Shad Valley MUN Introduction to Product Design and Development Bonus Lecture Product Specifications Dr. Leonard M. Lye, PEng, FCSCE Professor of Engineering Program Director, MUN Shad Shad Valley MUN

What is a specification? Has a metric and a value E.g. Total weight of hairdryer - < 2 lbs Translation of need expressed in language of customers to a measurable attribute E.g. I like the hairdryer to be lightweight Setting specifications provides concrete goals that are meaningful technically and will result in customer satisfaction. Allows team to “keep score”. Forces resolution of trade-offs. Setting specs is hard! Shad Valley MUN

Basic Steps Prepare list of metrics from customer needs Collect competitive information Set ideal and marginally acceptable values Reflect on the results and process Generally, specs have to be done twice because we don’t know in advance what will be possible. Shad Valley MUN

Important Marketing and technical perspectives must be present to ensure that customer needs are met, product can be distinguished competitively, reasonable manufacturing cost can be achieved, and concept is technically feasible. Some needs may require several metrics to define them, and some needs are very subjective. E.g. looks cool, feels comfortable, etc. Shad Valley MUN