general we have tried to understand that what is the cost structure of a product
when we are manufacturing the product. When the design is not included here. So, when
we are saying design for manufacturing we should know that manufacturing entails all
these cost and how we should design the product so that this cost is somehow minimized
and the it is also easy to manufacture that product.

So, this is just a brief summary of the overall cost structure of the product, now why we
have discuss the manufacturing cost you may appreciate that. Because DFM method now
we are going to see the overall flow chart of the DFM methodology, we see we have a
proposed design, already we have designed a particular product. Now we will estimate
the manufacturing cost we know; what are the costs that are involved in manufacturing
the product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 20:30)

Then we will see reduce the costs of the component, we will use our creativity our
innovative bent of mind and see that this component is necessary how we can redesign it,
but keeping the quality, performance, reliability, durability, ease of service everything
into our mind. We are not going to compromise on anything, but we will try to reduce the
cost of component, we will try to reduce the cost of assembly, we will try to reduce the
costs of the supporting production. So, we will try to reduce the cost whenever possible
for the proposed design by coming up with the new design.

Then we will consider the impact of DFM decisions on the other factors, other factors
can be as I have already told performance factors, and then re compute the
manufacturing cost. If it is good enough we can say the new design is acceptable design,
if it is not good enough, again we will go and estimate the manufacturing cost and then
again the cycle will repeat.

So, basically the overall summary of this flowchart is that for DFM to be successful we
will analyze each and every product from the point of ease of manufacturing. We will try
to reduce the costs wherever possible, sometimes it may so happen that initially when we
are proposing a change in their design the cost may be slightly higher, but the process is
faster so that it can produce more number of parts. So, the overall production cost may
become lower. So, it is not always maybe when the cost is lower, we are achieving our
target sometimes the cost may be higher also, but the life cycle or the overall cost of the

249
product or the manufacturing is lower and therefore, we may propose a change in the
design of the product.

So, here we can see we have a proposed design, we see how we can redesign it in order
to achieve our target of ease of manufacturing inconsistency with the cost structure of the
product. We will only redesign the product from manufacturing point of view, if we are
gaining something out of it, if we are achieving some target. So, ease of manufacturing
suppose there is a design which takes 10 minutes to produce and it requires 10 rupees for
manufacturing cost.

Now, suppose we can redesign it in such a way that now it can be produced in one
minute only, but the cost is rupees 12. So, we are saving 9 minutes at the cost of rupees
may be the cost is initially the cost was rupees 10 minutes it is taking and the cost is
rupees 10. In the second it is taking only 2 minutes cost remains 10. So, the cost remains
same, 10 and 10 in both cases 10 minutes and two minutes.

So, we say two minute is better by the redesign, so that 8 minutes we are saving, 8
minutes of productive time we are saving. So, similarly we have to do a tradeoff and see
that where we are gaining. We will only modified the design if we achieve something
positive out of it. In this case 10 minutes, and 2 minutes; so, we are saving 8 minutes,
cost remaining same. So, we should always go for that change in the design in many
cases if we are saving money also. So, it is double benefit for us.

(Refer Slide Time: 24:05)

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Now for the DFM method just a brief summary estimate the manufacturing cost, reduce
the cost of the component without compromising the performance. Reduce the cost of
assembly without compromising the reliability durability. Reduce the cost of the
supporting production whatever we are saying indirect cost and consider the impact of
DFM decisions on the other factors as well.

So, that we have to see here maybe the time is not coming into pictures. So, the other
factors can be the time, that if the product design is leading to less time for manufactured
that can be the other factor which can taken into account. Now let us take a very simple
example.

(Refer Slide Time: 24:44)

It is the sheet metal product you can see. In a sheet metal design specifying the hole sizes
locations and their alignment is very very critical. So, you can see hole sizes in critical,
location of the hole is also very critical because here we are this example is related to the
location of the hole in the sheet metal. So, it is always better to specify hole diameters
that are greater than the sheets thickness. So, this is a sheet which has got a thickness of
T, capital T.

So, it the diameter of the hole should be greater than the sheet thickness, it is always
better to specify the hole diameter that are greater than the sheet thickness. This can be
one of the DFM guidelines for manufacturing of or fabricating parts made out of sheet
metal or the parts that require sheet metal operations. A mechanical engineer would be

251
able to appreciate this point that for every process there are set of guidelines which are
helpful to us, one of the guidelines given here is regarding the hole diameter in a sheet
metal part. Spacing between the holes also matter, the center to center distance between
the two holes is also equally important. Spacing between the holes also maters it should
be at least two times the sheet thickness, if not more.

So, two times the thickness of the sheet should be the center to center spacing between
the two holes that are made in the sheet metal component. So, distance between holes
and ensure strength of the metal and prevent holes from deforming during the bending or
forming processes. For subsequent processes, this distance between the two holes will
play a vital role.

Now from this example we can see that only in one specific process that is a sheet metal
operation we have seen at least three guidelines. So, you can yourself imagine that how
many such guidelines rules of thumbs, heuristics maybe available for engineers to take
into account when they are designing a product. And if you take into account these
guidelines your product design would be such that it would lead to ease of
manufacturing, there will be no problem during the manufacturing stage, no wastage of
material will be there and the product will lead to a successful product in the market.

Here you can see red color incorrect design. You can see the central distance of this hole
from the edge is less than the thickness of the sheet. Therefore, we can say green color is
the correct design the distance of this hole from the edge is 1.5T to 2T which is
preferred. So, this is one DFM guidelines for sheet metal components which can help us
to design the product which will be easy to manufacture.

So, second part is the design for assembly. Now from design for manufacturing point of
view we have seen that if we follow the guidelines, our manufacturing we will become
easy and our product would become may be more successful. From design for assembly
point of view, DFA is the method of design of the product for ease of assembly. Design
for manufacturing - ease of manufacturing, design for assembly ease of assembly. So,
optimization of the part or system assembly; we will try to see that how many parts we
can eliminate and we can make our assembly process simpler.

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(Refer Slide Time: 28:32)

So, quickly let us see DFA is a tool used to assist in the design teams in the design of
products that will transition to production at a minimum cost, focusing on the number of
parts handling and ease of assembly. So, we have to see what is the number of parts
going into the of product, how we should handle them, that is their handling should be
easier, and their assembly operations in totality should be simpler easier and cost
effective. So, that is what is our target when we are designing the product from ease of
assembly point of view.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:08)

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Now, design for assembly principles are given, I think quickly I will read these not much
requirement to explain each point in detail minimize the part count, that is number of
parts can be less or tried to be minimized, Design parts with self-locating features. So,
self locating means there should be some feature which will help it to be located at its
desired position.

Design parts with self fastening features. So, if you club the two things together it should
stick to each other self fastening should be there; minimize reorientation of parts during
the assembly. So, once you orient it they should not get to reoriented during the assembly
process. Design parts for retrieval handling and insertion emphasize top down
assemblies, maybe top down means the sequence of assembly operations should be very
structured maybe you can start from a bigger part than the smaller part than smaller you
can build on the assembly in such a way standardized parts minimum use of fasteners.

So, standard part should be used encourage modular design maybe minimum number of
parts should be there, modular means single. Design for a base part to locate other
components as I have told in the top down approach sequence is very important and
design for component symmetry for insertion. So, suppose a square part has to fit on a
square part both parts can have a square geometry so that it is easy to fit. So, thus
component symmetry also is important; if we take into account all these points or
designed for assembly guidelines or principle our design would be easy to assemble.

(Refer Slide Time: 30:55)

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Now, here we can see one example, optimal design for a thermal gun sight reticle in a US
tank made by Taxas instrument. So, this is one example has been taken from a book
Boothroyd 1994 it was published. So, here you can see one design and you can see the
number of fasteners going in to the product and the complexity of the design. So, there
are large number of fasteners here, and as per our guidelines you can see we should
design parts with self fastening features and somewhere it was written that we have to
minimize the fasteners, standardized parts minimum number of or minimum use of
fasteners.

(Refer Slide Time: 31:43)

As per these guidelines if you redesign this part it you can see how simpler same
objective met, same functionality, no compromise in the performance simpler part. So,
redesigned thermal gun sight reticle similar to simpler to assemble and less to go wrong.

So, chances to go wrong is less foolproof design easy to assemble as well as less number
of fastener will definitely take less time. So, let us see what are the advantages of this
new design, this is the measuring the improvement the old design and the new design.
Now you can see parameters of comparison assembly time improvement by 84 percent,
it less time consuming. Number of different parts 66 percent improvement, original has
84 parts, sorry 24 parts number of different part redesign has only 8 parts, you can
yourself see it has got less number of parts.

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(Refer Slide Time: 32:39)

Then total number of operations in original 58 assembly operations, in the new design
only 13 assembly operations, metal fabrication time also 71 percentage reduced, weight
also 45 percentage reduced.

So, you can see by following a simple design guideline that is for easy to assemble
product we should have minimum number of fasteners and a redesigned part with this
guideline that simpler easy to assemble top down approach, minimum number of
fasteners. So, if we followed DFA guidelines or design for assembly guidelines you can
see for yourself what can be achieved or what is the order of improvement that we can
achieve.

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(Refer Slide Time: 33:27)

Now, this is another example, this is original part very complex, so many number of
fasteners there are, so many number of parts. So, here you can see redesigned part less
number of fastener easy to assemble. So, this is redesign of a motor drive assembly
following design for assembly analysis or design for assembly guidelines. So, you can
see different designs we can redesign based on the guidelines and the redesigned part can
be much simpler, much cost effective, much better in performance as compared to the
original part, which is also the basic concept of value engineering.

So, what can be the differences? This differences I will touch when we will go to the
DFMA guidelines in the next we can say discussion on week 4, we will discuss DFMA
guidelines in detail, and we will see what are the guidelines for manufacturing of part
when it has to manufactured by casting or forging or welding.

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(Refer Slide Time: 34:37)

So, all those details there when we discuss, I will come back again to this slide what is
the difference between design for assembly, and design for manufacturing. This is the or
we can say cost of assembly versus cost of part manufacture, this is important here you
can see. When the part count is reduced part count reduction your green line shows your
savings in the assembly operations.

So, when your part count will be reduced you will save money, because your assembly
will become easier you have to assemble less number of parts. Similarly for part
manufacturing saving when your parts will reduced you will also save some money, but
here there is a optimum value why there is a optimum value here? After that our savings
are going down. See there is a optimum value for the savings if we can draw straight line
here and after this, this is going down. So, our part savings are going down why because
by reducing the number of parts to a very very critical of very lower value, which means
that the complexity of the product will increase to such an extent that the manufacturing
will become very very difficult.

So, sometimes in order to manufacture it easily a complex part is divided it in divided

into simpler part. So, that all simpler parts are easy to manufacturer, but when we want to
reduce the number of parts as per the DFA or design for assembly guideline, the parts
will reduced, but the individual parts may become more and more complex.

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So, that has to be taken care of. So, after a optimum part reduction, if we further reduce
the parts the savings potential comes down, but the overall if we follow the DFM and
DFA guidelines the overall savings are positive only maybe up to a particular number of
part count, beyond which the savings potential goes down. So, overall we can see that
these are important concepts we have taken three examples, one in DFM and two in DFA
where it has been proven that the guidelines are helpful in not only ensuring the easy
manufacturing and easy assembly of the products, but also helpful in saving the other
benefits also like weight is also saved, time is also saved money of course, is saved. So,
it has become may be profitable for the company to adopt these guidelines to follow
these guidelines in letter and spirit so that the overall cost structure of the product
improves and product becomes more and more competitive in the market.

So, the market companies that follow these guidelines have a competitive advantage in
the market, because their rejections are less, the cost is also competitive as well as the
time for manufacturing is may be saved and they are able to launch their products with
the much more we can say agility as compared to their competitors.

In the next lecture we will see that what are the other tools which are helpful to us in
designing the product, which will design, which will help us to design a product, which
is going to be successful in the market and our focus primarily will be on the ergonomic
aspects of product design.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 15
Ergonomics in Product Design

Namaskar friends, so welcome to lecture 15 in our course on Product Design and

Development.
We have as you are aware broken down this course into 4 weeks. We have already
finished the discussion of the first 2 weeks and in third week today is going to be the last
session or last lecture.

To revise what we have discussed in week 3, we have taken 4 lectures or 4 discussion

sessions in week 3; in first we have taken quality function deployment which is one of
the tools for correlating the voice of the customers with the technical requirements of the
product. Then we have seen the relationship matrix and the correlation matrix and the
benchmarking of our product with the competitors product, which you can say outcome
of the house of quality, which helps us in decision making and helps us to focus on the
technical requirements or technical functionality of the product.

In lecture 2 we discussed a very important aspect of product design and development that
was CAD that is Computer Aided Design. In session 3 we discussed the concept of
robust design and we saw that the design that we are making should be free from any
noise factors or variations in the noise factor. And in session 4 we have covered DFM
and DFA that is Designed For Manufacturing and Design For Assembly.

In design for manufacturing we have taken one example of a sheet metal part that how
the holes should be located in a sheet metal part in order to ensure the strength of the
component, and in design for assembly we have taken 2 examples in which the number
of parts going into the product were reduced, and which led to a significant reduction in
the overall cost structure or the cost of the product. And a comparison was also discussed
that how the product after redesigning will help us to achieve cost, to achieve weight, to
achieve the lower assembly cost, and in order to achieve the ease of assembly.

So, currently we are in the process of learning the tools that help a product designer in
designing a product successfully. So, to name a few tools we have seen quality function

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deployment we have seen fundamentals of CAD only the basic part of computer aided
design we have also covered DFM, DFA, concept of robust design and in the same
league. Today we are going to discuss the most important aspect, which is related to the
interaction between the human and the product and the concept is called the Ergonomics.

We will see how ergonomics will help us to design a product; and what are the
ergonomical factors that should be taken into account when you are designing a product.
We will take 2 examples today and both examples have been selected very judiciously in
order to ensure, that we can relate to those examples. It is easy for me as a mechanical
engineer to take different examples and relate them to ergonomics which are specific to
mechanical engineering students only, but I can understand the wide spectrum or the
variety of learners who are joining this course.

The examples taken are simple in nature and related to our day to day life and we will try
to relate these simple examples with the fundamental concepts of ergonomics, to start our
discussion. Let us now see the meaning of the word ergonomics.

(Refer Slide Time: 04:10)

What is Ergonomics? It is derived from 2 Greek words Ergo and Nomos and Ergo plus
Nomos make Ergonomics, Ergo means work, Nomo means laws. Hence ergonomist or
the people who study, Ergonomics study human capabilities in relationship to work
demand.

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There are 2 things now, there is a human capability and there is demands of the work,
now suppose I have to lift a 20 kg stone or a gunny bag from this place and have to place
it 10 meters away, the principles of ergonomics will definitely come into picture why
because there is a work demand. What is the work demand, I have to pick a 20 kg load
from location A and then make it or place it at location 2 and transfer of this load from
one station A to another station B, is what we call as the work demand and I as a human
being is doing that job that is the human capability.

So it relates the human capability with the work demand and this is done in order to
ensure that I may feel happy doing that job and the job should be done successfully
without any failure or without any issue or a problem. So it is related to human where as
capability or human potential we service the demand or the job demand or the work
demand or the work that has to be accomplished. So, this is a basic, very fundamental
definition of ergonomics work and the laws governing the work.

(Refer Slide Time: 05:54)

Now, here you see in this diagram the basic concept of ergonomics let us first see this
definition, the scientific discipline concerned with understanding of interactions among
humans and other elements of a system. So, this is a scientific technique and we what I,
what is our aim, what we are planning to do here to understand the interaction between
the human being and the part of a system. For example, in this recording studio I am a
human being and my interaction with the whole system can be one concept of

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ergonomics like I am standing here, I am delivering a lecture, whether I am comfortable,
how I will feel after speaking for maybe half an hour, all that means, my interaction with
the whole system, I am interacting with this board also, I am interacting with the pointer
also, I am interacting with the cameras also.

It is the inter human interaction with the system that is scientifically we have to
understand that the scientific discipline concerned with understanding of interactions
among humans and other elements of the system, I have given the example and the
profession that applies theory, principles, methods and data to design in order to optimize
human wellbeing and overall system performance. We have to use theory, principles and
methods as well as data; to ensure that we design this system in such a way that I also
feel happy, I also feel a state of well being and the overall system performance also
improves.

