ME 362

Mechanical Engineering
Design
Part 3.2

Muhammad Ilyas
Todays topics

Design Review

Re-Design

Technology innovation

Product life cycle

 Design Review
A vital aspect of Design Process :
specialists review the design
Provides an opportunity for
specialists from different disciplines
to interact with generalists to ask
critical questions and exchange vital
information
Provides a systematic method for
identifying
Problems with the design
Aids in determining possible
courses of action
Initiates action to correct the
problem areas
 Design Review
Design review teams consist of representatives
from
Design, manufacturing, marketing, purchasing,
quality control, reliability engineering and field
service

Design Reviewer should

Have broad technical and products knowledge
Not have direct responsibility for design under review
Depending on the size and complexity of the product,
Design Review should be held 3~6 times in the life of
the project
 Design Review

Minimum review schedule consists of

Conceptual Reviews
It has a greater impact on design
Changes can be made at this stage at lower costs
Interim Reviews
Performed when embodiment design is finalized
Product architecture, subsystems and performance
characteristics are established
Final Reviews
At the completion of detailed design
Establishes whether the design is ready for transfer to
manufacture
 Design Review

Outcome of review
Each review of the product design may have two outcomes
Technical aspect
Business aspect
Design review Technical aspect
Product Design Specification (PDS)
PDS is the basic reference document for both product
design and design review
Essence of Technical Review of design is to compare the
finding against detailed PDS formulated at the product
definition stage of the project
PDS is a detailed document that describes what the
design must be in terms of
performance requirements,
environment in which it must operate,
product life, cost,
reliability
..
 Re-design
A common situation in Design
Process
The task may be to improve an Original
existing design. design

Engineering
Or it may be due to reason that a Adaptive
component in a product is failing design

design
in service e.g., the change in the
shape of a part to reduce a stress Redesign
concentration
Selective
Sometimes, we redesign a
design
component to reduce its cost of
manufacture. Industrial
Sometimes, a new material is design
substituted to reduce weight
and/or cost
 Re-design
As a result of Design Review, details of design are
changed many times as prototypes are developed
and tested

Categories of Re-design

Fixes
Updates
 Re-design categories
o Fixes
A fix is a design modification that is required due to less than
acceptable performance (after the product has been introduced
into the market) unplanned activity!
o Updates
Usually planned as part of the products life cycle before the
product is introduced to the market
An update may add capacity and improve performance or
incorporate its appearance to keep it competitive
The most common situation in re-design is the modification of
an existing product to meet new requirements e.g. banning of
the use of fluorinated hydrocarbon refrigerants because of
Ozone-hole problem, required the extensive re-design of
refrigeration system
Often re-design results from the failure of the product in service
 Re-design

Case study of redesign of a railroad

vehicle wheel
The steel railroad wheel has been in its
present design for nearly 150 years
In spite of improvements in metallurgy and
the understanding of stresses, the wheels still
failed at the rate of about 200 per year
The chief cause of failure is thermal buildup
caused by failure of a railcars braking system
Long-term research by the Association of
American Railroads has resulted in the
improved design
 Re-design
Old Vs. New design
The chief design change : flat plate, the web
between the bore and the rim, replaced by an
S-shaped plate
 Re-design
Case study of redesign of a railroad
vehicle wheel
Advantage of the curved shape : it allows
the plate to act like a spring, flexing when
overheated, avoiding the buildup of stresses
that are transmitted through the rigid flat
plates
The second change in the design of the
wheel is the wheels tread it has been
redesigned to extend the rolling life of the
wheel
The new wheels last for many thousands of
miles longer, and the rolling resistance is lower,
saving on fuel cost
Re-design
Case study: GM Ignition Switch
GM: 1908 US
Head office: Detroit
A leading car manufacturer
Products
Alpheon, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel,
Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, UzDaewoo
Worldwide collaborations
Pakistan: Ghandhara Industries
 Re-design
Case study: GM ignition switch
GM began developing new small cars in
the late 1990s
Chevrolet Cobalt
Saturn Ion
In an effort to improve its new cars they
listened to customers who complained
about cheap-feeling switches that
required too much effort to turn
The new design of the switch was such
that it was working more smoothly and
gave drivers the impression that they
were better designed
 Re-design
Example: GM ignition switch the other
side of the story:
The ignition switch consists of
Mechanical
Electronics
GM made the mechanical alteration in the
spring of the ignition switch
Anyhow, GM engineer approved the new
design
The result was a smooth-turning key
However, it was so smooth that it could
also slip out of position
 Re-design
The slipping of the key to other position occurred in many cars
That caused the engine to stop during running of the car
The stopped engine deactivated the air bag!
More than 50 car crashes
13 deaths

