1. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON PENN S TATE Timothy W. Simpson Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Engineering Design The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA 16802 USA phone: (814) 863-7136 email: tws8@psu.edu http://www.mne.psu.edu/simpson/courses/me546 ME 546 - Designing Product Families - IE 546 Spring 2009 Project Descriptions © T. W. S IMPSON

2. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON Projects for Spring 2009 Product Family Metrics 1.Product packaging study (w/Dr. Shooter @ Bucknell) 2.SWOT analysis for global product families (w/Dr. Lehtihet) Design Automation 3.Modular design using cyberinfrastructure (J. Yoo, Lead) 4.Tools for product family benchmarking (A. Jain, Lead) 5.Product family optimization through visualization (L. Slingerland, Lead) Design for Human Variability (w/Dr. Parkinson) 6.Product family sizing using Design for Human Variability 7.“Universal” product family design – theory and practice (also w/Dr. McAdams @ Texas A&M)

3. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON 1. Product packaging study Consumable products such as foods, drinks and pharmaceuticals can not be differentiated using visual features  Must rely on “artificial” differentiating characteristics like dyes or shapes Most rely on packaging to differentiate one product offering from the next Goal:  Examine the use of commonality metrics to assess packaging  Develop new metrics for product packaging

4. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON 2. SWOT analysis for global product families Many companies these days compete globally for market share  Market heterogeneity arises from cultural differences as well as different needs in different regions of the world  Products are being designed, developed, and manufactured in multiple countries around the world  In many cases, cost to develop a platform outweighs savings from outsourcing Goal:  Investigate the use of SWOT analysis for companies competing global  Develop new metrics/tools for such companies to use that will broaden their perspective when making product family design decisions Production Worker’s Hourly wage (2002) Production Worker’s Hourly wage (2002)

5. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON 3. Modular design using cyberinfrastructure Design is often carried out by geographically-dispersed teams operating on different sub-systems/modules  Recent advances in cyberinfrastructure can facilitate this process provided appropriate advances are made in the supporting IT Goal:  Investigate the use of web service description language and composition algorithms to support modular design

6. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON UMR’s Design Repository  Develop an suitable interface-oriented representation and apply an automated algorithm for product synthesis = functions = geometric information = input = output Similar to WSDL

7. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON 4. Tools for product family benchmarking Many companies are now benchmarking families of products in addition to individual product offerings Tools for product family benchmarking are limited  Matrix-based representations and commonality metrics exists but are not readily available or easily understood by designers  Likewise, algorithms for assessment are varied in their format, I/O, size restrictions, and availability Goal:  Develop an Excel-based spreadsheet that – Inputs BOM/assembly – Generates/sorts DSM – Computes GVI and commonality metrics  Demonstrate its use with a suitable product family

8. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON 5. Product family optimization through visualization Product family optimization involves tradeoffs between multiple objectives that are often difficult to weight  Interactive visualization can provide insights that might help Goal:  Investigate the use of visual-based optimization tools to optimize a product family  Demonstrate its use optimizing a family of three General Aviation Aircraft 2-Seat Aircraft4-Seat Aircraft6-Seat Aircraft

9. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON 6. Product family sizing using DfHV Sizing a product line is usually done by identifying the “big” and “small” and creating sizes to fit everyone in between Goal:  Develop a method to size a family or products using the principal components of variability in the population  Demonstrate the proposed method on a suitable product family case study

10. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON 7. “Universal” product family design While most products are designed to work across a range of performance-related needs, considerations for “universal” design are typically ignored or left until the end of the product design process Goal:  Study 5-6 product “pairs” and identify ways in which universal design can be considered during the product family design process, not after

11. PENN S TATE © T. W. S IMPSON Forming Project Teams You will work in groups of 4-6 people on each project  Take a minute to think about which project interests you most  Find 4-5 like minded people and form a team If there is overwhelming interest in one project, then we can run two teams in parallel Identify a time on Friday (2/20) or Monday (2/23) in PM when your whole group can meet  Schedule a kick-off meeting with me for your team  Between now and then, read papers posted on Angel