Accelerate Product Development Research Articles

A high-throughput cheese manufacturing model for effective cheese starter culture screening

Cheese making is a process in which enzymatic coagulation of milk is followed by protein separation, carbohydrate removal, and an extended bacterial fermentation. The number of variables in this complex process that influence cheese quality is so large that the developments of new manufacturing protocols are cumbersome. To reduce screening costs, several models have been developed to miniaturize the cheese manufacturing process. However, these models are not able to accommodate the throughputs required for systematic screening programs. Here, we describe a protocol that allows the parallel manufacturing of approximately 600 cheeses in individual cheese vats each with individual process specifications. Protocols for the production of miniaturized Gouda- and Cheddar-type cheeses have been developed. Starting with as little as 1.7mL of milk, miniature cheeses of about 170mg can be produced and they closely resemble conventionally produced cheese in terms of acidification profiles, moisture and salt contents, proteolysis, flavor profiles, and microstructure. Flavor profiling of miniature cheeses manufactured with and without mixed-strain adjunct starter cultures allowed the distinguishing of the different cheeses. Moreover, single-strain adjunct starter cultures engineered to overexpress important flavor-related enzymes revealed effects similar to those described in industrial cheese. Benchmarking against industrial cheese produced from the same raw materials established a good correlation between their proteolytic degradation products and their flavor profiles. These miniature cheeses, referred to as microcheeses, open new possibilities to study many aspects of cheese production, which will not only accelerate product development but also allow a more systematic approach to investigate the complex biochemistry and microbiology of cheese making.

Development of a Digital-Convolution-Based Process Emulator for Three-Dimensional Microstructure Fabrication Using Electron-Beam Lithography

Although electron-beam lithography has been demonstrated to be feasible in creating 3-D micropolymer structures, the proximity effect due to forward and backward scatterings usually makes it difficult to precisely determine the distribution of electron irradiation. The process design for creating the desired shape still largely depends on a trial-and-error basis. Therefore, in order to reduce the cost and to accelerate product development, it is important to utilize computer-aided design tools. A method, called as element growth method, which is based on digital convolution approach, is developed and presented under an OpenGL environment to reduce the cost and the developmental period for fabrication. By using such a convolution approach, this emulator converts the processing parameters into a final spatial-dosage distribution and subsequently into the final geometry of structures. In addition, a physically based kernel function is also proposed and used. Examples of 3-D microstructures such as the microlens are presented. By these tools, it is possible to provide guidelines for optimizing the fabrication process and to reduce the cost for the related e-beam lithography-based 3-D fabrication.

Client-centred design evolution via functional prototyping

The product design process involves communication of potential design solutions to customers. Fully functional prototypes are most suitable for this because they are readily accepted and allow simultaneous evaluation of all design criteria. However, they are often seen as expensive, time-consuming and not fully representative of the final product material. Therefore, they are usually reserved for customer validation of the final design rather than to keep them involved in every product evolution iteration. This research proposes that rapid prototypes should be used to facilitate a method referred to as Customer Interaction through Functional Prototypes (CIFP). An action research methodology was employed to test the efficacy of applying this method to a real-world product design brief. Customers were able to fully evaluate the aesthetic, ergonomic and functional parameters of the product during every design iteration. This resulted in accelerated product development, sensitivity to the client's needs, a new dimension of 'natural' communication and a successful product design.

Measuring knowledge management in a virtual chat room: A case study

Many organisations deem the virtual workplace to be a solution to challenges such as global competition, accelerated product development, improved quality and customer service, to mention but a few. In spite of the success of virtual communities on the Internet and although a significant amount of research has been conducted on virtual organisations, very few studies have focused on the evaluation of the combined effects of the theoretical variables of knowledge management in virtual communities. Advanced web analytics have been used in some instances to test the content of virtual communities, like discussion forums, hat rooms and the like. Because a plethora of chat rooms are devoted to special interest topics that may implicitly contain information and insights on consumers, knowledge creation and sharing, it creates the ideal opportunity to measure the management of knowledge therein. The aim of this article is, therefore, to measure knowledge management in a virtual community (an online chat room of an academic institution). Firstly, the article propounds a brief overview of the theoretical underpinning of the study by proposing a conceptual framework for the measurement of knowledge management in virtual communities. Secondly, the methodology to measure the knowledge management in a chat room of an educational institution is outlined. Finally, the research results are presented and recommendations are made for future research.