More than 100 injuries

The company has to recall

about 2.5 million cars
(until 2014)
All 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt
2007-2010 Pontiac G5
2003-2007 Saturn Ion
2006-2011 Chevrolet HHR
2006-2010 Pontiac Solstice
2007-2010 Saturn Sky
[Ref. Automotive news]
Re-design
Example: GM ignition switch the other
side of the story:
What is the difference between these
pictures?
Re-design
Technology Innovation and Design Process
Technology Innovation and Design Process

Technology innovation : the process through which new

(or improved) technologies are developed and brought
into widespread use
A successful technological innovation requires a good idea
or concept that satisfies a societal need

Advancement of technology has three phases:

Invention
Innovation
Diffusion
Technology Innovation and Design Process
Invention: Creative act whereby an idea is
conceived, articulated and recorded
Innovation: Process by which an invention or
idea is brought into successful practice and
is utilized by the economy
Diffusion: The continual and widespread
implementation and adoption of successful
innovation
Innovation is the most critical and most
difficult of three phases
Steps in a technological innovation activity

Innovation is the most critical and most difficult of three phases

Because, developing an idea into a product that people
will buy requires hard work and skill.
Technology innovation activity consists of different stages:

Identification Product Pilot Trial

Development
of market idea lot Sales
need

Commercial
Sometimes, Product ideas Time and
development
market need must be management
is stronger checked for about 35 to
Generally, the technical
than their fit with 50% of new problems comprise the
technological the ongoing products fails smallest category of
research technology due to above failure during the
opportunity development
Key factors for the success of the product

1. Product planning and research:

It is important that adequate time is spent on problem
definition, concept generation and evaluation, market research
and assessment, technical assessment, business and financial
reviews before embodiment and detail design stages
2. Product superiority:
Product should be such that it delivers real value to customer
i.e. meeting customer needs (e.g. LEDs to save energy)
3. Quality marketing:
Better marketing activities to be executed from concept of idea
to launch of product in market
4. Proper organizational design:
Successful products are most often developed by cross
functional teams, led by strong product champion, supported
by top management and accountable (responsible!) for the
entire project from beginning to end
Key factors for the success of the product

Which qualities are expected from Innovators?

Behavioral Types of people needed for
Technological Innovation
1. Idea generator: The creative individual
2. Entrepreneur: The person who carries the ball and
takes the risks (organize & manage)
3. Gatekeepers: People who provide technical
communication from outside to inside the organization
4. Program manager: The person who manages without
hindering creativity
5. Sponsor: The person who provides financial and moral
support, often senior management

Roughly 70 to 80% of people in technical

organizations are routine problem solvers and are
not involved in innovation. Therefore it is
important to identify and nurture the small
number who gives promise of becoming technical
innovators
Innovators