So we have to understand this interaction between the human being and the elements of
the system and try to improvise this interaction in such a way that my well being also
improves, I feel happy working in the system as well as the system whatever is designed
or whatever is required out of system is also achieved successfully. Now here you can
see in human centered design ergonomics, we can design products maybe this trolley can
be one product which is assisting this human being to carry this load from one position to
another position. So, here this person is interacting with this system or this equipment to
complete the work, here the interaction is between the human being and a cart.

Here you see for the different jobs ergonomics can play a role a person is sitting on a
chair and interacting with his system or a laptop, this complete system person, chair,
table, laptop all this will comprise of one system in which a human is interacting with the
work center or the workspace and in order to get maximum output from the human being
as well as from the system we should use the concept of ergonomics. So, that the overall
productivity of the organization improves.

Similarly there are other examples also for different tasks we can design this broom in
such a way that the productivity of this worker improves, similarly in organizations also
the concept of ergonomics can be used, for example, the design of the workspace
suppose 10 employees have to work together on a project each one of them require their
individual space, how to design the workplace, or the floor, in such a way that the

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productivity of each and every employee is maximum, as well as the overall system
productivity is maximum, all that are the basic concept of ergonomics. It is basically the
interaction between the human being and the system which has to be taken into account
and we have to use the theory, principles, methods and data to design this interaction in
such a way that the overall system performance improves.

(Refer Slide Time: 10:00)

Now, what will be the benefits if we use these tools, techniques, methods, theory in order
to design the system we will get increased productivity and efficiency, that is true reduce
fatigue and discomfort. The worker will always feel energetic and enthusiastic to do his
job, if the worker is given the job which is ergonomically designed or he is working in a
system where he feels that he is feeling comfortable and he would be always motivated
to do more for the organization.

It helps to prevent injuries improve quality of work and life of the worker, improved
moral and job satisfaction, these are only maybe most important advantages or benefits
of ergonomics. There are other benefits also for example, here we see helps to prevent
injuries, if the system is ergonomically designed, the numbers of injuries are suppose less
the company has to spend less money on paying the premiums or paying the insurance
claims for the employees. There are other benefits also, that are related to a
ergonomically designed system, if our course is product design and development so,
ergonomics also play an important role in the design of the product also.

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We will see how ergonomics play a role in the design of a product with the help of a case
study, it is not that since I am using a general term system that ergonomically designed
system, we can also say that ergonomically designed product. So, that when this product
and the human interact with each other the overall performance improves not only for the
employee, but for the system as a whole, these are only few advantages that we can
accrue out of the ergonomical principles.

(Refer Slide Time: 11:57)

Now, types of ergonomics also we should understand that it is not only related to the
tangible products, only it is cognitive also as well as organizational. Ergonomics can be
applied for tangible or physical products, it can be applied for cognitive domain also as
well as for the design of the organizations or the systems or the workplace it can be used
for design of floor area. So the concepts of ergonomics are universal in nature and not
only restricted to only the products, but they can be used for the overall system
performance also, we will try to understand all 3 with help of maybe examples if
possible.

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(Refer Slide Time: 12:50)

Let us see the physical ergonomics example is here on your screen if I think it is not
legible we can see the angles are also marked here 30 degree this angle, 70 to 135 degree
this angle between the spine and the elbows, this angle is 70 to 135 degree, height 16
inch to 20 inch given here, all this desk height 23 inches to 28 inches. So, all this is you
can say ergonomic design of the physical system or physical ergonomics is the human
bodies responses to physical and physiological workloads, repetitive strain injuries from
repetition, vibration, force and posture fall in this category.

So, we have to avoid all these repetitive strain injuries by the design of the product in
such a way that the overall performance of the worker improves, the fatigue is minimum
for the worker and his productivity and efficiency is maximum, that can only be possible
if we follow these standard guidelines the ideal body position for smart ergonomic
working. If we follow all these standard guidelines during the design of this overall
system of a worker sitting on a chair, working on a desktop, if we follow the guidelines
the overall performance will improve and the strain injuries because of vibration force
and posture will be reduced.

So, physical ergonomics involve the design of the system you can see there is a footrest,
also here, there is a table with caster wheels, so it is a rotating chair.

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(Refer Slide Time: 14:43)

All these parameters can be taken into account in the physical ergonomic aspects. Second
is the Cognitive Ergonomics deal with the mental processes and capabilities of human,
when at work mental strain from the workload, decision making, human error and
training fall into this category.

So, cognitive ergonomics maybe I can take an example that maybe after speaking for
half an hour focusing on the discussion, related to the various topics when I finish the
lecture I have to take a break maybe for 5 to 10 minutes to come back to my normal, you
can say thinking process. Because the focus on this presentation drains out a lot of
energy which is not physical, but it is cognitive energy that I spent focusing on the
presentation thinking of examples that I can share with all of you. Similarly you will you
can experience it yourself when you do a work which is related to lot of concentration
you will be drained not physically, but you will be drained emotionally or mentally. If
you come out of a very emotive picture or a very emotional movie you will see that you
have been drained out emotionally.

Similarly, if you are writing the examination for any subject when you come out of the
examination hall you will be physically, but you will be mentally drained out. So, it is
not that a physical work only comes under ergonomics, the mental work is also equally
important and we can design the work in such a way that mentally also you feel alert and
you feel ok, after completing certain tasks. In many of the jobs you may not be required

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to do any physical work, but only the mental work. So, the type of jobs can also be
designed in such a way that your mental strain, mental stress is reduced to the minimum.

So, ergonomics is not only related to physical well being only it is also related to the
mental well being of the workers as well as of the executives. So, 2 types of ergonomics
we have seen the physical ergonomics and the cognitive ergonomics a third part or third
type of ergonomics is organizational ergonomics deals.

(Refer Slide Time: 16:52)

With the organizational structures policies and processes in the work environment such
as shift work, scheduling, job satisfaction, motivation, supervision, teamwork,
telecommuting and ethics. So, here we can see number of people working together who
are interacting with each other. So, ergonomic design of this system can also be done,
that if suppose maybe one of the examples can be the banking sector, a person is sitting
and maybe most of that time he is in public dealing, and he is talking to people who are
coming to him maybe for withdrawal or for depositing the money.

That can come under the organizational ergonomics that how the system can be designed
in such a way that this person also feels happy, the customer who is coming to the bank
also feels happy, his co workers also feel happy, and at the end of the day your office
work is more productive and efficient; how this system can be designed. So, that the
overall organization maybe is able to achieve it is targets successfully.

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So organizational ergonomics would help us in deciding the work, scheduling, job
satisfaction, motivation, supervision, teamwork, telecommuting, and ethics. So, the
principles of ergonomics will help us to maybe monitor or control or design or develop
maybe procedures and processes related to all these aspects.

So, ergonomics is not only related to product it is related to our mind also, it is related to
our interaction with the other system elements also. So, ergonomics can be applied
maybe in diverse fields of engineering, and we will take few examples of ergonomics
and try to understand it in a much better manner. Now what are the objectives if we have
understood that, what is ergonomics where it can be applied then the next stage is that
with what objectives we should move forward if we are going to have a ergonomic
analysis or ergonomic study of any product.

(Refer Slide Time: 19:07)

So, our objectives should be the objective is to improve the efficiency, productivity,
effectiveness of the operation by taking into account a typical person’s height, strength,
speed, visual capability, and physiological stresses, such as; Fatigue, Speed of decision
making, Demands on memory and perception. These are physiological stresses that are
there.

So, the point is that our objective is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness with
which the person is performing his task. So, that can be pos that is possible, if we
provide him with a system, or the equipment, or the space in such a way that he is able to

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perform his duties, or if he is able to perform his work, up to the satisfaction of his
seniors or up to the satisfaction of the management.

This is the overall objective fatigue should be minimized speed of decision making
should be maybe we can say fast demands on memory and perception should be such
that he does not feel mentally strained out. Therefore, we have to design and we have to
take into account his height, strength, speed, visual capability and physiological stresses.
So, when we take into account all these things and we design the system then we can say
that the design has been done taking into consideration the ergonomic aspects of work.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:38)

Second objective can be to maximize the productivity; first example was to improve the
efficiency, second is to maximize the productivity by lowering the risk of
musculoskeletal disorders usually in ergonomic terms they are called as the MSDs. So,
Musculoskeletal Disorders, what are these MSDs? Let us see - MSDs are injuries and
disorders that affect the human body’s movement or musculoskeletal system that is
muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, discs, blood vessels etcetera.

Now, suppose somebody is doing a repetitive job or he is working on the mouse

throughout the 8 to 10 hour shift, maybe he may develop a numbness, in the thumb, or in
the fingers, or maybe it can sometimes in the complete hand, sometimes his wrist may
have some pain because of the musculoskeletal disorders or MSDs. So, repetitive work

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strenuous work of any body part may lead to maybe kind of work related problems or
work related musculoskeletal disorders.

So, that have to be eliminated or that have to be avoided, how we can avoid that we can
avoid that by proper design of the system. So, that these types of problems do not arrive
and if these types of problems will not happen your overall productivity will improve.
So, ergonomics will help us to avoid this type of musculoskeletal disorder and when we
are designing a product we should take into account this thing that if this product is to be
used by a human being for a prolonged period of time.

(Refer Slide Time: 22:28)

The product should not lead to the MSDs in the worker.

Now we will try to take maybe in the next 8 to 10 minutes case studies to case studies we
are planning for today. The case study one is a ergonomically efficient office chair. So,
we all of you are using chairs. So, we need to understand that how the concepts of
ergonomics can be used for the design of a chair. So, that the person who is using the
chair is able to perform his tasks efficiently and effectively.

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(Refer Slide Time: 22:54)

Now, let us see an office chair at a glass this is just a summary an average person makes
53 changes to his or her torso position in an hour, while sitting in a chair this is according
2001 study of desk bound office workers or 53 changes to his or her torso. So, torso is
maybe this portion of our body. When we are sitting on a chair we keep on moving
sometime we may move forward sideways, backwards so, we make different positional
changes while sitting on a chair.

These changes may lead to certain issues related to our body, when we are sitting maybe
for 8 to 10 hours in a day on the single chair and for continuous hours. If it is a sedentary
type of job person sitting on the chair may have certain problems. And therefore, the
concept of ergonomics should be used for the design of the chair. The design of the chair
should be such that it is a stable, yet promote dynamic, active, natural motion allowing
sitting in any position.

So, the chair should be designed in such a way that a person who is sitting on the chair
should feel comfortable and maybe after long hours of duty he should feel maybe
enthusiastic and energetic, he should not feel lethargic after sitting on a chair for a long
duration. So, we have to design that chair. Now just as a common sense, if I can ask you
that what are the parameters that you will take into account. Most of you will be able to
answer this question you will say sir the back should be adjustable, it should have a
armrests, the seat should be adjustable, seat should be in z direction we should be able to

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adjust the seat, there should be footrest, it should be a revolving chair. So, these are all
common sense answers, yes all these answers are true, but what should be the ideal
height? What should be the height of the armrest in inches or in centimetres, what should
be the angle of the seat?

What should be the cushioning provided in the seat? What should be the material of the
cushion? How many wheels should be there, if it is a revolving chair. So, all those design
aspects have to be taken into account when you are manufacturing a chair, and when you
are manufacturing a chair you have to first design that chair, and once you are designing
that chair you have to keep into account the ergonomic aspects now what are these
ergonomic aspects we will just see in the design of the chair.

(Refer Slide Time: 25:32)

This is you can see the components already I have mentioned, it can have a headrest,
backrest, seat, rotating wheels, 5 Arm Stand, Height Control-Knobs here and the Arm
Rest maybe these are the different components of the chair.

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(Refer Slide Time: 25:56)

Now this is just giving a brief glimpse of what are the ergonomic things that, we should
keep in mind, while we are designing the individual component of the chair. For base, an
ergonomically designed chair has a solid, safe, and stable 5-post chair base. It should be
made of strong material to support up to 5 times the body weight.

So, one guideline is given 5 times the body weight maybe 60 kg if we take as the average
weight. So, multiplied by 5 maybe 300 kg weight it should easily support. It should be
solid, safe, and 5 we can say wheels can be there in the base. The armrest curved
armrests with depression in between to support the forearm properly. So, maybe this will
help in the proper design of the armrest, footrest it should be adjustable, does not restrict
left leg movement, as wide as your feet, Large enough for the soles of both feet, has a
non skid surface.

If you will see the accelerator or the brake pedals in an automobile they have a break
they have a non skid surface of your foot, your foot will not skid on that pedal. So,
similar type of footrest should be there that the foot should not slide on that surface or
the surface of the footrest.

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(Refer Slide Time: 27:16)

Similarly, head rest Relaxed posture it should ensure relaxed posture, that helps relieve
the pressure on your postural muscles which can decrease fatigue and increase comforts.
So, overall objective is to increase the comfort of the worker and to reduce the fatigue.

Similarly, backrest, the backrest should be large enough to cover the entire width of the
back a minimum of 12 inches recommended for width. So, you can see what should be
the minimum width of the backrest. Similarly, the angle at which the backrest should be
adjustable is also recommended using the ergonomic principles; we are not going in
much into the data because this depends on the anatomical database of a particular zone.
May be if we are designing this ergonomically designed chair for a European country is
the anatomy of person or average height, average arm length, average leg length may
vary.

Similarly, for Asian country the average height, average may be leg length; average arm
length may be different. So, we are not going into the data of each and everything, but
we are just discussing the fundamental principles that have to be taken into account when
you are designing a chair using the principle of ergonomics.

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(Refer Slide Time: 28:42)

Now, this is a final design 3 dimensional view of a chair you can see there is a backrest 2
armrests seat footrest base.

There is a headrest here. So, all the aspects when integrated into the product will help the
product to behave in such a way that the worker or the person or the customer who is
using this product would be happy and would be more than willing to recommend
product to the other customers or in his peer group also.

These are some of the parts that have gone into the design of this product. So, if we keep
in mind the concept of ergonomics while designing the product it is going to help us in
achieve success in the market. Now this is case study 2 maybe the last part of our
presentation today Ergonomics of a Tower Crane Cabin.

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(Refer Slide Time: 29:36)

So, this is an example of a tower crane cabin the red circular portion this is a crane cabin
you can see the person has to operate at a height.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:44)

So, always he will be maybe at a particular height and he has to operate from here, this is
the inside view of a person sitting and operating the crane cabin.

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(Refer Slide Time: 30:08)

Now what can be the issues related to the ergonomic design here what can be the
recommendations if we have to design this cabin. So, these are the recommendations
here. It should have fully adjustable seats with adjustable arm, head and backrest or the
chair design the principles remain almost same, use of tilting forward seat with option
available to work by sitting or standing.

Now, suppose a person wants to see he should be able to stand easily if he wants to
operate by sitting, he should be able to do that. If he wants to operate by standing, he
should be able to do that. Third the crane cabin should absorb the shock and vibration;
because he is operating at a height and always there will be movement some kind of
vibration the cabin should be able to absorb that. Primary controls should be located
within the cabin operators visual field without having to twist and turn the neck beyond
the normal range.

So, whatever controls are there should be in his visual range only he should not turn his
neck number of times in a day because it may lead to the musculoskeletal disorders.
Improve visibility by cleaning windows equipped with wiper blades, washers etcetera
you can see the operator has to look all around for performing his operation. So, there
should be adequate arrangement of cleaning of these glass windows, sliding windows for
ventilation and outside window by wipers with washers to clean the debris.

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So, maybe there should be adequate ventilation possible because during the peak
summers it may become hot and humid inside the crane tower trolley. These are the you
can see guiding principles only just to give you an idea that when you design something,
what are the ergonomic things that you should keep in mind that the person who is going
to use that product should be able to perform his job successfully and that particular
product should not have any adverse effect on the health of a particular worker, health I
am saying using a generic word because it can be a physical health it can be a mental
health also.

As the product designers we should always keep in mind the principles of ergonomics
while we are designing a product. So, that the customer feels happy with the
performance of the product and the product becomes a successful product from the
ergonomic design point of view also.

So, with this session we come to the end of week 3 and we have now finished the 15
sessions on different aspects of product design and development. In our next session we
will start the discussion related to the last week that is the design for manufacturing and
assembly we will also cover the rapid prototyping aspects also in our week 4.