Parameter mapping and data transformation for engineering application integration

Enterprise applications may be classified into management applications used by managerial staffs for making decisions on business operations, and engineering applications used by engineers for solving multidisciplinary design problems. In the literature, enterprise application integration is extensively addressed in the context of management applications, but insufficiently discussed in the engineering disciplines. Practitioners in manufacturing industries have for a long time feel the increasing need of integrating engineering applications, in order to accelerate product development paces and improve design qualities. Integrating engineering applications used in the multiple engineering disciplines has to cope with a number of challenges. This paper focuses on one of the critical issues: parameter mapping and data transformation, which is of pivotal importance to integrating engineering applications. Design parameter mapping provides a consistent approach to data extraction, storage, display and manipulation among different data sources. Data transformation describes the operational logic of parsing input/output files, extracting and transforming data, and maintaining consistency among multiple data sources.

Generic policy decision function framework

This paper proposes an abstracted interface between the policy decision function (PDF) and the policy enforcement point (PEP), and a generic, scalable PDF framework with a generic PDF state machine. This PDF framework is compatible with all related standards and offers the potential for rapid prototyping and accelerated product development in next-generation networks. © 2007 Alcatel-Lucent.

Accelerated Product Development: Combining Lean and Six Sigma for Peak Performance by Clifford Fiore, Fast Innovation: Achieving Superior Differentiation, Speed to Market, and Increased Profitability by Michael L. George, James Works, and Kimberly Watson‐Hemphill and Projects at Warp‐Speed with QRPD: The Definitive Guidebook to Quality Rapid Product Development, 9th ed by Orion “Ori” Kopelman and Cinda Voegtli

Accelerated Product Development: Combining Lean and Six Sigma for Peak Performance by Clifford Fiore, Fast Innovation: Achieving Superior Differentiation, Speed to Market, and Increased Profitability by Michael L. George, James Works, and Kimberly Watson‐Hemphill and Projects at Warp‐Speed with QRPD: The Definitive Guidebook to Quality Rapid Product Development, 9th ed by Orion “Ori” Kopelman and Cinda Voegtli

Air-suspension particle coating in the food industry: Part I — state of the art

Air-suspension particle coating has been slow to develop in the food industry. This is not surprising considering the economic constraints for low cost ingredients and low cost processing. Therefore, a need exists to adapt the process and formulation knowledge developed in the high-value pharmaceutical and health care industries to higher volume, low-cost production in the food industry. This paper reviews the current state of the art of air suspension coating as applied to the food industry. Of the few current applications, most have been developed by statistical experimentation which belies an understanding at the interface between food science and process engineering. This review concludes that a phenomenological approach is necessary in order to advance knowledge and accelerate product development. Such an approach will yield results independent of both the substrate powder and the coating device, which can be applied widely to select suitable coating materials and methods of application. A following paper will then elucidate key micro-level phenomena and discuss their implications.

A Virtual Tool for Prediction of Turbocharger Nonlinear Dynamic Response: Validation Against Test Data

Advances on the modeling of nonlinear rotor-bearing models for prediction of the dynamic shaft response of automotive turbochargers (TCs) supported on floating ring bearings (FRBs) are presented. Comprehensive test data for a TC unit operating at a top speed of 65krpm serves to validate the model predictions. The static forced performance of the support FRBs considers lubricant thermal effects, thermal expansion of the shaft and bearings, and entrance pressure losses due to centrifugal flow effects. The bearing analysis also yields linearized rotordynamic force coefficients for the inner and outer lubricant films. These coefficients are used with the rotor model to predict the synchronous response to imbalance and the system natural frequencies and stability. A method renders an accurate estimation of the test rotor imbalance by using the actual vibration measurements and influence coefficients derived from predictions using linearized bearing force coefficients. Predicted ring rotational speeds, operating radial clearances, and lubricant viscosities for the inner and outer films are the main input to the nonlinear time transient analysis. The nonlinear response model predicts the total shaft motion, with fast Fourier transforms showing the synchronous response, and amplitudes and whirl frequencies of subsynchronous motions. The predicted synchronous amplitudes are in good agreement with the measurements, in particular at high shaft speeds. The nonlinear analysis predicts multiple frequency subsynchronous motions for speeds ranging from 10krpmto55krpm (maximum speed 70krpm), with amplitudes and frequencies that correlate well with the test data. The comparisons validate the comprehensive rotor-bearings model whose ultimate aim is to save TC design time and accelerate product development.