People in a technical organization, familiar with current technology and

who have developed contacts with technical people outside the organization
Seek direct information and diffuse to others in organization
Tend to be predisposed to do things differently as contrasted with doing
things better
Able to deal with unclear and ambiguous situations without feeling
uncomfortable as they have high degree of self-reliance and self-esteem
Respond well to the challenge of diverse projects and the opportunity to
communicate with people of different backgrounds
A successful innovator is a person who has sound picture of what needs to
be done, not necessarily a detailed picture
Emphasis goals, not methods of achieving goals
Has failed in previous ventures and has identified the reason of failure
Works the elements of problem in parallel not serially
Product Life Cycle
Product Life Cycle

o During the lifetime of a product, each product goes

through a cycle
o This life cycle consists of
Introduction stage
Growth stage
Stable period
Declining state
Product Life Cycle
Introductory stage: Product is new, consumer acceptance is low, so
sales are low, rate of product change is rapid as management tries
to maximize its performance or uniqueness

Growth Stage: Knowledge of the product and its capabilities

reaches to growing number of customers. In this stage there is an
increase in sales as the time passes

Birth Stage Initial Growth Stage

Product Life Cycle
Maturity Stage: Product is widely accepted, sales are stable, grow at the
same rate.
Products at this stage experience considerable competition
Great emphasis is on reducing the cost of a mature product
When product reaches at this stage, attempts should be made to renew it by incremental innovation or development of still new applications

Decline Stage: At some stage each product enters in this stage, Sales decrease because a new better product is in the market to fulfill the same societal needs

Birth Stage Initial Growth Stage Maturity Decline stage

stage
Product Life Cycle
If we look more closely at the product life cycle, we will see
that the cycle is made up of many individual phases
These are Premarket phase and Market phase

Premarket Phase Market Phase

1. Idea generation 9. Product introduction

2. Idea evaluation 10. Market development
3. Feasibility analysis 11. Rapid growth
4. Technical R&D 12. Competitive market
5. Product (market) R&D 13. Maturity
6. Preliminary production 14. Decline
7. Market testing 15. Abandonment
8. Commercial production
 Premarket Phase Market Phase
Product Life 1. Idea generation 9. Product introduction
Cycle 2. Idea evaluation 10. Market development
3. Feasibility analysis 11. Rapid growth
4. Technical R&D 12. Competitive market
5. Product (market) R&D 13. Maturity
6. Preliminary production 14. Decline
7. Market testing 15. Abandonment
8. Commercial production

sales
investments
Product Design Specifications (PDS)

Document:
Requirements for successful product / process
Groundwork for engineering design activities
Typically includes requirements:
Size and weight
Operational
Service environment
Safety
.
Product Design Specifications (PDS)

Start writing your PDS early (Group

Assignment 02)
Its living document
Represents what you are trying to achieve
Never change to what has been already
achieved
Write in list format not as an essay
Light weight????
Desired weight less than ___ kgs (yes it
should be N)
Not sure yet, estimate (or guesstimate) and
UPDATE later on http://www.open.edu/
.
Product Design Specifications (PDS)
Example: Surveyors Pole Stand
A surveyors pole is used in land surveying for level and distance
measurement. It is held vertically at a distance from a measuring device
(a theodolite), which is operated by a surveyor. To allow the surveyor to
operate independently, a self-supporting surveyors pole is necessary.
Performance: To be fixable in position within ____ minute
Size: Stand to be ____ wide, ____ long and ...
Cost: Manufacturing cost < ____
Quantity: Batches of ____
Maintenance: Minimal
Finish: Corrosion resistant
Materials: Light-weight transportable not easily damaged by impact
Weight: ____ kg max

(source: Stuart Pugh, Total Design, Addison Wesley, 1991)

Product Design Specifications (PDS)

Politics: Not applicable

Competition: To be analyzed
Market: Worldwide, Trends to be analyzed
Patents: To be checked
Manufacturing facility: Adequate capacity and suitable tools available
Company constraints: None at this stage
Processes: Batch production

(source: Stuart Pugh, Total Design, Addison Wesley, 1991)

Revision
Revision

Systematic Integrated Product Design Approach

Design

Support Engineering

Customer

Sales Manufacturing