Thank you very much.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 16
DFMA Guidelines

Namaskar friends, welcome to week 4 discussion related to our course on Product

Design and Development. So, we have already finished the 75 percent of our discussion
that is 7.5 hours more or less on an average, we have already discussed on various
aspects related to product design and development and now we are left with the last two
and a half hours discussion related to the other aspects or important aspects related to
product design and development.

So, our overall objective was to understand that what is the need of product or what is
the need of product design, what are the design stages, what are the various tools and
techniques that our product designer should know in order to be well prepared to
undertake this product process of product design as well as development.

So, we have seen different terms related to the course on product design and
development. Very briefly we have touched terms like value engineering, FAST
diagramming approach, reverse engineering, concurrent engineering, computer aided
design, quality function deployment, then we have seen design for manufacturing, design
for assembly and now we are focusing our attention on design for manufacturing and
assembly guidelines.

Now, all these tools and techniques will come handy when a designer will start to
conceptualize a product and then he will take the product through the various stages and
finally, we lead to the development of a prototype of that product. So, our focus is to help
the designer and each at each and every stage that when he is taking the input from the
customers that what the customers want, what tool he can use. For example, he can use
the quality function deployment there and take the input from the customers as the voice
of customers and then give the relative weightage to the voice or to this individual input
from the customer and then try to relate this requirements with the technical
specifications of the product.

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So, right from the conceptualization to the different stages or through the different stages
we have seen that what tools are helpful for the product designer. For example, computer
aided design is also a tool which is helpful for almost all product designers. We have also
listed the types of software that can be used, then we have seen that when he has to
design a product he should take into account the manufacturing and the assembly
guidelines also. Why? Because when the product will go to actual manufacturing the
manufacturing you can see facility or the people at the manufacturing facility should not
feel that the design is not adequate and it cannot be manufactured or the feasibility or
manufacturing feasibility of the product is questionable.

We have seen with the help of examples that DFM and DFA guidelines are really
important and should be known to each and every designer. Similarly we have seen that
we have to ensure that the product design is a robust design and the design is insensitive
to the variations in the noise factors. Also we have seen that how principles of
ergonomics can be helpful for the product design process and how a human being
interacts with a product and how we need to ensure that the product delivers to the
customer for what he is buying that product or the function for which the customer is
buying that product. So, we have learnt in totality the tools and techniques which are
helpful for the product to be designed successfully and the product to be manufactured
successfully and the product to be used successfully. So, we have tried to learn different
techniques.

So, in our last part of discussion may be we will have five sessions of almost half an hour
each we will try to further learn the guidelines which will help us in all these three
stages. Like how to design, what are the tools applicable there, how to manufacture the
product maybe we will see some guidelines that should be taken into account during the
design stage only to ensure a good quality manufacturing of the product and finally,
when the product will be used by the customer, what are the kind of things that need to
be taken care, we have already seen the ergonomic aspects of the products should
definitely be incorporated at the design stage only.

So, today we will discuss the DFMA guidelines and try to understand that how what are
the simple examples of these guidelines that every designer should keep in mind while
designing the product

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Now, DFMA stands for design for manufacturing and assembly. So, already we have
taken one session on design for manufacturing and design for assembly separately and
we have taken examples also in DFM we have taken one example and in DFA we have
taken two examples. Now how these two techniques are similar and different, as well as
how DFMA can be helpful to a product designer for designing a successful product that
is the target for today's discussion.

(Refer Slide Time: 06:10)

Now, what are the similarities if you remember the DFM and DFA examples they help us
to design the product in such a way that it is easy to manufacture as well as it is easy to
assemble.

Now, let us see both DFM and DFA seek to reduce material overhead and the labour cost.
So, the cost is reduced, the product is designed in such a way or I should say that if there
is already existing product and it is going to manufacturing DFM and DFA guidelines
may sometimes help us to redesign the product in such a way so that the overall savings
or net savings happen for the company or net savings are recorded for the company. So,
we will see that the material usage is optimised overhead costs are optimised as well as a
labour cost is reduced.

So, if you remember we have seen for ease of assembly we have done a comparative
analysis in one example in which we have seen when you redesign that product keeping
in mind the ease of assembly or design for assembly guidelines there was huge savings

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not only in terms of the number of part count, but it was in terms of weight reduction
also, it was in terms of the labour cost also, it was in terms of the you can say the overall
product weight also. So, maybe the savings are in different forms.

So, first thing is both the design for manufacturing and design for assembly seeks to
reduce all these things yes that is true both shorten the product development cycle time.
So, I have discussed in detail in DFM and DFA lecture that how both these techniques
help us to reduce the product development time. Both DFM and DFA seek to utilize
standards to reduce the cost.

So, we have already discussed today also we will see in our discussion that wherever
standard equipment, standard tools, standard accessories are available we should always
we propose the use of such standards as product designers because it helps us to optimize
our design. Now these are the similarities in design for manufacturing and design for
assembly. But what we need to understand more importantly is that what are the
differences between the two and that we will try to address in our next slide.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:40)

What are the differences? Now let us see them individually, design for assembly is
concerned only with reducing the product assembly cost. So, suppose there are 8 parts
going into a single product they are assembled together to make up products. So, if we
are using the design for assembly guidelines we will say reduce the part count that is
from 8 to you try to redesign the product in such a way that it can be all the functions of

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the product can be accomplished only by a 4 parts. So, you are reducing the number of
parts, your assembly operations will reduce and subsequently your assembly cost will
reduce. So, that is the basic concept of design for assembly.

Suppose 6 fasteners are used to assemble these 8 parts together we will say that from 8
we are bringing the part count to 4. So, we will require maybe instead of 6 fasteners you
may require three fasteners only. So, we are reducing the number of fasteners also which
is also leading to reducing the product assembly cost.

So, from design for assembly point of view what we are achieving is we are achieving
the savings in terms of cost. So, it minimise the number of assembly operations as the
part count reduces number of a assembly operations will automatically reduce individual
parts tend to be more complex in design. So, that is the problem. So, if we are 8
individual parts assembled together to make a product parts maybe simple not much
complex easy to manufacture, but if these 8 parts are now reduced to 4 parts only these 4
parts maybe more complex more intricate as compared to the simpler number of 8 parts.
So, that is the limitation individual parts tend to be more complex in design.

In design for manufacturing reducing the overall part production cost. So, if you
remember in our lecture in week 3 on DFM and DFA we have seen the overall cost
breakdown of a product that what are the various types of costs that are used to calculate
the manufacturing cost of the product. So, design for manufacturing guidelines helps us
to reduce that manufacturing cost, it minimises the complexity of manufacturing
operations and it proposes the use of common datum features and primary axis.

So, it tries to ensure that the individual parts are easy to manufacture, but here we see if
we reduce the number of parts in design of assembly the individual parts tend to be more
complex. So, there always is little bit of conflict between design for assembly and design
for manufacturing objectives whereas, in similarities we have seen that the both tend to
reduce the overall manufacturing cost, but sometimes there is a trade of between the two
the design for assembly will focus on reducing the number of parts and design for
manufacturing will focus on simplifying the ease of manufacturing or simplifying the
procedures or operations which will help us to manufacture that part. So, little bit of
conflict can be there here and there, so you have to do a trade off and that trade off can

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be in terms of a common guidelines which are called the DFMA guidelines that is design
for manufacturing and assembly guidelines.

(Refer Slide Time: 12:17)

Now, what is DFMA? DFMA is a design review method, yes there can be one design
now that design has to be reviewed from the DFMA guidelines perspective. Now
perspective we can have a standard set of guidelines and we can check our designs based
on these guidelines that whether this design is satisfying these guidelines or not. If it is
satisfying we can send the design for prototyping, but if certain modifications can be
done in the product design based on the DFMA guideline there and then we will redesign
it so that at a later stage it is easy, not only easy to manufacture, but it is also easy to
assemble the various parts together. Now, we will try to understand; what are the most
fundamental DFMA guidelines which every product designer should keep in mind while
he is designing a product.

Now, DFMA will help us to review over product design it will identify the optimal part
design. So, for individual part we will see that what are the guidelines and how the part
design should be there, what should be the choice for material. It will also identify
assembly and fabrication or manufacturing operations to produce an efficient and cost
effective product. So, it will focus on assembly also, it will focus on the manufacturing
operations also with an objective to make a efficient and cost effective product. So,
efficient can be in terms of time also, that we are able to produce more number of

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products in a less time interval. So, it can be efficient. It can be efficient use of materials
also, it can be efficient use of the manpower also and a product if you use your man
power, your material, your infrastructure judiciously and efficiently automatically the
product will become cost effective. So, the major focus is on assembly and
manufacturing operations. So, that we are able to launch a competitive product in the
market. So, overall DFMA will try to review the design in light of the guidelines so that
you can have an optimal part design which is not only easy to manufacture, but also easy
to assemble.

So, we will see, it will reveal that the initial ideas may not be the most effective ideas.
So, it means that whatever detailed design we have produced may be little bit offbeat and
with these guidelines we can bring it to the best possible design in that particular
segment. So, the point is that whatever design we are making can be subject to a
questioning technique using the DFMA guidelines that whether these guidelines are
helpful for that product or if all these guidelines have already been taken into account
then there is no need to change in the designs can be sent to the next stage of the product
development cycle. But as a product designer we should know that what are these
guidelines and that is our target or that is our objective or that is our aim for today’s
discussion. We will take some examples and see what are these DFMA guidelines.

(Refer Slide Time: 15:43)

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Very good diagram, you have a design problem, for which you will propose a product
design or it will undergo a product development cycle or a product design process
various stages will come here and these are the guidelines design guidelines.

Now, when we are designing the product, we will follow these guidelines. Now these
design guidelines can be DFM guidelines that is design for manufacturing guidelines this
can be design for assembly guidelines, this can be design for manufacturing and
assembly guidelines, this can be design for x guidelines that is design for excellence
where x can be reliability, quality, performance whatever. So, all these guidelines are
input to the product design process and therefore, we are learning these guidelines so that
during our design process we should not falter and the design should be such that it takes
into account all these guidelines.

And finally, we get a product design. So, all these rectangles represent the product design
process in totality and the input is always coming from these guidelines and these are the
guidelines these are qualitative description of good design practices. So, maybe in our
subsequent sessions, we will see that if the product has to be made by a casting operation
or casting process what can be the product design guidelines or the part design guidelines
which should be taken into account.

For example, one I can share with you we should avoid sharp corners is a product has to
be made by sand casting operation. So, that can be one good design practice for a part,
which will be made by sand casting operation. So, these are the set of good design
practices which help the product designer to come up with a design which is easily
compatible to manufacturing and assembly operations.

Design guidelines are intended to be used by designer during the design synthesis, this is
the design synthesis process and design guidelines should be an input to this process so
that you come up with the product design which is not only robust in nature, but is easily
manufacturable as well as easy to assemble.

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(Refer Slide Time: 18:02)

Now, we will see some guidelines and then we will go to some examples of the DFMA
guidelines, try to understand them with the help of certain diagrams. So, DFMA
guidelines I will read this for you these are very standard specific guidelines we should
be known to each and every engineer or product engineer specifically.

For any product, number of components in a product should be minimum, so that is one
important guideline that when you are designing the product it should not be exploded
into 50 or 100 different parts, try to minimise the number of parts that go into the final
assembly of the product. So, first guideline number of components in the product should
be minimum. If you ensure this design will automatically become a modular product. So,
we should try to design a modular product. This point number 3, we have discussed
earlier also wherever standards exist we should follow those standards, so use standard
components maybe there is a internationally acceptable standard for the diameters of the
screws or the thread of the screws. So, whatever are the standard components available
while designing our product we should take into account those standard equipment tools
products components whatever standards are available.

Integrate parts, with an aim to multi functional components. So, we have need to
integrate the different parts together wherever the function is achieved by 3 different
parts we should try that we should bring these 3 parts to 2 parts and a same function
should be satisfied with these 2 parts only. So, we should focus on multi functional

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component that a single component may give you multifunction, for example, simple
example can be a multi plug that we use in the socket. So, it can give you 2 or 3
connections. So, can be simple multifunctional component.

Similarly, the design components which can be used easily on different components, so
we should design the parts or components in such a way that they are universally usable
so it is not that they are customised to one particular product only, we should design our
components in such a way that they are they can be used for a wide variety of products
and can be used for a wide variety of application. So, design components which can be
used widely on different products.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:42)

What are the other guidelines? These are general guidelines DFMA guidelines given by
Professor Henry Stall. Design easily manufacturable product, very simple sentence
design easily manufacturable product, but it encompasses the complete discussion on
design for manufacturing. So, DFM guidelines are most important for this point to ensure
that our product is easily manufacturable.

We have taken only one example of design for manufacturing there can be hundreds of
examples and number of guidelines which fall under the category of DFM guidelines and
should be used while designing our products because of the time constraint we have to
finish our discussion in 10 hours. I have taken one example of DFM, but this is just an
initiation if you are interested the learners are interested, you can have a different sources

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through which you can find out the DFM guidelines, there may be books available on
design for manufacturing and we will see that how as a designer you should use these
guidelines during your design process.

Avoid using separate fasteners this is DFA guideline, design for assembly guidelines that
for some single product we should not use different types of fasteners similar type of
fastener should be used. Minimise assembly stages and positions, again a DFA related
guideline that assembly stages should be less, there should not be number of stages in
assembly single stage or double stage assembly is always preferable. And positions we
should not change the assembly positions to often because that is not advisable we will
see try to understand it with the help of a diagram and an example that the position,
assembly we should not change again and again.

Maximize compatibility single word to this is inter-changeability. So, compatibility

means we should try to ensure that our product is compatible to different types of other
products also. For example, when we are designing a product and it has to be charged we
should ensure that maybe 5 different type of chargers can be used to charge our product
so that we ensure maximum compatibility of our product. For example, we are designing
a socket or shoe and socket type of arrangement we should ensure that in any part of
India if we are travelling that should be usable to that is the concept of compatibility
ensuring the maximum compatibility. Then minimise the handling, so during the
assembly operations we should ensure that minimum handling of the parts of the
assembly takes place.

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(Refer Slide Time: 23:48)

Now, these are again DFMA guidelines, but by different authors some of these maybe
same, but these are majorly focused on the part assembly. So, we will see that when we
are ensuring a part assembly, different parts are assembled together what are the
guidelines to be taken into account this is why Boothroyd and Dewhurst.

So, let us see part is inserted from top of the assembly. So, that gravity helps to stabilize
the partial assembly. So, whenever the assembly we will also try to understand this with
the help of an example that we should always try to do our assembly from top down
approach we have seen in DFA guidelines also. So, from top the part which is to be
assembled should come and should get assembled to the datum part or the base part.

Parts and assembly site can be designed to be self aligning. The chamfer is most common
self alignment feature. So, parts and assembly site can be designed to be self aligning.
For example, here you can see I will like to give this example, when you insert your sim
card inside your mobile phone there is a chamfer or a cut on one side of the sim card, so
that is maybe just to ensure that in which direction you have to insert, so that this
chamfered portion directly goes there and sets there. So, that is an example of point
number two the chamfer is most common self aligning feature. So, you know that it will
be aligned there that is you can say parts and assembly site. Then parts are assembled in
one single linear motion. So, that is also to be ensure that sequence of operations are
taken into account one single linear motion is there.

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Parts may be it should not be may be haphazard motion single linear motion is always
advisable. Parts are secured immediately after insertion, so maybe there is a bottom part
and a top part. So, if you are assembling this part here we should ensure that once you
insert this part inside automatically it should get secured there and then you can screw
this part for the assembly operation. So, parts are secured immediately after insertion.

(Refer Slide Time: 26:00)

So, now let us take very quickly maybe next 7 to 8 minutes, we will try to take the
examples and these examples have been taken from this book Boothroyd and Dewhurst,
product design for manufacture and assembly.

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(Refer Slide Time: 26:17)

Here you see we I will read it for you maybe some of the text may not be that legible
directly taken from the book, minimise part count by incorporating multiple functions
into single parts. So, here we see design of a cup maybe 2 or 3 different parts are going
together here which is the strict no no or don’t, but do is that you can have a one single
or a two part assembly for a cup.