PRODUCT NEWS

Four Rivers Software Systems' TMS Dispatch Module provides a web-based, integrated desktop for the efficient assignment of incoming service requests to the appropriate resource. The main panel consists of a dispatch queue with selectable views and a dashboard. The panel is configurable, allowing the administrator to select viewable fields, required fields, and the queries presented in the dashboard section. The dispatcher has the option to page the resource automatically when the request is assigned. If the resource is using TMSMobile, they will receive notification on their pocket PC that a new work order was assigned to them.For more information, go to www.frsoft.com.Curbell's Sure-Lock Electrode Clip™ has a locking metal clamp that securely locks on to both snap and tab electrodes, ensures connection with the electrode snap, and allows 360°of motion—preventing leads from detaching from the electrode and eliminating false calls and monitoring failures due to detached clips. The Sure-Lock Electrode Clip can be applied with one hand, without applying excessive pressure on the electrode site. The clip can replace snap, pinch, grabber, and alligator clips; and is available on full lead sets or in packs for use with banana and safety DIN connectors.For more information, go to www.curbell.com.Micropump® introduces a refined rapid response prototyping process to help bring products to market faster. Rapid response prototyping accelerates product development cycle times, allowing quick iterative design changes to meet dispensing, transfer, circulation, or dosing application. Micropump employs Design for Six Sigma and other Operational Excellence processes to integrate customer expectations with Micropump's capabilities. This allows for short cycle time innovation and reduced overall development times. In addition, Micropump can integrate a selection of fluid handling components and assemblies into a system's architecture. Micropump's range of pumping technologies includes micro-cavity and external gear pumps, multiple and valveless piston pumps, peristaltic, micro-annular, vane, and centrifugal pumps.For more information, go to www.micropump.com.Thermo Electron Corporation's Retriever version 3.0, is a web-based data extraction and presentation solution that enables secure access to laboratory data, no matter the originating data system. Retriever extracts, aggregates, and transforms data into “laboratory information with a business context,” so that the data can be used to help make rapid, informed business decisions. In version 3.0, reports—which can include textual, graphical, and tabular data—are configured using the Thermo Report Designer. This application was designed to allow laboratory-centric functionality to be delivered through the report-writer.For more information, go to www.thermo.com/informatics.

Experience of using a lightweight formal specification method for a commercial embedded system product line

A simple specification method is introduced and the results of its application to a series of projects in Philips are reported. The method is principally designed to ensure that that every unusual scenario is considered in a systematic way. In practice, this has led to high-quality specifications and accelerated product development. While the straightforward tabular notation used has proved readily understandable to non-technical personnel, it is also a formal method, producing a model of system behaviour as a finite state machine. In this respect, the notation is unusual in being designed to preserve as far as possible a view of the overall system state and how this changes. The notation also features a constraint table which may be described as a kind of spreadsheet for invariants to help define the states of the system.

Software Entrepreneurship: Knowledge Networks and Performance of Software Ventures in China and Russia

This study examines the impact of entrepreneurs' network structure and knowledge homogeneity/heterogeneity of their network members on product development, and revenue growth of software ventures in China and Russia. The empirical data are composed of structured interviews with 159 software entrepreneurs in Beijing and Moscow. The study found that structural holes and knowledge heterogeneity affect positively product diversity in interactive ways. The study also found that knowledge homogeneity accelerates product development. Product development speed enhances revenue growth in the long term. However, the combination of speed with dense and homogeneous networks harms revenue growth over time. The effects of structural holes and knowledge heterogeneity on product diversity and revenue growth over time are more salient in Russia due to the unique institutional, social, and cultural conditions present in the country.

Unveiling Health Attitudes and Creating Good-For-You Foods: The Genomics Metaphor, Consumer Innovative Web-Based Technologies

This article presents an integrated analysis of three emerging knowledge bases in the nutrition and consumer products industries, and how they may effect the food industry. These knowledge bases produce new vistas for corporate product development, especially with respect to those foods that are positioned as ‘good for you.’ Couched within the current thinking of state-of-the-art knowledge and information, this article highlights how today's thinking about accelerated product development can be introduced into the food and health industries to complement these three research areas. The 3 knowledge bases are: the genomics revolution, which has opened new insights into understanding the interactions of personal needs of individual consumers with nutritionally relevant components of the foods; the investigation of food choice by scientific studies; the development of large scale databases (mega-studies) about the consumer mind. These knowledge bases, combined with new methods to understand the consumer through research, make possible a more focused development. The confluence of trends outlined in this article provides the corporation with the beginnings of a new path to a knowledge-based, principles-grounded product-development system. The approaches hold the potential to create foods based upon people's nutritional requirements combined with their individual preferences. Integrating these emerging knowledge areas with new consumer research techniques may well reshape how the food industry develops new products to satisfy consumer needs and wants.

