Chapter 7- DESIGN FOR QUALITY AND PRODUCT

EXCELLENCE

Quiz 1

Giovanni L. Roa

Score:

Questions and Answers

1. Describe the steps of the product design and development process.

Product Development

Most companies have some type of structured product development

process.

phases.

1. Idea Generation: New or redesigned product ideas should

incorporate customer needs and expectations.However, true innovations

often transcend customers expressed desires, simply because customers

may not know

generation often focuses on exciters and delighters.

2. Preliminary Concept Development: In this phase, new ideas

are studied for feasibility, addressing such questions as: Will the

product meet customer’s requirements? Can it be manufactured

aconomically with high quality?

Objective criteria are required for measuring and testing the

attributes associated with these questions.

3. Product/Process Development: If an idea survives the concept stage –

and many do not – the actual design process begins by evaluating

design alternatives and determining engineering specifications for all

materials,components, and parts. This phase usually includes prototype

testing, in which a model (real or simulated) is constructed to test the

product’s physical prosperities or use under actual operating conditions,

as well as consumer reactions to the prototypes.

Concurrently, companies develop, test, and standardize the

processes that will be used in manufacturing the product or delivering

the service, which include selecting the appropriate technology,

materials, and suppliers and performing pilot runs to verify results.

production process has been set up, the company releases the product to

manufacturing or services delivery teams.

5. Market Introduction: The product is distributed to customers.

6. Market Evaluation: Deming and Juran both advocated an

ongoing product development process that relies on market evaluation

and customer feedback to initiate continuous improvement.

Many companies view customers and suppliers as significant

partners in product development, and include them in planning and

review meetings. Customer involvement enables them to integrate

market evaluation throughout the process and early supplier

involvement facilitates higher-quality purchased materials and

components as well as improved supply chain management.

2. What is Design for Six Sigma (DFSS)? Explain the four basic

elements of DFSS and the various tools and methodologies that

comprise this body of knowledge.

product development and a set of tools and methodologist for ensuring

that goods and services will meet customer needs and achieve

performance objectives, and that the processes used to make and deliver

them achieve high levels of quality. DFSS helps designers and

engineers better translate customer requirements into design, concepts,

concepts into detailed designs, and detailed designs into well-

manufactured goods or efficient services. Through good communication

and early involvement in the product development process, this

approach leads to reduced costs, better quality, and a better focus on the

customer. DFSS is a complementary approach to Six Sigma methods

for process improvement. Most tools used in

DFSS have been around for some time; its uniqueness lies in the

manner in which they are integrated into a formal methodology, driven

by the Six Sigma philosophy, and with clear business objectives in

mind.

DFSS consists of four principal activities:

1. Concept Development: Concept development focuses on

creating and developing a product idea and determining

capabilities, and economic realities.

2. Detailed Design: Detailed design focuses on developing

specific requirements and design parameters such as

specifications and tolerances to ensure that the product fulfills the

functional requirements of the concept.

3. Design Optimization: Design optimization seeks to refine

designs to identify and eliminate potential failures, achieve high

reliability, and ensure that it can be easily manufactured, assembled, or

delivered in an environmentally-responsible manner.

4. Design Verification: Design verification ensures that the

quality level and reliability requirements of the product

are achieved.

These activities are often incorporated into a process, known as

DMADV, which stands for define, measure,analyze, design and

verify.Define focuses on identifying and understanding the market need

or opportunity. Measure gathers the voice of the customers, identifies

the vital characteristics that are most important to customers, and

customer needs.

Analyze is focused on concept development from engineering

and aesthetic perspectives. This often includes the creation of drawings,

virtual models, or simulations to develop and understand the functional

characteristic of theproduct.

Design focuses on developing detailed specifications, purchasing

requirements, and so on, so that the concept can be produced

Verify involves prototype development, testing, and

implementation planning for production.

3. Explain concept development and innovation. Describe the

importance of innovation and creativity in concept development?

Concept development is the process of applying scientific,

engineering, and business knowledge to produce a basic functional

design that meets both customer needs and manufacturing or service

delivery requirements.Developing new concepts requires innovation

and creativity.
 Innovation involves the adoption of an idea, process, technology,

product, or business model that is either new or new to its proposed

application. The outcome of innovation is a discontinuous or

breakthrough change and

results in new and unique goods and services that delight customers and

create competitive advantage. The SmallBusiness Administration

classifies innovation into four categories:

1. An entirely new catergory of product (for example, the iPod),

2. First of its type on the market in a product category already in

existence (for example, the DVD player),

3. A significant improvement in existing technology (for

example, the Blue-ray disc technology),

4. A modest improvement to an existing product (for example,

the latest iPad).