Here also we can see similar thing number of parts number of fasteners going into the
product. So, here self fastening fashioning approach has been used so that the fasteners
can be eliminated. Here we are eliminating the parts, here we are eliminating the
fasteners, but the overall objective is minimise the part count by incorporating multiple
functions into single part. Here this is second modularize multiple parts into single
subassembly. So, here you see that individual heads are getting assembled on this box,
but here you see there are two sub-assemblies which are carrying 3 parts each easy to
assemble. So, here 6 times you have to ensure their assembly with this base part, but here
only 2 operations are required. So, you are reducing by modularizing the parts. So, you
are reducing your effort as well as time for the assembly operation.

Here you see a battery pack can be designed which can have the individual cells here, but
here when you have the individual cells, 2 times maybe you have to do the operation,
here a single operation can be used to insert this battery pack inside your component. So,
modularise multiple parts into single sub assemblies.

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(Refer Slide Time: 28:01)

Here you see there are parts which can tangle to one another. So, we should ensure that
tangle part should be avoided. So, this type of part should be avoided.

Then here you see three wires coming into this socket. So, we can club these three wires
together into a single wire so that untangling can be avoided and we can ensure this type
of a design. So, that untangling is awarded, so eliminate the tangling parts. Forth
guideline colour code parts that are different, but shaped similarly. So, these are two
disks both of 2.4 millimetres, but they are different parts shape is similar. So, we can
colour code them one can be green another can be read to easily distinguish these parts.

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(Refer Slide Time: 28:51)

Similar looking schools having different sizes are confusing now you see, they are
looking similar, but the sizes are different. So, we should avoid if possible if the design
permits we should use standard size screws only and this will reduce the confusion
arising out of the different sizes of the screws.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:10)

Then DFMA guidelines related to design the mating features for easy insertion now
where we can see this is easy insertion here we see the flat and here we have a chamfered
and for easy insertion, so we can design it in such a way. Then here also we can see the

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head is complicated part may be difficult to insert, but we can design the part in such a
way that it easy to insert only 2 slots here, 2 pins here easy to insert. So, that is also we
can say we can wherever mating features have to be taken into account we should ensure
they are easy to insert. These are simple guidelines chamfering and here and 2 pin 2
socket point.

Similarly, we should ensure alignment features also here if we want to align this with this
if we have this type of alignment pins here it is very easy to align this part with this part.
So, here it is difficult to align we are using a screw from this side we have to hold this
properly, then ensure the you can say assembly, but here if we have this part here already
existing in the design. It is very easy to fit this part in this and then we can use this nut to
fasten this easier is same design, but with little modification and easy to assemble.

Here also we can see alignment features can be there, these are the two alignment
features you can bring this component directly place this here it will get self aligned then
and then we can use it to fasten. So, here we are saying we have to first place it and then
use the screw difficult approach. Here fixing it on this screw easier approach. So, maybe
we can see alignment features will help us to reduce our assembly efforts not only for the
worker, but also it will be time saving and cost saving.

(Refer Slide Time: 31:03)

Now, here we can see difficult to screw, this two parts together because there is no space
in between for the fastening process, but here if we provide adequate space in between it

296
will be easy to fasten these two nut and bolt combinations. So, when there is aligned
surface we should provide a seat for the head of the screw that is maybe another good
design practice.

Here it is difficult to fasten this screw because of the space constraint. So, we should
design our product in such a way that it is easy to screw and we have ample space for
screwing that nut and bolt kind of assembly. So, deep channel should be sufficient wide
to provide access to the fastening tools. So, may be no channel is always the best.

(Refer Slide Time: 31:52)

So, here also we can see design to eliminate the fasteners and to place them away from
the obstructions. So, this is not a good practice, but this is always a good practice
because easy excess we have for the fastening process. Eliminate the fasteners and to
place them away from the obstruction. So, here also we can see we can design our
component in such a way this is do not we should not use this type of assembly
operation, but maybe self fastening plus may be easy to assemble.

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(Refer Slide Time: 32:24)

Then this is another guideline where we can see this is Don’t, we should not use this
insert new parts into the assembly from above this was one of the DFA guidelines if you
DFMA guideline. Also the DFA plus the DFM both guidelines we have seen always from
top we should ensure the assembly. So, insert new parts into the assembly from above.
So, here also the parts are coming from above here also the parts are coming from above.
So, that is a good practice.

Then here also insert from same direction or from very few directions never require the
assembly to be turned over. So, two examples are given. So, here this is a strict objection
of this guideline we are assembling, we are inserting from this direction also and this
direction also. So, insert from the same direction. So, here we can see the all this is
getting inserted from one direction only two parts assembled from one direction and here
also we should never invert our assembly. So, never require the assembly to be turned
over. So, here we are turning it over which is not required. So, we should fix everything
and then just place this box over it without turning the bottom part may be that way that
is not advisable and not a good DFMA guideline.

So, this is we have taken very few examples and tried to understand that; what are the
DFMA guidelines. I think, if you go through this lecture again stop this lecture look at
the diagrams. Again you may be able to appreciate that these guidelines will help us to
design our product in such a way so that the product is easy to manufacture as well as it

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is easy to assemble. Then in future may be in our next session we will discuss on the
design of a product which has to be assembled together and what are the guidelines that
need to be taken into account if the product has to be assembled manually and what are
the problems and the challenges there off.

And then we will discuss in our third session the other guidelines related to the products
which have to be manufactured by casting products which have to be manufactured by
forging that what are the product design guidelines or part guidelines that should be
taken into account.

And finally, we will discuss once our designs is ready design synthesis process is done
all these guidelines have been taken care of value engineering study has been done on the
project finally, how to make the prototype in the most time efficient manner using the
concept of rapid prototyping.

So, this week is also equally important as we are going to learn different tools and
techniques which are going to help us in the overall product development cycle.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 17
Product design for Manual Assembly

Namaskar friends, so we are into lecture 17 in our course on Product Design and
Development. And in week 4th or the last week we are discussing the design for
manufacturing and assembly guidelines. And we are seeing that as a product designer,
what are the various guidelines that we should know, or at least we should have an idea
for products that are going to be manufactured at a later stage.

Now if you remember we are learning different tools and techniques for product design.
So, maybe if we can divide 3 stages of product development process or product design
and development process initial is conceptualization and the concept design, then the
detailed design, then the prototyping, and finally the manufacturing. So, we will not be
going to actual manufacturing of the product, but our focus will be limited to the first 2
stages that are the product design and then the prototyping of the product.

In this week our focus will be on the guidelines that should be taken into account, when
our detailed design is ready or we are in the process of doing the detailed design, to
initially we will have a concept and that concept we will develop into the detailed design
with all specifications, tolerances, settings whatever has to be given for the product
design or the detailed design, but as we have seen in the last class there are certain
guidelines that we need to follow in lecture 1 if you remember last class we have seen
what are the DFMA guidelines, by 2 different authors we have seen that what are the
generic guidelines for products when they have to be manufactured.

So, that they are easy to manufacture as well as they are easy to assemble. We have seen
DFMA guidelines in the last class; today we are going to cover the product design
guidelines for manual assembly. Now suppose the product has to be assembled manually
there can be 2 methods of the assembly one can be a manual assembly, another can be a
automatic assembly.

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So, the product design has to be facilitated or has to be analyzed from these guidelines
point of view, that when the product will be assembled whether the assembly operations
would be easy or the assembly operations would be cumbersome or troublesome or
difficult. We will see that: what are the guidelines to be taken into account for products,
which are specifically going to be assembled using manual assembly.

So, in automatic assembly, yes we can have a automatic system and which can fairly deal
with complicated products also or the assembly operations can be little bit complicated,
but when the manual assembly has to be done a man is going to perform the assembly
operations we have to see, that what are the features that we should incorporate into our
product design. So, that the manual assembly becomes easy or it becomes easier for the
person or the worker who is working on the shop floor to easily assemble the different
parts together.

So, what are these guidelines, what are the problems that we usually see, when the
workers try to assemble the various parts together, and what are the things that we should
keep in mind, rules of thumb we should help us in the design of the product in such a
way that the worker is easily able to assemble the product.

So let us see the guidelines now the general guidelines for manual assembly means these
are the product design guidelines that we should keep in mind the process of manual
assembly can be divided into 2 separate areas.

(Refer Slide Time: 03:52)

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Now, when a person is going to assemble 2 parts together what are the 2 important things
he does during that operation. First is handling, so first he will acquire the job he will lift
the job or he will just take the product or the component from the bin or the component
from the bin, and then that particular section of his work can be classified as handling.

So, first is taking the job, taking the component. So, handling can include acquiring,
orienting, and moving the parts. So, first thing is he has to acquire the part, sometimes he
may have to move the part, suppose he is taking up nut from this bolt from this box, then
he is moving them together and just putting them at place. So, that can be orienting, he is
orienting the 2 parts together. So, he is taking nut from one box, bolt from another box
and bringing them together.

So, that will fall under the first category that is handling, second is insertion and
fastenings, then the second stage he will insert the bolt into the nut and start the fastening
operation. So, that is insertion and fastening mating a part to another part or a group of
parts

In manual assembly these are the 2 fundamental basic motions or functions that a worker
is going to do he is going to take the 2 individual components, that have to be assembled
manually and then he is going to assemble them. Sometimes in the assembly operations
it may so, happen that there may be a bigger structure or a bigger product and a smaller
component has to be assembled on top of this bigger component. So, that will also fall
under the manual assembly part only and we will see very briefly that: what are the
various types of assembly stations or assembly operations.

So, first thing to understand is manual assembly; manual assembly means handling and
insertion and fastening taking the part and bringing the 2 parts together and then doing
the fastening operation.

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(Refer Slide Time: 06:13)

Now let us see what are the General Design Guidelines for Manual Assembly so, with
these are the design guidelines for part handling. Now we have seen in the previous slide
there are Handling operations, there are Insertion and fastening operations.

So let us see for the first part that is handling what are the design guidelines, when the
product has to be handled manually and it has to be fasten to another part, what are the
things that we should keep in mind. First thing is design the parts that have end-to-end
symmetry and rotational symmetry about the axis of insertion.

So, here we can see, 2 examples are shown this is the symmetrical part. So, easy to
handle, if there is the symmetry in the part it becomes easy to handle, if this cannot
achieved try to design parts having the maximum possible symmetry this is also a
symmetrical, but still it is symmetric about the horizontal axis and there is maybe
chamfered portion on the other side.

So, first thing that we should keep in mind is that we should try to design the product if
possible as much symmetric as possible. If it is not possible to have all axis of symmetry,
we should go for maximum possible symmetry that can be incorporated into the product.
This is the another feature you can see provide features that will prevent jamming of
parts that tend to nest or stack when stored in bulk.

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(Refer Slide Time: 07:34)

If you remember in case of steel glasses, sometimes you will see they will stick one
inside the other and it is very difficult to bring it out. So, steel glasses may stick to one
another. So, that type of feature, if that type of products are there what we can do this
product will definitely jam. If there is another product which can fit inside this, another
can go then further inside this, difficult to open them or separate them. But if we have
this additional feature here inside and this is not interfering with any functional
requirement of this product.

So this additional feature that we are providing here, if it is not interfering with any
functional requirement of this product definitely we should try to incorporate this feature
here, because then this will not jam other part cannot go inside and sit inside very easily
we can take out even if the product goes up to a particular depth we can very easily take
it out. So, this is a one feature which can be added in order to prevent the jamming of
parts and it is easy to handle the part for the assembly operation.

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(Refer Slide Time: 08:57)

So let us see other examples for part handling here we can see avoid features that will
allow tangling of parts when stored in bulk. So, we need to avoid the features which will
maybe lead to tangling of the parts and then when your handling it becomes difficult to
take the part out, other things we can store them in a particular manner. For this
particular example; if we have a rod and we put all these parts on the rod it is it becomes
easier to take out one part at a time, but many times we store the parts in the bulk and
therefore, they have the tendency to tangle into each other that thing has to be avoided.

So we can design the part in such a way that even we store them in the bulk they will not
tangle to each other, which means we can reduce this opening here in the design. So, that
no other part can easily tangle with this part, this can be easily done if it is not
compromising with the operational requirements of this product or with the functional
requirements of this product definitely we can reduce this opening. So, that we can avoid
the tangling of the parts. Let us see some other examples.

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(Refer Slide Time: 10:06)

Now, we should avoid the parts some specific parts there are some guidelines related to
handling that we should avoid. First thing is we should avoid parts that stick together or a
slippery, delicate, flexible, or very small. So, here you can see this is a very small part
even with our fingers we may not be able to lift it. So, for manual assembly there maybe
requirement of a tong very small tong or some assistive device for lifting this part; we
can avoid if possible we can increase the size if not possible then an assistive device has
to be provided to the worker so that he can lift this part easily.

So, we should avoid the parts there are 3-4 things mentioned here, which is slippery in
nature number one, which is delicate in nature, which is flexible means difficult to
handle or, which is very very small also we should avoid the parts, which are very large
in size we difficult by to handle them by hand so, those type of part should also be
avoided. Also we should avoid the hazardous to handle parts such type of parts which are
hazardous to the handler, what are the examples parts that are sharp, splinter easily all
those parts should be avoided. So, this here you can see a pin on one side it is very sharp.
So, the sharp part should be avoided such type of flexible part should also be avoided.

So, when we are handling a particular component we should take care that if possible we
should not make it very small, we should not make it very large, it should not have sharp
edges all those parts should be avoided because it will be difficult for the manual worker
or the person doing this manual assembly to handle it properly.

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(Refer Slide Time: 12:05)

Now, first part we have seen that there are 2 parts in manual assembly; first part is the
handling part, another part is the mating part or the insertion or fastening or the actual
operation that is done. So, when we are designing a product we should see that we design
the part in such a way or design the component in such a way that it is easy to assemble
by insertion and fastening.

So let us see what are the design guidelines that we should take into account for the
product which has to be assembled. Design so that there is little or no resistance to
insertion and provide chamfers to guide insertion of 2 mating parts. So, here we can see
parts jam across the corners.

So, we have to provide the chamfers to guide insertion of 2 mating parts. So, if we
provide chamfers here maybe it may become slightly easier for this part to go and settle
down there and we should provide the parts so, that it offers little or no resistance to
insertion and chamfers to guide. So, we have to give proper clearance here, so that this
part can directly go inside and fix or set at it is designated place, so chamfers and
minimum resistance to the motion of this part. Then generous clearance should be
provided, but care must be taken to avoid clearances that will result in a tendency for
parts to jam or hang up during insertion.

So, there is an optimal level or optimum value of the clearance that should be provided
between the 2 mating parts. So, that they fix properly if it is more clearance is given still

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it will lead to problem. And if there is no clearance given then it will become a press type
of fit maybe it we may have to apply force to force fit the 2 parts together that is also not
desirable. So, we have to provide this optimal clearance. So, that the 2 parts fit together
properly.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:07)

So, this is the design guidelines for insertion and fastening; this is another guideline this
is here we can see this is a blind hole insertion is difficult this is the part which is going
inside this blind hole. So, what we should do? We should provide for air relief passages
to improve the insertion into blind holds.

Now, here it is a blind hole we can provide this passage here. This passage you can see
for the release of air which is inside this blind hole. So, provision of air relief passages to
improve the insertion into blind hole. So, we can see here this part can now easily
assemble because the air inside will move out from this air relief passage. What else can
be done we can have hole in the pin; this is the pin, which is going inside the blind hole.
Now in this pin we can have a centric hole, here a central hole along the axis, which is
shown here and the air can just move out of this hole when this pin is moving down into
the blind hole what else can be done we can give one chamfer or a flat on one side of the
pin. So, that the air can come out from here this is flat on pin.

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So, we should provide the air relief, so that it is easy to insert and the worker need not
apply excessive pressure for this insertion and fastening operation. So, this is simple
design guideline which can be taken care during the product design stage.

(Refer Slide Time: 15:42)

So, that the product is assembled easily; this is another example you can see design
guidelines for insertion and fastening again as we have discussed there are 2 broad
categorization of the manual assembly operations the handling and the insertion and
fastening. Now we are looking at design guidelines for insertion and fastening and this is
another guideline for insertion and fastening.

Provision of chamfers to allow easy insertion so, here we can see this particular part has
to be inserted in this part or component. So, here this when we try to insert it may stick
here or maybe may not facilitate the easy setting of this part inside here also we see there
is the sharp corner. So, what can be done we can chamfer this part, even this part goes
there it will be guided direct to its designated position, if even if it goes in this direction
it is guided through the slant or through the chamfer into the into it is designated
position.

