1. 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
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2. 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!
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3. 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.
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4. 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