Innovation has been the hallmark of Apple and the late Steve

Jobs, whose inspiration was driven by simplicity, ease of use, using

computers to do creative work, and making life easier. A Business

Week poll observed that a large majority of senior executives indicated

that innovation was one of their top three priorities,and that the speed of
implementation and ability to coordinate processes required to bring an

idea to market were the biggest obstacles to successful

innovation.Innovation is built upon strong research and development

(R&D) processes. Many larger firms have dedicated R&D functions.

Government agencies also promote innovation. For example, the

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of

the U.S. Department of Commerce, promotes U.S. innovation and

industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science,

standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and

improve our quality of life. NIST laboratories conduct research that

advances the nation’s technology infrastructure and is needed by U.S.

industry to continually improve products and services; the Hollings

Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a nationwide network of

local centers offers technical and business assistance to smaller

manufacturers; and the Technology Innovation Program provides cost-

shared awards to industry, universities, and consortia for research on

potentially revolutionary technologies that address criticalnational and

societal needs.

4. What is the purpose of detailed design?

requirements and, subsequently, intodetailed design specifications.

Detailed design focuses on establishing technical requirements and

specifications,

which represent the transition from a designer’s concept to a producible

design, while also ensuring that it can be produced economically,

efficiently, and with high quality. Dr. Nam Suh from MIT developed a

methodology called axiomatic design, based on the premise that food

design is governed by laws similar to those in natural science. Two

axioms (statements accepted as true without proof) govern the design

process:

1. Independence Axiom: good design occurs when the functional

requirements of the design are independent of one another

2. Information Axiom: good design corresponds to minimum

complexity

These axioms guide the design process with the goal of creating

the best possible product to achieve the desired functions. The method
has been shown to reduce design time and achieve better designs and

has been used successfully by many companies such as Ford Motor

Company.

5. Define reliability. Explain the definition thoroughly.

Design for Reliability

Reliability – the ability of a product to perform as expected over

time – is one of the principal dimensions ofquality. As the overall quality

of products continues to improve, consumers expect higher reliability

with each purchase; they simply are not satisfied with products that fail

unexpectedly. Reliability is an essential aspect of both product and

process design. Sophisticated equipment used today in such areas as

transportation (airplanes),communications (satellites), and medicine

(pacemakers) requires high reliability. High reliability can also provide a

competitive advantage for many consumer goods. Japanese automobiles

gained large market shares primarily because of their high reliability, and

current models typically dominate the Consumer Reports annual ranking

for predicted reliability. However, domestic manufacturers have made

significant improvements. Likewise inmanufacturing, the increased use

of automation, complexity of machines, low profit margins, and time-

issue for survival of the business. However, the increased complexity of

modern products makes high reliability more difficult to achieve.

Formally, reliability is defined as the probability that a product,

piece of equipment, or system performs its intended function for a stated

period of time under specified operating conditions. This definition has

four important elements: probability, time, performance, and operating

conditions.

1. First, reliability is defined as a probability, that is a value

between 0 and 1. Thus, it is a numerical measure with precise meaning.

Expressing reliability in this way provides a valid basis for comparison of

different designs for products and systems. For example, a reliability of

0.97 indicates that, on average, 97 of 100 items will perform their

function for a given period of time and under certain operating

conditions. Often reliability is expressed as a percentage simply for

descriptive purposes.

2. The second element of the definition is time. Clearly a device

having a reliability of .97 for 1,000 hours of operation is inferior to one

having the same reliability for 5,000 hours of operation, assuming that the

mission of the device is long life.

the product or system was made. The term failures can occur: functional

failure at the start of product life due to manufacturing or material defects

such as missing connection or a faulty component, and reliability failure

after some period of use. Examples of reliability failures include the

following: a device does not work at all (car will not start); the operation

of a device is unstable (car idles rough); or the performance of a device

deteriorates (shifting becomes difficult). Because the nature of failure in

each of these cases is different, the failure must be clearly defined.

4. The final component of the reliability definition is operating

conditions, which involves the type and amount of usage and the

environment in which the product is used. Automobiles, for example,

“must run in temperatures ranging from 70F in Barrow, AK to 130F in

the Arizona dessert. They have to work while driving over gravel roads or

washboard concrete. Worse, they have to operate reliably, even when

they are poorly maintained by owners who seem oblivious to their

requirements.

By defining a product’s intended environment, performance

characteristics, and life time, a manufacturer can design and conduct tests

to measure the probability of product survival (or failure). The analysis of

process designs. Reliability engineers distinguish between inherent

reliability, which is the predicted reliability determined by the design of

the product or process, and the achieved reliability, which is the actual

reliability observed during use. Achieved reliability can be less than the

inherent reliability due to the effects of the manufacturing process and the

conditions of use.