So, we can provide chamfers on both sides to parts. So, that the part falls into it is place
or it is guided to it is designated position. So this is a simple design guideline which can
help us for assembly operations when the part will be assembled during the final
manufacturing.

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(Refer Slide Time: 17:05)

Now, here we can see design guideline again for insertion and fastening avoid the
necessity for holding parts down to maintain their orientation. Sometimes we need to
design the part in such a way that it is self oriented here we can see there is no position.
So, this will move here and there and we have to insert ensure ascertain that this
particular hole or this particular feature matches with the feature in the basic or the base
part or the part to which this part has to be assembled.

So this is slightly may be cumbersome process or slightly time taking process, but if we
provide a slot here. So, that self locating feature is there directly this top part can come
and at it is designated position, it will make the work of the worker or it will make the
job of the worker far more easier as compare to this thing; only thing that we need to do
here is we have to provide this recess or we can say pocket here. So, that this top part can
come and sit here. So, we can just read the explanation for these figures avoid the
necessity for holding parts down to maintain their orientation during manipulation of the
subassembly or during the placement of another part.

So, we should avoid the necessity for holding this part and then using the other hand to
fasten it should be self locating in nature. If holding down is required then try to design,
that the part is secured as soon as possible after it has been inserted. So, we have to
ensure as soon as the part is inserted into the base part on which it has to be assembled it
should have self alignment and self we can say locating characteristics. So, that it is

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located and then we can do the fastening operation. So, we should not have that you can
say requirement of holding it down until we fasten it. So, that can that type of design
should be done. So, that it is easy to perform the assembly operation.

(Refer Slide Time: 19:13)

Now, here we can see we have to design the part in such a way now here you can see this
pin has to be fixed here in this slot it is difficult to do it manually. If we try to drop it
down it may take this position and this particular section may not enter into it is
designated point. So, part must be released before it is located which is not a desirable
thing. So, here we have to release this part before it is inserted here. So, part must be
released before it is located. Before location we have to release the part and then we have
to wish that this particular pin will directly go there and settle at it is designated place,
which is just probabilistic, we cannot say it deterministically that this will go and settle
down here only.

But if we increase this length and we locate it before releasing then we are 100 percent
sure deterministically we 100 percent we know that this will definitely go and set there,
before releasing this it is getting positioned here. Now we can use a screw driver to
fasten this thing. So, this is another design guideline we should be taken into account that
the parts should be located at it is position before we are releasing that part. So, only
design change in the length of this section, which is helpful in locating it before we
release the part. It will make the job of the manual worker easy when he is performing

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the assembly operation and will also improve his productivity and efficiency of doing his
work satisfactorily.

So, here we will now go to the types of manual assembly operations one is the Bench
assembly here.

(Refer Slide Time: 21:04)

We can see the bench assembly operation a worker this is a worker these are the storage
bins most common type of assembly operations and here we have a fixture in which he
will fix the 2 parts. So, he may take one part from here another part from here and then
he can assemble put the 2 parts together in the fixture and perform the assembly
operations. So, is a storage bins are oriented in a semicircular fashion which are standard
design guidelines for design of the workspace and are usually taught in a subject of work
system design that how a work place should be designed for a worker.

So, here this is a standard practice of putting the storage bins in this fashion. So, that it is
in the maximum and the minimum working area for a average able bodied person. So,
this is a standard you can say workplace design and this is standard design for manual
assembly operation also. So, this is first type of bench assembly for small parts with easy
reach of worker.

Then we can have a Multi-station assembly that the product is moving around on a
conveyor belt and the people or the workers are performing their operation on that

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product. These are the storage bins for him for worker number 1, these are the storage
bins for worker number 2 and there is a conveyor belt on which the product is moving
and the workers can use the storage bin take out the components which have to be
assembled on this product from the storage bin and then do the manual assembly here,
then the product moves down to the next worker and the operations are done whatever
are the required operations done by the second worker on this product.

So, this is second type multi station assembly operation first one is bench assembly
second one is multi station assembly and this is for major body motion. So, maybe this is
the characteristics of multi station assembly then.

(Refer Slide Time: 23:03)

We have a modular assembly centre you can see here in which this is a worker this is a
storage rack, these are the storage bins, auxiliary tool table, additional storage. So,
maybe when the job is slightly bigger in size we can have a modular assembly centre in
which the different parts or modules can be combined together, finally by the worker. So,
he may get different modules from different stations and the final assembly may be done
on the work bench here.

Then other type of assembly centre can be the custom assembly centre, which is given
here auxiliary table, this is a work table, lift table, this is pedestal jib crane. So, we see
there are lift table, pedestal jib crane, which means that custom assembly centre will be

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used for you have assistive devices for the assembly per the person who is doing the
assembly operation.

(Refer Slide Time: 23:58)

Flexible assembly layout is also there this is the person there is the carousel, tool cart.
So, we can bring the material who which has to be assembled to the work table here
assembly work table then there is a handling equipment area, there are mobile storage
carts mobile storage carts means that they can move more flexible nature of the assembly
layout that is flexible assembly layout. Then we have the multiple or multi assembly for
large products you can see one worker is working here tool cart, another worker is here
all these are storage cart multi assembly may be used for very large products.

So this is just to give you an outline that what are the type types of we can say manual
assembly which is done. So, different types of layouts or this thing are given, but our
focus majorly is on the design guidelines as a product designer. So, this particular section
may not be relevant from the product design point of view, but definitely relevant from
the engineering point of view.

So, that we know that when we are designing our product how it will finally be
assembled it maybe you it may be assembled on a bench assembly it may be assembled
on a line or a conveyor belt it may be assembled as a custom assembly section it may be
a modular assembly type of a product. So, at least some idea we should have that when
we are designing the product how the product will finally be assembled.

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So, the second part is not much relevant to the product design, but is relevant from the
application point of view. So, we have seen today that what are the 2 major section or 2
major operations during the manual assembly; one is handling, another one is insertion
and fastening and what are the product design guidelines that we should take into
account, when we are handling the part or the part has to be handled and what are the
design guidelines in the product that we should incorporate. So, that it is easy to fasten
hand insert and if we take care of this guidelines during the product design stage our
assembly operations would be easier.

And when the assembly operations would be easier the productivity and efficiency as
well as effectiveness of the worker will be more and when the effectiveness of the
worker will be more. The company will be able to produce more number of parts and
more number of parts means that the company will be able to judiciously or efficiently
utilize the resources at it is disposal and that will lead to the profit of an organization.

So, starting from the design of the product the company can be into the profit. So, all
these guidelines should be taken into account when the product is being designed. In our
next session we will cover may be the other aspects of DFMA that is we will see that if
the product has to be manufactured by casting process what are the guidelines to be taken
into account, if the product has to be manufactured by forging process what are the
guidelines to be taken into account. There is a long list of guidelines for casting and
forging and extrusion and machining and injection molding we may not be able to cover
everything in our short duration of time

But we will definitely like to cover at least 1 or 2 guidelines of each of the operations, so
that you get an idea that such type of information is available. And then you can use the
various knowledge basis and resources for getting the further or the detailed information
on these types of design guidelines.

So, maybe in next lecture we will focus on design guidelines for products to be
manufactured by various manufacturing processes.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 18
Design guidelines for different processes

Namaskar friends, welcome to lecture number 18 in our course on product design and
development. As you are aware the course is the four week course with two and a half
hours of discussion in every week and currently we are in week number 4 in which we
are discussing the different guidelines that a product designer should keep in mind when
he is designing the product.

Now, any product which is being designed if it is a tangible physical product it will be
converted into its physical form using different manufacturing processes. All of you
know that there are different types of manufacturing processes broadly we can classify
them into primary forming processes such as casting, deformative processes such as wire
drawing, extrusion, forging, material removal processes such as machining, finishing
processes such as grinding and joining processes such as welding.

So, we have different types of manufacturing processes and any product that we design
will finally, be converted into the physical form using any of these processes. So, as a
product designer what is our duty, our duty is to ensure that whatever product we are
designing is easy to manufacture. So, for that consideration there are few guidelines
which have been laid out for various processes which if the designer keeps in mind
during the design process. The product will not face any difficulty during the
manufacturing stage, but most of the times designers ignore these guidelines and
therefore, the product when reaches to the manufacturing facility there are number of
problems associated with the manufacturing of the product. So, as a design engineer we
should know that what are these guidelines and how these guidelines will affect our
product design.

Now, must I tell you that it is not possible to discuss all the design guidelines within a
short span of half an hour because it requires maybe a complete session or a complete
course of maybe around 20 hours in which 2 sessions should be dictated to one process
only for example casting, then maybe 2 sessions only on machining. So, we cannot cover

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all the guidelines which are laid out for the product designed or for product designer for
the product to be manufactured by various manufacturing processes. But in the short
span of maybe next 25 minutes we will try to address some of the guidelines which a
designer should keep in mind while designing the product. So, that the product is easily
manufactured during the manufacturing stage.

So, we will cover 3 important processes we will cover machining, we will cover casting
and we will cover injection molding which is an important process for manufacturing of
plastic parts. And for these processes also must I tell you that we are not going to cover
all the guidelines, but we will just try to understand that these types of guidelines do exist
and as an engineer I should keep in mind these guidelines or the detailed guidelines when
I am designing the product.

So, let us first start our discussion with the design guidelines for casting process.

(Refer Slide Time: 04:04)

So, this is design considerations during casting or in casting process these are the points
that we should always remember when we are designing a product which has to be made
by casting process. Design the part so that the shape is cast easily a very general
guideline there will be certain shapes which are difficult to make by casting, so that there
is no problem during the manufacturing or the casting stage we should at the design stage
only ensure that the shape of the product should be such that it can be made easily by

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casting. Select a casting process and material suitable for the part size and mechanical
properties of the product.

Now, there are 3 things part material, size and mechanical properties. So, first is size of
the part, mechanical properties and the material of the part. So, may be if we are going to
use aluminum for our product we need to select the specific process, if we are going to
use may be steel for our product we need to select the appropriate process. So, depending
upon the material depending upon the shape suppose it is a very big shape difficult to
cast using any hot chamber cold chamber die casting process, but suppose a smaller
shape can be made by permanent die casting method, but if it is a very big shape we may
have to adopt sand casting process.

So, the process has to be selected accordingly based on the size of the product, based on
the material of the product and based on the mechanical properties desirable in the
product. So, these are the 3 important things that we have to keep in mind while selecting
the casting process and we are not discussing casting in our this course otherwise in
casting also we have different types of processes. Within casting we have sand casting
process, we have shell mold casting process, we have CO2 molding casting process, we
have permanent molding casting processes like hot chamber, cold chamber, die casting
processes. So, within casting there are. So, many we can say variants available.

Now, when we have to select our product we have to see that which process will be
suitable for our product and what are the guidelines that we should keep in mind if the
product has to be made by the casting and specifically by a variant of a casting process.

Similarly, we need to locate and design the gates to allow uniform feeding of the mold
cavity with the molten metal. So, third point that we need to take care is that how the
gates will be designed and were the gates will be located so that the product can be made
easily with uniform solidification. Select an appropriate runner geometry for the system
and locate mold features such as sprue, runner, gate, risers at appropriate location.

So, we have the design our product in such a way so that we are able to optimize on all
these things and we can get a good quality product if we will see with the help of
example the product is not designed properly we will not be able to design our gating
system that is sprue, runner, gate, risers appropriately and finally, the product will be a
defective product when we produce it using the casting process. So, all these things will

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depend or will be decided based on the shape of our product and this optimization is only
possible if we have taken care of the design guidelines during the design stage only.

So, we will take some examples let us see.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:04)

Suppose these are the two options available with me as a product designer and the
product can have both the shapes without compromising with the functional
requirements of the product, I should the surely go for this shape, if the product has to be
made by casting process. Why; it is given here corner angles and section thickness. So,
we will try to understand that how these things are important during the product design
stage avoid using sharp corners and angles because they act as the stress raisers and may
cause cracking and tearing during the solidification.

So, this type of sharp corners should be avoided if the product has to be made by the
casting process we can give you can say angle like this or a radius fillet, radius like this
in order to avoid the problem of stress concentration at these corners. So, the suggestion
is use fillet us with radii ranging from 3 to 25 millimeter. So, this is providing the fillet in
order to avoid the stress as well as producing a geometry which is simpler to cast. So,
here we can see one example this is a poor design for casting, this is a good design for
casting.

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Similarly, here we can see we have sharp corners here. So, we can avoid the sharp
corners by giving this chamfered look at this corners as this corner. So, first thing is
corners angles and session thickness is important when we are designing the product we
should ensure that no sharp corners are there when the product has to be made by the
casting process. Now, let us see the importance of section thickness.

(Refer Slide Time: 09:56)

Now, here we see designs showing the important of maintaining uniform cross sections
in castings to avoid hotspots and shrinkage cavities. Now here we can see this is a
inscribed circle method of finding out where there is more cross section. So, here we see
at this corner the cross section is more as compared to the cross section in the other two
parts.

So, here there is a tendency of formation of a shrinkage cavity. So, how we can avoid the
shrinkage cavity we can make this a bend like this and avoid the sharp corners. So, that
we have uniform cross section throughout and we are able to avoid the shrinkage cavity.
So, here also we see the cross section is not uniform here we have a larger inscribed
circle and there are smaller cross section and then the medium cross section here. So, this
may not be a very good design from casting point of view. So, we need to redesign this
part without compromising the functional capability or functional requirement of the
product and try to make it as uniform as possible.

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So, here we can see shrinkage cavity can form not a very good design, here we see a very
uniform cross section which can be considered as a good design. Is a poor design if we
again use the inscribed circle method we make a circle here which will be of largest
diameter, so tendency of forming of shrinkage cavity here. So, what we can do we can
modify our design if this is not the only design that has to be used we can modify the
design and make it in this manner so that this kind of shrinkage cavity can be avoided
and a uniform cross section can be ensured.

Similarly, in this type of T shape we can have a core at the centre to avoid the shrinkage
cavity here, similarly in Y shape we can have a shrinkage cavity here in order to avoid
that we can have a circular cavity may be have we can have a circular section here or we
can use other methods of avoiding this which are may be putting a riser at this location or
using the chills to accelerate the rate of cooling of the molten metal. But as a product
designer when we are using these shapes in our product and the product has to be made
by the casting process we need to look at these cross sections or the individual cross
sections of the members so that the shrinkage cavity does not take place or does not
happen in our final product.

(Refer Slide Time: 12:33)

Here again we can see design modifications to avoid shrinkage cavities, here we can see
this is the shrinkage cavity tendency to form a shrinkage cavity here. So, the poor design
in good design we can have a uniform cross section which will avoid the shrinkage

321
cavity. Similarly, here the metal will solidify in the end at this section because the larger
cross section or larger inscribed circle will be formed here. So, there is a tendency to
form the shrinkage cavity.

So, we can design it in opposite manner so that the area which will solidify in the last
will is fed by the riser so that there is no tendency to form the shrinkage cavity. So, we
can see that if we have uniform cross sections, it is difficult for the shrinkage cavity to
form and we can avoid the defects of shrinkage cavity as well as the rejection of the parts
because of the formation of shrinkage cavities by following this guidelines during the
design process only.

Here we can see again this is a riser here, so there is a chance of formation of shrinkage
cavity here, but if we use a metal padding or a chill which is additional part for the metal
being cast we can avoid the shrinkage cavity. Why because it will accelerate the rate of
cooling in this area and the metal will solidify uniformly without formation of the
shrinkage cavity.

So, we can use metal paddings we can place our risers accordingly depending upon the
shape, but it is better to avoid such cross sections where there is a tendency for the
shrinkage cavity to form. So, as an engineer we should keep these things in mind during
our design process only.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:20)

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Now, I have just tried to address only one aspect that is the shrinkage cavity by changing
the cross section as well as changing the corners into the radii, so that we can avoid these
defects. For casting only there will be number of other guidelines which can help us to
avoid these defective parts after manufacturing. So, as a designer we should focus on all
these guidelines when we know that the product that I am designing will be made by the
casting process, so why not to incorporate all these guidelines in the design stage only.
So, that we do not face lot of rejection during the manufacturing stage because of the
defects which could easily have been avoided.

Now, coming on to the second process that is machining let us take few examples of
machining. So, first guideline is use standard hole sizes. So, first guideline is that the
drills that are used for making these holes are also standardized. So, depending upon the
diameter of the drill we can select our hole sizes is because if we select a nonstandard
hole size we may require to order a specific drill for that hole which would be a costly
proposition for the organization.

