By Ambika S Kulshrestha PRODUCT DESIGN

WHAT SHOULD WE PRODUCE? Product or service that satisfies the needs of the customer Product or service is able to meet changing requirements of customers Product or service to be better off then the competitors

WHAT IS DESIGN? Design deals with the form & functionality of the product & psychological benefits that a service will provide. Design affects the quality & the ability of the product or service to satisfy consumer needs, hence it affects the demand for product & services

TRADITIONAL DESIGN Here the sequential approach is followed as under; Customer Product Concept Marketing Personnel Specifications Design Engineer Design Specifications Manufacturing Engineer Manufacturing Specifications Supplier Purchase Personnel Production Personnel

TYPES OF DESIGNS Traditional Approach to Design: Suffers from lack of co-ordination & unity, since each team as shown in the flow chart, modifies design specifications to suit its requirements. This results in product being substandard & not as per customer specifications.

TYPES OF DESIGNS Concurrent Design: Supplier is given product specifications & asked to prepare sample for testing when certain items produced by him Being part of design team details are worked out by supplier, which results in reduction of development time & resources Manufacturing engineers being part of design team lead to better workable designs which reduces costs & time of reworking on designs. Design choices can be considered at an early stage. Representatives of all departments involved to form design team.

STEPS IN DESIGN PROCESS Conception or Idea Generation Acceptance or Feasibility Study Execution or Preliminary Design Translation or Production Design Pre-operation or Final Design

CONCEPTION OR IDEA GENERATION Design process starts with draft specifications of product/service Marketing team in consultation with customer draws detailed product concept & performance specifications Draft specifications form basis of all subsequent activities, hence it is important that these are prepared carefully.

ACCEPTANCE OR FEASIBILITY STUDY Draft specification is tested for feasibility & either accepted, modified or rejected by all department team Feasibility study includes market analysis, economic analysis, technical & strategic analysis Market analysis assesses market demand

ACCEPTANCE OR FEASIBILITY STUDY Economic analysis determines cost of production Profitability & technical analysis considers whether product be produced with existing capacity, labor skills, raw materials & other infrastructure or new technology would be required Strategic aspects as competencies also are considered while launching a product

EXECUTION OR PRELIMINARY DESIGN Product/service is found feasible & accepted for designing, design execution undertaken Models made tested modified retested till viable design is produced consisting of form & functional design

EXECUTION OR PRELIMINARY DESIGN Form Design Refers to physical appearance of product Concerned with size, shape, color, aesthetics & market appeal of product Functional Design Concerned with performance of product Reliability & maintainability are two important considerations at this stage

TRANSLATION OR PRODUCTION DESIGN Deals with how product be actually made or how service will be actually operated Includes after sales service Difficult to execute designs result in poor quality products Simple, standard & modular product designs recommended

TRANSLATION OR PRODUCTION DESIGN Simple Designs Simplification is reduction of variety of parts, materials & processes Designs simplified by using lesser number of parts Simplification results in reduction of costs, increases production process efficiency, reduces time required per unit & productivity is increased

TRANSLATION OR PRODUCTION DESIGN Standardized Designs Standardization is a tool to promote use of minimum parts to serve maximum purposes Customers benefit from buying standard products Design costs & time can be saved by using standardized parts to make products Standardization leads to increased productivity by avoiding unnecessary engineering design At design stage it must be decided how much to standardize without losing advantage of variety & uniqueness

TRANSLATION OR PRODUCTION DESIGN Modular Designs Modular design is creation of products from combination of basic pre-existing designs Modular designs are easier to maintain & repair Faulty modules can be quickly replaced by new ones & repaired at leisure in a workshop without affecting customer This reduces inventory costs as each separate product need not be manufactured & stored only subassemblies & subsystems are stored & assembled to produce products as & when required

TRANSLATION OR PRODUCTION DESIGN Gadgets are being launched which pay little or no attention to usability. Common user does not use all features that a product may offer Simple to operate products tend to sell better & a company needs to spend less on technical support

PRE-OPERATION OR FINAL DESIGN Pilot run or test marketing is conducted Product/service is provided in sufficient quantity to check design, production process & acceptability by customer Specifications are frozen or no further changes are made to design Final design giving detailed engineering drawings, materials specification & process plans is prepared Product/service is thereafter offered to customer

DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE & ASSEMBLY (DFMA) Ensures product can be produced easily & economically It is a term that integrates product & process design Guidelines for DFMA are; - Minimize number of parts -Use common or standardized parts -Use modular design -Avoid need for tools -Simplify operations

DESIGN OF SERVICES Varies from design of products owing to services features Services provide physical benefits & psychological benefits Features of services & how they affect the design of services are;

DESIGN OF SERVICES Intangibility Services are intangible & experienced by customer hence it is difficult to design something that cannot be seen or touched Expectations of customer vary according to knowledge, experience, perception & preference Difficult to standardize all services Designers compile information on how people think, feel & behave

DESIGN OF SERVICES Perish ability Services cannot be stored Services have to be delivered as soon as they are produced Knowledge of what to deliver where & when to deliver important

DESIGN OF SERVICES Heterogeneity Service output varies since services based on preference & perception of customer Variation is owing to different persons providing services Experience of person providing service expected to be consistent while customer demands vary which poses design problems Organizations achieve service consistency by training employee providing services

DESIGN OF SERVICES Simultaneity Occurs since customer must be present while most services are being provided Greater contact between customer and service provider Customer does not make distinction between service and its delivery. So service design has to consider what, where, when & how it is to be delivered How decisions must take into account degree of customer participation that service will permit What activities will be performed in presence of customer & what will be performed out of customer’s sight

DESIGN OF SERVICES Service Concept Design process starts with service concept which describes target customer & desired service experience Description of how organization’s service will be different from others in the field & on what basis will it compete with others

DESIGN OF SERVICES Service Packages Based on service concept next step is to create a service package which includes physical items & psychological benefits that service will provide Physical & psychological benefits must be compatible with service being provided

DESIGN OF SERVICES Performance Specifications After defining service package performance specifications are developed They give outline of customer requirements & customer expectations

DESIGN OF SERVICES Design Specifications Include activities to be performed by service provider so that service can be consistent Include special skills that service provider should acquire Cost & time estimate, location, layout & other details of service facility are considered Include physical & psychological benefits that are to be provided

DESIGN OF SERVICES Delivery Specifications These outline work schedule deliverables of service & location at which work is to be carried out

DESIGN OF SERVICES Classification Of Services Personal services Professional services Mass services Service shops Service Factories