The STARFISH Approach to Product Development

Manufacturers of Cotton Knits Are faced with Intensified global competition. Demands for better quality and reliability. One of the key demands is Ever lower levels of potential shrinkage.

Achieving Low Shrinkage Levels Is not the main problem. Low shrinkage has to be combined with ... A specific fabric width. A specific area weight. Consistency between deliveries. Finding the right combination of materials, machine settings and processing conditions is not always a simple matter.

Traditional Methods Of product development, based mainly on trial and error methods, are no longer adequate They are too slow. They are too unreliable. They are too costly.

Traditional Product Development Make an educated guess based on past experience, and ... Buy in the yarns, knit the trial fabrics. Dye and finish the trial fabrics. Test the fabrics, compare with target performance. Make a better guess based on test results. (or until expiry of allowed time and budget). Repeat until satisfied ... Repeat until Repeat

Cost of Traditional Method If customer requirements are EASY to meet using available raw materials and equipment, then only a FEW trial samples will need to be made ... Several days labour. Several hundred dollars in materials. Several hours of lost production. But ...

Cost of Traditional Method If customer requirements CAN NOT be met using available raw materials and equipment, this is not immediately obvious so trials continue ... Many days labour. Many hundreds of dollars in materials. Many hours of lost production. Result ... Products that do not perform to targets. Arguments, frustration and recriminations. A dissatisfied customer.

The STARFISH Approach Make a Sample DATA Trial & error using only data Raw materials Equipment & Processes Dimensional values Targets Trial & error using only data STARFISH Software STARFISH equations Boundary conditions Make a Sample Predictions

Cost of STARFISH Approach If customer requirements are EASY to meet using available raw materials and equipment then only ONE sample needs to be made ... A few hours labour. A few hundred dollars in materials. A few hours of lost production. But ...

Cost of STARFISH Approach If customer requirements CAN NOT be met using available raw materials and equipment, this is immediately obvious so no trials are made and the alternatives are studied ... Abandon (outsource) the product ? Consider new machinery investment ? Talk to customer - modify product targets ? Result ... Products that perform to targets. No internal disharmony. No dissatisfied customers.

The faster, cheaper, more reliable way of doing product development. STARFISH Version 6.5 The faster, cheaper, more reliable way of doing product development.