So, depending upon the drill sizes available we need to decide on the diameters of the
holes. So, it is always better to use the standard hole sizes. Then deep and small diameter
holes must be avoided. So, here we see two holes are shown one is a green hole which is
ok, acceptable, but this red portion is not acceptable because it is a very deep hole and
may require not only drilling, but a specific hole making operation to go to this depth for
making the hole.

So, this type of holes if can be avoided must always be avoided.

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(Refer Slide Time: 16:19)

Then this is an important design guideline here you can see that avoid partial hole partial
hole means here we are see it is not a complete hole it is at the edge of the component, so
it is a partial hole. So, avoid partial hole if large portion of the hole is outside the part it
causes wondering of the drill bit. So, we do not get a good quality hole. So, this can be
avoided, but the green portion you can see that most of the hole is inside the component.
So, this is acceptable can be done and this is also not acceptable most of the portion of
the hole is outside the component.

So, here you can see avoid partial hole it causes wondering of the drill bit, but if partial
hole is unavoidable we need to make it because maybe other part has to come and a drill
has to be sorry nut and bolt assembly has to be done here, so if partial hole is
unavoidable then I am sure that at least 75 percent the hole area must be within the
material which is depicted in this green portion here.

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(Refer Slide Time: 17:34)

So, we should have the maximum portion of the hole area inside the part another
guideline for machining feature should be assessable to cutting tool in preferred
machining orientation. Generally for drilling operation we would like to play place our
work piece like this and the drill can operate like this, this is a preferred machining
orientation for drilling operation, but here we see we have two holes here encircled and
enlarged to just show you counter bore hole in opening inside another pocket.

So, this type of things they are opening into this pocket, so difficult to make these holes.
So, these type of holes can be avoided and can be made by some other method not by
machining. So, feature should be assessable to cutting tool in preferred machining
orientation this is not a preferred machining orientation for drilling of holes.

Similarly, avoid the features that are too close to each other. So, here we can see these
two features are very close to each other, so difficult to perform the operation. So, this
can be avoided.

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(Refer Slide Time: 18:42)

Design guidelines for machining further we can see, we have a keyway here square and
keyway. So, here we have a square end keyway see, this is square end square end
keyways are difficult to machine and costly to generate, so what can be done. Rounded
keyways are suited to cutting tool and easy to develop. So, we have a rounded keyway
here. So, if possible we must avoid these square keyways and instead we should prefer
the circular keyways here or the rounded keyways because they are easy to develop.

(Refer Slide Time: 19:20)

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Then we can see here if we are turning a particular part we can see this is a wrong
operation, why because long slender parts which are supported by the tailstock you all of
you know lathe machine we have a head stock and we have a tailstock. So, in case of
long slender parts which have to be supported by tailstock they may deflect towards the
centre. So, long slender parts must be avoided turned part is designed in such a way that
use of tailstock is avoided. So, when we are designing a part which has to be made by
turning operation on a lathe machine we should avoid long slender parts why, because
there may be deflection at the center.

So, one guideline that comes out of this thing that we should avoid the long slender parts
is that ratio of the total length of the part to its minimum diameter should be less than or
equal to 8. So, such types of guidelines are available for parts that needs turning
operation or that needs operations on lathe machine.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:26)

This is another thing these are the final guidelines that we are going to consider for
injection molding process. So, we have seen by now the two types of guidelines that is
guidelines for casting operation and we have seen guidelines for machining operation
where we have majorly focused on drilling or making of holes. Also we have seen for
turning we should not use very long slender parts why because of the problem.

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Now, we will see if the part has to be made out in a plastic materials then injection
molding will be the most common process and for injection molding what are the
guidelines, let us quickly go through these guidelines.

Now, part corners should be with a radius rather than sharp edge to avoid being
scratched. So, the important thing you can see here in case of casting what we are doing
we are melting the material or melting the metal and then pouring that molten metal into
a mould cavity and allowing it to solidify and finally, the mold is broken and the part is
taken out. So, that is the standard sand casting process. In injection molding what we do
we take thermoplastic pallets or polymer and then we heat it, we melt it, we inject it into
the mould cavity allow it to solidify there and then we take it out or it is pushed out from
the mould cavity using the ejector pins.

So, the basic principle remains same the raw material is melted and then it is fed into a
particular mold or a die and finally, it is taken out after solidification. So, in these type of
processes use of sharp corners must always be avoided and the same thing is given for
injection molding also that part corners must have a radii rather than being sharp in order
to avoid being scratch. So, that is one guidelines for parts that have to be made by
injection molding and you will always appreciate that if you see a plastic product in
many cases you will never see very sharp edges there always there will be a curved
portion at the corners and that is very common because of this particular design
guideline.

Then the ejector pins of various sizes are used to push the plastic parts out of the mold
after it has solidified. So, we need to ensure that when the ejector pins will be use where
they should hit the product so that those marks are not visible maybe to the customer. So,
that is also important design guidelines that our part should be, so designed that it is easy
to come out from the mold cavity, so that the ejection is easier.

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(Refer Slide Time: 23:14)

Then design guidelines for injection molding further we can engage a draft. So, that the
part is ejected out easily; no. Now let us see what is the draft at least 0.5 degree can be
given as a draft on all the vertical faces we can see there are vertical faces here this is a
vertical face. So, we can give 0.5 degree on all vertical faces 2 degree works very well in
most situations. So, it may vary from 0.5 to 2.5 degree depending upon the shape of the
our product which must always give the draft 3 degree is required for light texture and 5
or more degree is required for heavy texture. So, if we need to have a texture on our
surface. So, we can give more draft so that we get that adequate texture.

(Refer Slide Time: 24:02)

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Another design guideline for injection molding is the uniform wall thickness. So, we
have seen injection molding is usually used for thin walled parts and if you remember in
case of casting also we have seen that the product has to be made by casting we should
ensure the cross section remains more or less uniform.

Similarly, here also in injection molding we should ensure that the wall thickness does
not vary too much otherwise the product will have defects. So, uniform wall thickness is
a mandatory requirement for the parts or products to be made by injection molding
process. So, maintaining consistent wall thickness can avoid sink marks and part
wrapage. So, these are two types of defects that usually happen during injection molding.
So, if we can ensure a uniform thickness are all across our product we can avoid sink
marks and part wrapage thicker and non uniform wall thicknesses can often results in
sinks in the materials. So, these are same points only thicker and non uniform
thicknesses must be avoided.

Then sometimes we see different ribs also in plastic parts in order to give strength and
stiffness to the product. So, thin ribs on thicker walls may provide stiffness, but can also
result in sinking on the outside of the wall to prevent sink the thickness of the rib should
be about half of the thickness of the wall. So, when the ribs are provided in order to
ensure stiffness of the plastic part there is a guideline that what should be the thickness of
the rib. So, the guideline is it should be about half of the thickness of the wall. So, we
can see this may be the wall. So, rib if we this is the rib the thickness must be less than or
about the half the thickness of the wall. So, it should be less than the thickness of the
wall.

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(Refer Slide Time: 26:12)

So, these are the guidelines for the parts which we are going to make out of a plastic
material. So, these are the design guidelines further for injection molding this is a
recommended wall thickness depending upon the type of polymer that we are using I am
sorry may not be clear to all of you, but maybe I will just read for some of the names
here this is ABS acronitrile butadiene styrene, then polyethylene, polyester
polycarbonate, nylon, polyphenylene, sulphide, polypropylene. So, all these polymers
there is a recommended thickness of the wall that is going to lead to a good quality
product if we deviate from these recommended thicknesses our product may not be of
good quality.

So, if we adhere to these guidelines and we ensure the part thickness as per the
guidelines the product will definitely come out as a good quality product.

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(Refer Slide Time: 27:05)

So, finally, let us see just broad guidelines for welding, welding is a very vast topic we
cannot cover everything in detail. But quickly let us see in welding we will have the
guidelines for shielding and purging of gases in terms of their purity that when we are
welding using may be inert gas atmosphere what should be the type of gas, what should
be the purity of the gas, what should the combination of the gases that should be used in
order to avoid the defects in the weldments.

Then there can be guidelines for preheating that for how much duration we should
preheat our base metal should we preheat our electrode also, so guidelines exist for these
things also. Then there are guidelines for post weld heat treatment also that once you
have welded the two parts together what is what are the guidelines for treating or post
weld heat treatment so that the residual stresses that are developed in the weldment can
be easily relieved.

So, in today’s lecture or today’s discussion we have just discussed the glimpse of the
guidelines, we have not gone into the details of the guidelines that are available. There
are number of books that are focusing on these guidelines only that a product designer
should focus on these guidelines so that the product is manufactured defect free or a
good quality product can be manufactured if you take into account all these guidelines at
the design stage only.

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So, maybe in our next lecture our focus will be on rapid prototyping we will have two
sessions on rapid prototyping, in first session we will focus on rapid prototyping basic
concept and the steps involved in rapid prototyping process and finally, we will try to see
the process mechanism that how a CAD model can be finally converted into a physical
form of prototype using different rapid prototyping processes. At least we will try to
cover three of them that is stereo lithography, selective laser sintering and laminated
object manufacturing.

So, with this we come to the end of our session 18 in our course on Product Design and
Development.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 19
Rapid prototyping: Concept, Advantages

Namaskar friends, welcome to this last but one lecture on our discussion on Product
Design and Development. As you are well aware the overall course was divided into 4
weeks and right now we are discussing or we are into the discussion for the fourth week.
And in fourth week we have already discussed three sessions or we have already
completed three sessions in which we have seen that what are the DFMA guidelines we
have seen that what are the differences between DFA and DFM what are the similarities
between DFM and DFA.

Then we have seen that if the product has to be assembled together manually. As I have
told that product may be designed in such a way that it may facilitate automatic assembly
as well as it may be designed in a way that it may require manual assembly. Now
suppose that the product that we are designing requires manual assembly that what are
the various guidelines that we should take into account.

So, the manual assembly operation can be divided into 2 broad operations that is
handling as well as fastening and insertion. So, from both points of view how the product
should be designed that it is easy to handle as well as it is easy to do the fastening
operation, insertion followed by the fastening operation. So, we have seen what are the
different types of layout for manual assembly in session 2.

In session 3 we have seen that what are the various guidelines for product design, when
the product has to be manufactured by the various manufacturing processes. So, we have
seen that if we use these guidelines during our design process or we check our design as
per the guidelines which are specified for the various manufacturing processes we will be
able to come up with the design which is easy to fabricate as well as it is economical to
fabricate also. So, both our objectives are met. It is easy to fabricate as well as it is cost
savings to fabricate it because we have followed all the guidelines that are there to ensure
good quality assembly or easy assembly as well as easy manufacturing.

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Now, we have come to the end of our discussion and we are going to discuss that once
our design is ready we have a concept we have done the conceptual design, we have
done the detailed design, we have taken care of all the guidelines that need to be
followed from the assembly point of view from the manufacturing point of view.

Now, we wish that we should prototype our product that we should prepare, manufacture
or model our prototype and check the functionality for which we have designed the
product. So, prototyping is a last stage before the full fledged manufacturing of the
product. So, we will now based on the design that we have generated during this course
we would like to now fabricate it using a prototyping technique. So, we will like to
prototype or the first of its kind product we would like to prepare and we would like to
go for making a prototype, but as the name suggests rapid, so our focus now would be to
quickly make the prototype rather than spending lot of time only for the prototyping
process. So, our target now is rapid prototyping.

So, we will try to understand in the last two sessions that what are the latest tools and
technologies for making our prototype quickly because we may have completed the
design if we spend lot of time in only prototype, on only prototyping the technology may
be developed by other competitors also and we may lose that advantage of being the first
company to launch the product. So, it is always important to shorten the or reduce the, to
bridge the product development cycle time and rapid prototyping is one such step which
helps us to reduce this launch time for any company.

So, as engineers, as learners, as students we should have the fundamental idea about
What rapid prototyping is? Why do we do rapid prototyping? What are the steps general
steps involved in rapid prototyping? and at least try to understand 2 or 3 process
mechanisms of the processes which are most commonly used using the concept of rapid
prototyping or the most commonly used rapid prototyping processes.

So, first thing, we should know that why rapid prototyping is required must I tell you that
rapid prototyping is a concept, there are number of technologies that fall under the broad
umbrella of rapid prototyping and to my knowledge maybe there can be more there are
around 40 to 50 processes which fall under the rapid prototyping technology. So, these
are the processes which help to produce the prototype as quickly as possible.

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Now, let us try to see the basic concept of rapid prototyping. First we will have a
historical perspective of rapid prototyping. We can see there are two words here rapid
and prototyping, all of you know the literal or the dictionary meaning of rapid, which
means quick time saving.

(Refer Slide Time: 05:37)

Prototyping we can try to understand it is originated from the Greek word prototypon a
first or a primitive form. So, prototypon means a first or a primitive form, if we break
this word into its individual components or elements protos means first and typos means
form. So, it is a first form of the design that we have conceptualized and designed. So,
for any design whenever we bring it into its actual shape that is called as the prototype.
So, it is a first form of the design that we have done taking into account all the steps, all
the stages, all the guidelines whatever we can say file we have generated it can be a CAD
file or it can be an engineering drawing whatever designed we have done prototype is the
first form first actual physical form of that design. So, it is a first form. So, that is
required why do we require a prototype in order to check for number of parameters that
we will come in it come to see the subsequent slides. So, it is an art of managing the
expectation.

Now, customer has certain expectations and we will see that rather the prototype is
meeting those expectations or not. If the prototype meets all those expectations we can
say with full confidence that the product is also going to meet all those expectations then

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an original it is going to be full scale, original full scale and usually working model. So,
usually working means in some cases we may make a prototype is which is not actually
working we would just like to see that how the product would look like and the prototype
may not be a fully functional prototype, it may be adjusted depiction of a product that
how it would look like. But in many cases it can be a fully functional prototype also or a
working prototype also.

So, in a regional full scale and usually working model of a new product or a new version
of the existing product, so it is maybe a full scale model of the product that we have
designed and we just want to see that whether it will be able to perform the desired
function for which the product has been designed.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:19)

Now, this is rapid prototyping historical development and the related technology because
prototype means actually you are going to produce a functional model of the design or
the product that we have designed. So, all these techniques have been used for
developing these prototypes.

In 1770 it was mechanization came into picture maybe then over a period of time the
first commercial rapid prototyping system was developed in the year 1988 and then there
were invention of laser, invention of numerical control machine, graphic user interface.
But the first actual working rapid prototyping system which could actually be called as
the rapid system was in 1988 and after 1988 a number of techniques that fall under the

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category of rapid prototyping have been developed as well as commercialized
successfully.

(Refer Slide Time: 09:14)

Now, let us have a introductory discussion on this thing that how were rapid prototyping
system would work, maybe what is rapid prototyping all of you can search and have
information about that, but we should try in our brief time domain that we have that how
a rapid proto typing system actually works. And if you are you can say listening to this
particular session you will at least have an idea that how a problem will be solved or how
a product will be made or a prototype will be made using the rapid prototyping technique
a standard rapid prototyping technique. Because in rapid prototyping you will see there
are number of techniques and each technique will have its own process mechanism, but
the standard method or the steps will remain same.

So, we are going to focus today on the standard steps available or standard steps which
are used for converting the design into a prototype. Then maybe in the last session we
will see at least one or two techniques with their process mechanism that how actually
the design is converted into a prototype. What are the steps involved and what is the
process mechanism involved.

Today our discussion will focus more on the standard approach of converting a product
design into the first prototype or maybe into the model. So, rapid prototyping
technologies as I have already explained that it is not a single technology maybe there

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are number of techniques that fall under the rapid prototyping technology. So, rapid
prototyping technologies are able to produce let us see physical model, I have already
told it would be a physical model actual product that we have designed physical model in
a layer by layer manner which is important we will see that why layer by layer directly
from the CAD models.

Therefore, in one of our sessions we have discussed the fundamentals of CAD also
because whatever we will design will be used as an input in the rapid prototyping
system. So, therefore, as a product designer I should have a basic understanding of any
CAD software, Wipro engineer or Auto-CAD or there are other criteria there are number
of softwares which help us for the doing the card process for any product.

So, we need to have a CAD model without any tools. So, this is the advantage also of
rapid prototyping that it works without any tools, dies, fixtures and also with little human
intervention. So, most of the rapid prototyping techniques are fully automatic in nature.
So, without much human intervention required.

So, again let us try to understand this definition what are the important elements of rapid
prototyping. First is, it will generate quickly a physical model of our design, second is it
will do it layer by layer and third is that we need to have a CAD model or a CAD
drawing of our design and finally, it will not require any dies and fixtures as well as any
tools as well as any human intervention.

So, basically if you see as per this definition we need to have we need what is our final
output it is going to be a model. So, maybe it can be a model of a pulley, suppose we
want to generate a modified design of a pulley mechanical pulley. So, what we will do
we will model it we need to have a CAD file of that pulley three dimensional CAD file
of that pulley that will be a input. Then we need to have we will slice it into different
layers we need to have a system which will convert this CAD file into a physical model
of the product. So, the output would be a physical model of the product. We will not
require any tools dies fixtures and it can be automatic system once the drawing is fed to
the system we will see with the help of diagram we will try to understand it with the help
of diagram.

Once the CAD file is input into the system the system may use either a powder or a
polymer or a viscous fluid and it will convert it into the physical model and that model

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can be used as a functional model or it can be just to see that how the product would
actually look like. Even sometimes from mechanical engineering point of view if you
generate your physical models like this they can be used as a pattern during the casting
process. So, we can make generate our patterns quickly using the rapid prototyping
technique. So, the first point I think is absolutely clear and it will become even more
clearer when we try to understand the sequence of steps to be followed in the rapid
prototyping system. RP that is rapid prototyping is capable to fabricate parts quickly;
therefore, the name rapid, with complex shape easily as compared to the traditional
manufacturing technology.

Just now I have given an example of casting process now suppose we do not have a rapid
prototyping technology we want to use the conventional methods of model making. So,
what we will do? Suppose we want to make that product by casting or model or the
prototype by casting first we will need a pattern for that then for with that pattern we will
go for mold making we will make a mold and then we will melt the metal pour that metal
into the mold and finally, we will get the shape that we require. Sometimes we may be
requiring to machine that or cut the risers and the runner. So, you can see that it is a long
process so many steps are involved only to produce a model or a prototype using the
conventional or the traditional manufacturing technology.

Whereas in rapid prototyping only we require the CAD file or the drawing of that
particular product and then with that drawing we just give it as a input to rapid
prototyping system and it will use the technology any technology it can be stereo
lithography apparatus, it can be selective laser sintering, it can be laminated object
manufacturing, it can be 3D printing which is becoming more and more popular among
students these days. So, any of these technologies you get a input in the form of CAD file
this technology will convert that CAD file into the STL format and finally, it will help to
produce the shape it may require maybe 5 to 7 minutes for generating the model or the
prototype of the same product which may require at least a week’s time using the
traditional manufacturing technology. So, rapid prototyping has got lot of advantages as
compared to the traditional methods of making models of prototype.

RP helps in earlier detection and reduction of design errors. So, prototype means we
want to check that if there are any problems with our design therefore, only we are

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making a prototype. So, it will help us to find out the problems or the errors in our design
process.

(Refer Slide Time: 16:22)

Now, for any rapid prototyping system we have all these common steps in most of the
technologies or techniques or systems we will have these 5 steps only. So, all RP
techniques employee the basic 5 step process now let us see what are these 5 steps first
one is create a CAD model of the design. So, we have already discussed what is CAD
and how we can use CAD to make our life simpler and easier. So, we need to use any
software which can be Pro-engineer, CATIA number of modelling softwares are there.
So, we can use that software and generate a CAD model convert the CAD model to STL
format that is format which is compatible with almost all rapid prototyping systems.

Then slice the STL file into thin cross sectional layers. So, as we have seen rapid
prototyping is a technology which produces the prototype layer by layer by layer by
layer. So, it is a build up technique build from layer to layer to layer to layer. So,
therefore, we need to slice our 3D model into its thin layers maybe it can be 10 layers, 20
layers, 30 layers that will depend upon the technology that we are using for converting
the file into the final prototype.

Construct the model one layer a top another layer. So, it will be layer by layer
construction and here our physical model will be generated. All these three things will be
done in our software only, this is a step where actual fabrication will take place and then

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clean and finish the model last two steps are related to the actual fabrication of the
prototype and first three steps are our preparatory steps which will help us to generate the
prototype.

(Refer Slide Time: 18:01)

Now, this is the rapid prototyping system as explained earlier. So, here we can see, we
have a desktop system. So, our CAD model can be here now that CAD model first step is
generation of the layer model. So, here we will generate the different layer model. So,
this is slicing you can see, slicing means how many layers will be there. So, after slicing
all this I have told you three steps the first 3 steps create a CAD model of the design
convert the CAD model to STL format, slice the STL file into thin cross sectional layers.
So, these are the first three steps that involve the software intervention or using a
software any standard modelling software we can do this thing. And finally, in this stage
we will convert that file into the physical product and there you can see generation of
laser scanning path of material or material deposition path.

So, here we are using a laser gun as an input in our physical model to convert the raw
materials into the prototype. Now raw material can be in the powder form, it can be in
the polymer form, it can be in the layer form or a sheet form. So, it can be in any form
we are just trying to understand the fundamental concept of rapid prototyping. So, we
have a raw material this is written here RP system and here we have generation of the
physical model. So, broadly in this figure we have two major steps first one is generation

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of the layer model which requires your CAD file and then tessellation and slicing. So,
this is layer one or first step, this is a second step generation of the physical model which
I have already explained. First 3 steps are related to the stage one that is generation of the
layer model and the next two steps cleaning and the physical model are the generation of
the physical model.

So, these are the two major steps and finally, post processing finishing and other things
then the prototype is tested if it is ok, we will go for the final prototype if it is not ok,
there are some problems found here found here we will again send it for CAD modelling,
the model will be changed, all changes will be incorporated in the CAD file here, again it
will be sliced, again physically the prototype will be fabricated, cleaned, again it will be
checked whether it is ok or not and then if it is ok we will go for the final prototype. So,
this is a RP system standard system involves software as well as hardware intervention.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:46)

Now, we will see one step at a time. So, we can see here first step is create a CAD model
of the design. So, we will see all these 5 steps one by one quickly we will try to go. First
is CAD model we already had a discussion on CAD, how CAD system can be used and
what is CAD and what are the advantages of using CAD what are the softwares that can
be used for computer aided design and we have taken one or two examples also. So, you
can use any standard modelling software that is a CAD software and then we can just
model that thing on our screen.

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So, first the object to be built is modelled using a computer aided design software
package that is CAD, solid modular such as Pro-engineer tend to represent 3D objects
more accurately then the wire frame modular such as auto CAD and will therefore, yield
better results. So, I am not proposing any particular software there are number of
software which can be used for creating the solid models of your designs. So, you can
use any standard CAD software for generating your design or generating the CAD file of
your designs because that is important that CAD file has to be given as an input to our
RP system for producing or fabricating the physical model or the prototype.

So, solid modular then this process is identical for all the RP techniques. So, whatever
techniques I have named two three techniques RP techniques like stereo lithography
apparatus, 3D printing or we can say laminated object manufacturing selective laser
sintering in any particular technique you need to generate the CAD file of your design
that is primitive or that is the most important step.

Once you have the CAD file then you need to convert it to the STL format the second
step therefore, is to convert the CAD file into the STL format. This format represents a
three dimensional surface as an assembly of planar triangles. So, that was written there
tessellation. If you again go back to that this design tessellation is written here the
representation of a surface in triangular form. So, that is we can say a three dimensional
surface as an assembly of planar triangle. So, you now divide it, represent the surface in
a planar manner then STL files use planar elements they cannot represent curved surfaces
exactly increasing the number of triangles improve the approximation.

So, here we will see we will play around with the density of the triangles and we will see
how it best represents the planar surfaces. So, this is the second stage converting our
CAD file into the STL format.

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(Refer Slide Time: 23:33)

Third is slice the STL file once this process has been done, we will see that the actual
fabrication or actual processing of the model will take place in how many steps. So, we
will slice it accordingly and we will see what should be the thickness of the individual
slice.

So, in the third step a pre processing program prepares the STL file to be built. The pre
processing software slices the STL model into a number of layers from 0.01 millimetre
to 0.7 millimetre thick depending upon the build technique. Build technique is a standard
name for any particular process which can be used it can be stereo lithography apparatus
or laminated object manufacturing. So, this layer thing we have to finalize depending
upon the technique maybe for one particular technique we may go for 0.5 millimetre
thick layer this is the third step.

The program may also generate an auxiliary structure to support the model during the
build supports or useful for delicate features such as over hangs internal cavities and thin
walled sections. So, three special cases are given we are going to produce overhangs
internal cavities are required in our prototype or thin walled sections are there in our
prototype for that we require the supports. So, here the program will also generate
support structure fall. So, there will be support structure which will help to build this
model layer by layer.

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Now, suppose we have to make a ladder. So, in between there will be different steps. So,
from side we may require some support. So, that support structure will also be defined
and designed by the help of a program and this support structure later on can be cut and
removed once your prototype is ready, so that support structure also it can be done by
taking care of the capability of the software or the versatility of the software will help us
to design that support structure also.

3 steps we have seen first is generation of the CAD model, second one is conversion of
the CAD model into the STL format, third is slicing of the STL file into the different
number of layers. Now fourth is the actual building up or for actual fabrication of the
model or the prototype layer by layer construction, so fourth step.

(Refer Slide Time: 25:51)

The fourth step is the actual construction of the part. RP machines build one layer at a
time from polymers paper or powdered metal. As I have already told we can use any type
of raw material polymers papers or powder in order to convert it into the final prototypes
or this is a raw material that goes for the conversion of the prototype. Most machines are
fairly autonomous needing little human intervention. So, no human intervention is
required most of the machines are fully automatic in nature.

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(Refer Slide Time: 26:29)

Then the last step for any rapid prototyping system is the clean and finish. The final step
is post processing this involves removing the prototype from the machine and detaching
any support. So, at third stage in the STL file when we were slicing it in to layer by layer.
So, we have designed the support structure also for special cases like overhangs or any
special feature to be or internal cavities to be support generated in the model. So, we
have design a support structure.

So, during the building layer by layer this support structure would also be build up which
we do not require which is not a part of our actual design. So, that will be removed at this
stage clean and finish some photosensitive materials need to be fully cured before use
now the prototype may have been developed, but we need curing process we may need
to keep it in an oven at a specified temperature for the complete curing of the polymer to
take place.

So, therefore, some polymers may require that step also prototypes may also require
minor cleaning and surface treatment for many cases it may be required. Sending sealing
and or painting the model will improve its appearance and durability. So, last step is
taking out of the prototype and then cleaning, finishing and doing some surface treatment
for its usage as a prototype.

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(Refer Slide Time: 27:56)

Now, what can be the advantages of rapid prototyping? We have seen that there are
majorly 5 steps let me just revise quickly in 1 minute, first is you need to have a CAD
file, second is this CAD file needs to be converted into the STL format, then the third is
we need to slice the model, the drawing into its individual layers because most of the
rapid prototyping machines build the model layer by layer by layer. So, we need to
divide that how many layers should be there and what much should be the slicing criteria
and then we will actually make the product prototyping any rapid prototyping machine
and fifth one is once the prototype is ready we will take it out we will clean it we will
remove any support structure that has been built up, and finally we can use the prototype
if it is the functional prototype we can use the prototype and see the working and the
functioning of the model or the design.

Then what are the advantages now quickly let us see, this process is fast and accurate
without any human intervention since human intervention is minimised accuracy can be
ascertained. Process is definitely quick, superior quality surface finish is obtained even
once we take out the prototype we can finish it for superior surface finish. Separate
material can be used for component and support that also facility is available that the
actual model is made up of material x and the support structure can be made up of
material y that is possible. No need to design jigs and fixtures as I have already explained
in the first part of our today’s discussion, no need of mould or other tools.

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(Refer Slide Time: 29:36)

Post processing includes only finishing and cleaning not much post processing is
required in case of rapid prototyping, as in case of products made by suppose casting is
used as a technique for making the prototype we need to cut the runners and the risers
and all those things and then we need to sometimes finish the casting also to get the
desired shape. Here all those things are not required only finishing and cleaning required
minimum material wastage as we can see now lot of material is wasted after the casting
process.

It reduces the product development time considerably this is the first thing with which I
started today’s discussion that the product development time is most important for the
organisations and if we spend lot of time on prototyping the product it may not be a
healthy practice. Therefore, in order to reduce this product development time we can
focus on the technique of rapid prototyping. Maybe in our last session that is scheduled
maybe this week only we will finalize and see that what are the various rapid prototyping
technique.

So, we started with the conceptual design of the product in our week 1 and finally, we are
ending, we will be ending may be in the last session with a functional or a partially
functional prototype of the design that we have done over the last 4 weeks and once the
prototype is found ok the final manufacturing of the designed or the product can start.

Thank you.

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 Product Design and Development
Dr. Inderdeep Singh
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Lecture - 20
Rapid prototyping processes

[FL] friends, finally we have reached the last session of our course on Product Design
and Development. As all of you are aware that the course was divided into 4 weeks and
the last week out of the 4 weeks is focused on learning the various design guidelines
related to development of the product; like related to assembly and manufacturing of the
product. If you remember in the first lecture in this week we have discussed the concept
of DFMA that is design for manufacturing and assembly.

In our second lecture we have seen that what design guidelines should be taken into
account when the product has to be assembled using the manual assembly. In third
session we have discussed that what are the design guidelines to be taken into account
when the product has to be made by different manufacturing processes, in which we have
seen the most important manufacturing process casting machining moreover we have
seen related to the plastics parts manufacturing and the most important process of
plastics parts that is injection molding that was just an overview of the guidelines that an
engineer should know or should keep in mind while he is designing a product.

In our 4th session we discuss the basic concept of rapid prototyping that when our design
is ready, we have to fabricate the product, what types of concepts are there regarding the
prototyping. Initially the prototypes were made using the conventional methods of
manufacturing that is casting forging machining etcetera.

Currently the best method of prototyping is the rapid prototyping because the product
development cycle time is very very important. So, the companies want to make the
prototype as quickly as possible. We have discussed the concept of rapid prototyping and
what are the various steps involved in a rapid prototyping process, we have not discussed
any specific process, but we have seen in general that what are the steps for any rapid
prototyping process; there are basically 5 steps involved in any rapid prototyping process
and we have discussed that in the previous class.

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In today's session that is last session of our course on product design and development
we are going to discuss the rapid prototyping processes, we will see at least 3 or 4
processes that can be used for developing the prototype, what is the process mechanism
of those processes, and try to relate what we have covered already in our last session the
concept of rapid prototyping with the actual process our math our objective will be to
understand that what are the what is the mechanism of the process and how the process
actually takes place.

(Refer Slide Time: 03:29)

Let us see the first process that is Stereolithography SLA. If you remember in our last
class we have seen that 5 steps are required for making a rapid prototype or making a
prototype quickly, what was the first step we require a cad file or a cad model of our
product. So, first input will come from the cad model, the input will go to this laser gun,
and then there are focusing lenses, and then this will focus it on to the raw material
which will be converted into the product.

The first step was we require a cad model, second step is it will be converted into SLA
file, third step is it will be the model will be sliced into it is individual layers, and
depending upon the overall thickness of our prototype we may divide it into 20 layers or
30 layers and the layer thickness may vary from 0.7 millimeter to a few millimeters not
too much of we can say not very high thickness will be there for a single layer. So, layers
will be very thin layers in case of any rapid prototyping process. There this model we can

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see a fan blade is being constructed, but it will be constructed layer by layer by layer by
layer by focusing this laser on to the raw material.

Let me tell you here it is written liquid polymer. So, majorly we will be focusing on 3
processes today one is the Stereolithography apparatus SLA, second one is selective laser
sintering, and third one is laminated object manufacturing all these 3 processes are
common processes for making the prototypes easily or for making the prototypes
quickly.

Now, why these 3 processes have been selected because finally, the prototype is made up
of the raw material based now based on the raw material we can have different types of
rapid prototyping processes, we may have a liquid as a raw material, we may have a
powder as a raw material, or we may have a solid sheet as a raw material. In case of SLA
we have a liquid polymer as a raw material, in case of selective laser sintering we have
powder as a raw material, in case of laminated object manufacturing we have a sheet as a
raw material. So, we have a solid raw material, we have a powder raw material, and we
have a liquid raw material. So, you can you can emphasize that rapid prototyping is
based on different types of materials, even we can use polymers we can use powders we
can use metal.

We can make prototype of different types of materials using the rapid prototyping
process, but we have to judiciously select that which rapid prototyping process will be
applied for which particular application that is the material of the prototype will dictate
the type of rapid prototyping process that we are going to use.

Now, here I was emphasizing on the rapid prototyping process, this is Stereolithography
and here we see we have a laser gun lenses, then there are focusing lens, and this is the
model that we are creating, and this will be created layer by layer, and we will try to
understand that how we can make a 3 dimensional model layer by layer using this
arrangement. So, first thing is we need to have a cad file of this fan blade model that is
one thing raw material is photosensitive liquid polymer, why photosensitive that we will
see later because the laser has to cure that polymer into from liquid to solid, therefore it
should be sensitive to the UV laser.

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Therefore, we need to have a photosensitive polymer and here the product will be made
layer by layer one layer at a time and the curing of the polymer will take place
selectively and we will be able to make cover model.

(Refer Slide Time: 07:34)

Now, let us see the try to understand the basic fundamental of this working system the
input to this laser that the movement of the laser will be gun laser gun will be controlled
by the cad file. Now cad file has all the data that what is the final shape of the product
that we want to make, now this gun will be controlled by that and moreover this platform
also will be controlled this platform on your screen you can see purple colour platform.

So, initially this platform will be at the top and only the polymer required for 1 layer 1
layer of the product all the prototype will be on top of this platform, and laser will
selectively sinter or selectively not sinter sorry sinter is not the right word it will cure
because here we are using a polymer sinter sintering of powder will be done in selective
laser sintering, but here the laser gun will what it will do it will cure it will cure the
polymer selectively as per the shape of the model, and then this platform will be lowered
down this platform initially the position of this platform will be here first position then
once the first layer has been cured this platform will be lowered down.

Another thickness of polymer will come on top of the initially cured layer and then again
the laser gun will cure selectively depending upon the shape that particular polymer that
has come over the first layer. Then again the platform will be lowered down the third

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layer the polymer for the third layer will come on top of the second layer again the laser
will selectively cure the third layer and similarly layer by layer by layer by layer the
platform will keep on coming down and the laser will selectively cure the polymer and
finally, we will get our product. This is a very fast process because quickly we are
producing or curing the polymer and the polymer from liquid is getting converted into
solid on the on the curing process.

Now, some of you may be wondering that how 1 layer will stick to the other layer. So,
there is a phenomenon in which we will over cure the first layer now suppose this is a
thickness this is a exaggerated scale never we will get a thick this much thickness, but
just to explain I am taking this thickness now suppose this is a thickness of the first layer
and laser has cured this material and it has become partially solid.

Now, the top layer second layer again will be of this much thickness and this layer has to
stick to this layer. So, what we are going to do we are going to over cure this layer maybe
the top portion we will cure up to this much thickness. So, this material will join to each
other and here we will have bottom layer and the top layer. This portion we will over
cure slightly. So, that this layer the second layer joints with the first layer, and similarly
when the second layer has been cured we will deposit the third layer and over cure the
third layer slightly, that it joins with the second layer. So, the layer by layer first layer,
second layer, third layer, fourth layer slightly over curing the layer to be deposited will
result in joining of the different layers.

Here we can see that this is the object being formed the yellow colour geometry you can
see it is a complicated geometry, we will see some of the geometries that have been made
by the rapid prototyping process which otherwise would have been very very difficult,
but using this technology of rapid prototyping these geometries can easily be created.
This is a table which moves ups and down depending upon the requirement there is a
laser system this is object that is formed and the blue colour portion is the liquid
photopolymer which is sensitive to the u v laser. So, these are the important components
of any SLA system.

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(Refer Slide Time: 11:40)

Let us see let us try to understand read what I have already explained, this
Stereolithography builds 3D model from liquid photosensitive polymer already I have
explained when exposed to UV rays; when exposed to UV rays. That is one thing model
is built upon a platform situated just below the surface of a liquid epoxy or acrylate resin.
So, this is maybe one type of resin which can be used so, you have a platform you have
the resin on top of the laser will cure it then this platform will go down this movement
will be governed by the software, it will move down only to ensure that another layer of
polymer comes over the platform which is again cured again it will go down the laser
will cure the third layer and similarly this process will continue and we will get a solid
prototype of which is the cured prototype from the liquid polymer.

So, a low power highly focused UV laser traces out the first layer solidifying model
cross-section an elevator incrementally lowers the platform into the liquid polymer,
process is repeated until the prototype is complete, model is placed in a UV oven for
complete curing. Sometimes we may get a solid model where the polymer may not have
cured completely. So, we will take this model out of the rapid prototyping machine or
Stereolithography apparatus and put it in the u v oven for the complete curing of the
model.

In this way what are the inputs the inputs basically are the cad model of the final
prototype that we want to make or the cad model of the product that we want to produce

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for prototyping we require that file, then that file needs to be converted into STL format
from STL format we need to slice a model into the individual layers, because now we
have seen that the model is created layer by layer by layer by layer. So, we should know
that how many layers will make up the complete prototype and then layer by layer a
rapid prototyping machine will create a model from the liquid photopolymer, using the
UV laser gun and it can be converted into a final prototype. So, this is the process
mechanism of Stereo lithography apparatus.

Now, the second is the selective laser sintering in which we will use powder as a raw
material. In first case what was the raw material the raw material was liquid
photosensitive polymer, see in selective laser sintering we have powdered material as the
raw material.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:21)

This powder will be converted into the solid form after the sintering process and we will
get our product in this case our focus will be to sinter the powder that is we will heat the
powder. So, that the powder becomes solid, it melts and it forms a layer.

So, here also these are the important things again there is laser system here again for
ensuring the sintering of the powder, then optics to focus this lens and then there is a
roller mechanism powder feed cylinder this is the input from where the powder will
come and then this will role the powder here optics will focus the laser on top of this
powder and this is the part build cylinder there is a motor which will ensure the

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movement of the part because we need to make the part in 3 dimension, it is not a 2
dimensional prototype it is a 3 dimensional prototype. So, we need to ensure the
movement of the table. So, that a third dimension is also created.

For example, all if the mechanical engineers can appreciate in a milling machine we have
2 axis x and y our table can move in x and y direction, but in order to do 3 dimensional
shape we need to move the table downwards and upwards also the tool will in milling
machine will be rotating or revolving around it is axis. So, it can be a vertical milling
machine, it can be a horizontal milling machine, but the table can move in x, y direction
as well as in the z directions.

Similarly, in rapid prototyping system also we have to ensure the gun can move in x and
y direction here, but in order to generate the third dimension either we need to move the
gun up and down or we need to move the table up and down and in many cases we will
see the table we will move as in case of Stereo lithography the platform was moving
down incrementally layer by layer by layer.

Similarly, in selective laser sintering also the movement to the table has to be provided to
ensure the third dimension to the platform because the 2 dimensions can be covered by
the movement of the laser gun. So, here we have the powder feed input will come from a
roller mechanism to ensure the spreading up of the powder and then the optics will sinter
the powder accordingly.

(Refer Slide Time: 16:43)

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Let us now read quickly how selective laser sintering is done, it uses a high power laser
and powdered materials I have told you that deliberately we have selected 3 processes in
first process the liquid photopolymer is used as a raw material in selective laser sintering
we are using powder as the raw material and in the next laminated object manufacturing
we will be using sheets as the raw material.

So, here powder is the raw material uses a high power laser and powdered raw material a
wide variety of materials can be used ranging from thermoplastic polymer, such as nylon
and polyester into some metals. In many cases some powdered metals can also be used
as a raw material for making the prototypes quickly using the process of selective laser
sintering. So, you have raw materials like nylon and polystyrene. So, you can use
polymers also here you can use metals also 3 dimensional parts are produced by fusing a
thin slice of the powdered material on to the layer. So, we will try to fuse the material
layer by layer by layer. So, that we are able to get a 3 dimensional prototype.

The surfaces of selective laser sintered prototypes are not as smooth as those produced
by SLA processes. So, surface finish in SLS is not that good SLS parts are sufficiently
strong and resistant for many functional so, the prototypes that you make using the
selective laser sintering process are functional and can be used for carrying out different
types of tests.

(Refer Slide Time: 18:27)

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Now, this is a working model of selective laser sintering system here we can see there is
a laser there are lenses and then there is a focusing scanning mirror arrangement x y
scanning mirror arrangement here and this is the part being manufactured you can see
here. This is a build piston as I have told you movement has to be provided to the table
accordingly and there is a rolling arrangement which will roll the powder, this is a
powder feed piston. So, the powder will be fed from here, roller will rule the material
spread it in the form of a film, it will ensure thickness and finally, the laser beam will
sinter the material as per the shape.

So basically our CAD model that we have in our software will guide the movement of
the powder feed motion, build motion also and then this is again powder feed from both
sides, powder can be fed. Because in one side when the powder is coming from here
roller can feed the powder and feed it on the build table and then the roller will come in
this direction. In the second cycle again the powder will come from here and roller can
move from right hand side to left hand side again feed the powdered material here and
then take a position on the left hand side.

So, this 2-way powder feeding mechanism can be done, but otherwise the process
mechanism more or less is same we have a table here on which layer by layer by layer
this laser will sinter the powder material and the prototype will take it shape based upon
the movement of the laser gun and the sintering of the powder here on the build table.

So, this is a selective laser sintering process again we can just look and read the process
details on the slide I have tried to explain.

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(Refer Slide Time: 20:11)

If anything is left, we will again discuss that thing the powdered material is kept on a
delivery platform and supplied to the building area by a roller. So, this is the roller green
colour roller, the material will be fed from here and it will be rolled on it to the working
area or the build area with the help of a roller. For each layer a laser traces the
corresponding shape of the part on the surface of the build area.

The laser will trace the corresponding shape now corresponding shapes from where the
laser will get an input it will get an input from the CAD model or the CAD file that has
already existing. So, based on that input the laser will trace the corresponding shape of
the part on the surface of the building area by heating the powder until it melts fusing it
with the layer below it. Already in first layer we will make leave the laser as per the
design or as per the shape, once it is solid it will go down again powder will be given as
an input by the roller the laser will again trace the path as per the CAD model and again
it will melt the metal or the powder whatever is the material and it will stick to the first
layer. So, layer by layer we will make the model in selective laser sintering also.

The platform here we can see the platform containing the part lowers 1 layer thickness
and the platform supplying the material elevates providing more material to the system.
So, the where the job is being made that will platform will come down layer by layer by
layer, and the section from where the material has to be fed it will raise up and supply the
material, the roller will feed the material to this table and the laser will sinter this

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material and the sintered material will stick to the already solidified layer and part layer
by layer we will make the prototype.

The roller moves the new material to the building platform leveling the surface and the
process repeats as the diagram explains some selective laser sintering prototype
machines used 2 delivery platforms one on each side of the building platform for
efficiency. So, the roller can supply material to the building platform in both directions
this I have already explained, here we can see there the material can be supplied from
both sides in this case and this is your building platform where the prototype is being
built.

So, the process mechanism I think is absolutely clear to all of you that how a powdered
material can be converted into a solid prototype using a laser gun and an input of CAD
file which gives the shape of the final product. So, these are 2 processes we have seen we
have used a photosensitive polymer with a UV laser and converted it into a solid
prototype in the Stereo lithography technique and in selective laser sintering we have
taken a powder using the laser gun we have sintered the powder into the solid form using
layer by layer by layer technique. So, 2 techniques using different types of inputs I think
is clear to all of you.

Now, let us see the third technique that is laminated object manufacturing in sheets in
which sheets of raw material will come and will be cut as per the requirement and layer
by layer we will make our prototype. So, that is a laminated object manufacturing
technique.

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(Refer Slide Time: 24:04)

Let us see this we have already seen. So, this is a diagram for laminated object
manufacturing here also we see there we are using a laser again there is a mirror here you
can see that is why optic head which is used for cutting this sheet into the desired form,
and here also we have a heated roller which will roll the sheet on to the build platform
this is the platform, which will be lowered layered part and support material there we can
see inside this is the part which is being manufactured.

So, the raw material this is a material supply roll so, if you see 3 types of raw materials
can be used and we have discussed today. So, this is a material supply roll here input and
this is a waste take up roll from which the material which was required has already been
cut here. So, in laminate object manufacturing again we need to have a CAD file of the
shape that we want to produce, we need to have a laser system for cutting the sheets into
the desired shape we need to have a platform for controlling the z dimension of our
prototype and x and y will be taken care by the laser only there is a take up roll or waste
take up roll in which the used material will be collected and this is the raw material
which is a material sheet.

So, the material let us see step by step how it will happen, where a material takes up roll
this is a input material we will see, it can be an adhesive paper, adhesive coated paper,
adhesive coated metal sheet. So, the raw material will go from here the roller will heat it
and supply it is a heated roller and will supply it to the build platform this is you can say

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hatched portion here checked portion and then the first sheet will come here through the
laser it will be cut as per the required drawing or the required CAD model and then that
roller will move forward this take up roll will take the used material.

Again in the then the platform will lower down another thickness of the material will be
supplied or another sheet will be supplied to this build platform, again the laser will cut
as per the required, and the second sheet will get stick to the first sheet and the used sheet
will further move forward, platform will lower down another layer will be supplied, and
layer by layer by layer by layer the complete model will be built.

This is where we are using a sheet as a raw material for making a 3 dimensional
prototype of any product for which we have a cad model available.

(Refer Slide Time: 26:47)

Let us read the details about laminated object manufacturing I have tried to explain it
with the help of a diagram in laminated object manufacturing is a relatively low cost. So,
rapid prototyping technology thin slices of material now, what is a raw material I have
explained it is the sheet, usually adhesively coated paper plastic or metal are successively
glued together to form a 3D shapes. So, each layer will be glued together to the next
layer and we will get a 3 dimensional shape.

The process uses 2 rollers to control the supply of paper with heat activated glue to a
building platform. So, again in all cases there is a building platform material on which

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the raw material supplied in this case it will be supplied with the help of 2 rollers. When
a new paper is in position it is flattened and added to the previously created layers using
a heated roller. So, heated roller will ensure that one layer sticks to the other layer, then
we have to cut the desired portion, the shape of the new layer is traced and cut by the
blade or a laser when the layer is complete. The building platform descends that is the
building platform goes down and the new paper is supplied or the new sheet is supplied
which I have already explained.

When the paper is in position the platform moves back up. So, the new layer can be
glued to the existing stack and the process repeats. So, we can see that layer by layer by
layer by layer we can produce a 3 dimensional prototype using the rapid prototyping
process that is laminated object manufacturing.

We have seen 3 different types of processes that is SLA, SLS and LOM and these 3 types
of processes used different types of raw materials, and the basic mechanism that is step
by step layer by layer building remains the same, only the raw material is changing the
other details are more or less the same we have a cad file we have a RP machine and RP
machine is converting our cad file into a 3 dimensional physical prototype.

(Refer Slide Time: 28:58)

So, with this we come to the application area, quickly I will skip one or 2 slides here we
can see the components developed by rapid prototyping.

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If you see the complexity of these parts or these components if we need to produce them
using any conventional manufacturing technique it would be a very very difficult or a
very very cumbersome procedure, but using rapid prototyping we can make these
prototypes very quickly and these prototypes can even be functional prototypes and as I
have told in the previous session they can also be uses as patterns in casting process for
performing the foundry operations.

So, you can see the complexity of the parts and these parts can easily be made by rapid
prototyping process only thing that we need is an accurate cad file of these shapes. If we
have a CAD file, the machine has the capability with the help of certain support
structures it will be able to produce these shapes.

(Refer Slide Time: 29:54)

You can see the other shapes which are complicated can easily be made by the rapid
prototyping process.

So, with this we come to the end of our discussion on this course on product design and
development I have really enjoyed discussing these topics with all of you and I am open
to all kinds of questions maybe I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities. If
you feel you have any doubt related to the discussion that we have taken for the last 10
hours or maybe you have certain suggestions, you are free to write to me on my email I
D I will be more than happy to answer the queries as well as the suggestions that you

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will give will help me to improve the discussion further. And with this I thank all of you
for joining this course.

Thank you very much.

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