3707 複雑形状部品の3D-CADと製造に関するインターネットコラボレーションと教育(S67 技術経営と設計)

The Kochi University of Technology (KUT) in Kochi, Japan, has collaborated with a company (Sakamoto Giken Co. in Kochi), who in turn has collaborated with other companies using internet technology in the field of design and manufacturing. Using a collaboration software installed in the company, an internet camera, and an internet telephone, design meetings among engineers at distant locations were conducted. Several cases of collaborative design and manufacturing work are introduced. KUT made a software with the cooperation of a company under the financial support of Economics and Industries Ministry. The project aims to produce complex products that are difficult to design and manufacture. In addition to describing such collaborative work among industries or between industries and universities, the importance of education in 3D-CAD and manufacturing, as well as some actual trials of design education, are introduced. 3D-CAD, manufacturing, and rapid prototyping have been utilized in activities between universities and companies. The use of the internet technology in this way reduces the time required for design and manufacturing and accelerates product development.

Application of Variable Frequency Microwave (VFM) to Adhesives

Microwave processing of adhesives is a relatively new technology alternative that provides new approaches for enhancing material properties as well as economic advantages through energy savings and accelerated product development. Alternative in the sense that most adhesives are normally cured in ambient conditions or in ovens. However, the most commonly used facilities for microwave processing of materials operate on fixed frequency microwaves (FFM), e.g., 2.45 GHz. This paper presents a review of microwave technologies, processing methods and industrial applications, using variable frequency microwave (VFM) facilities. The technique offers rapid, uniform and selective heating over a large volume at a high energy coupling efficiency. This is accomplished using a preselected bandwidth sweeping around a central frequency by employing tunable frequency sources. Successful applications of these modern facilities include finding out the optimum cavity conditions of glass or carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites, and of adhesives, e.g., two-part five-minute Araldite, and the joining of the above-mentioned composite materials with, or without, primers. Finding out the optimum cavity conditions of a material has helped identify the best frequency range to process the material using microwave energy and by means of the VFM facility. Microwave energy has been used to rapidly cure several types of two-part epoxy based adhesives, e.g., Araldite. Bond strengths obtained using variable frequency microwave (VFM) techniques are compared with adhesive joints cured in fixed frequency microwave (FFM) conditions.

Accelerating product development in the automobile industry

Competition in consumer product space demands acceleration of product development. Not only is greater variety demanded by customers, but every model seems destined to a shorter shelf life. Beyond this, the faster pace of regulatory changes adds even greater emphasis. To achieve more rapid product development, organisations have employed many fundamental enablers including: platform concepts allowing more effective leverage of designs; doing work concurrently; reducing the time taken for each task. Major automobile manufacturers have used all these methods for reducing product development time. Tata Motors, the largest automobile firm in India, has also used many of these same levers to accelerate product development. Tata Motors developed a new Sedan Indigo in about 20 months (and subsequently a Station-wagon, Indigo Marina), leveraging the successful Indica platform and manufacturing system. This approach, supported by a formal vehicle development process, concurrent engineering, maths based simulations and a disciplined manufacturing planning activity has been deployed with considerable benefit. The cross-functional teams employed in many stages of the development activity have also promoted organisational learning apart from reducing product development cycle time. Ultimately only the marketplace success of these products, contributing to the financial turnaround of the company, can be viewed as a true measure of the success of these efforts.

Characterising statistical strain-life fatigue parameters

In today's industry environment, the need to accelerate product development schedules requires that engineers actively engage simulation models to eliminate iterations from the design and test process. Much time is spent on the design for and evaluation of component reliability and durability. If accurate descriptions of the fatigue behaviour of materials are available, then simulation software can be used to simulate component durability and thus provide insight to design flaws more quickly than can the design and test cycle. A method is presented that facilitates the development of accurate statistical strain-life curves given experimental data from strain controlled uni-axial fatigue tests. The method establishes a series of selection criteria that ensure that the data used in the statistical analysis is significant and representative of the materials true behaviour. The method goes on to establish a procedure for the statistical analysis that ensures that each domain of the materials behaviour is accurately represented. The result is an R50 strain-life curve that is then scaled to an R90C90 strain-life curve by incorporating a technique presented by Shen and Wirsching. This R90C90 curve represents a strain-life curve that encapsulates the behaviour of 90% of samples of a material and in which 90% confidence exits. This R90C90 curve is then suitable for use in industrial simulation software.

Does business planning facilitate the development of new ventures?

AbstractMany prior researchers have criticized business planning, arguing that it interferes with the efforts of firm founders to undertake more valuable actions to develop their fledgling enterprises. In this paper, we challenge this negative view of business planning, arguing that business planning is an important precursor to action in new ventures. By helping firm founders to make decisions, to balance resource supply and demand, and to turn abstract goals into concrete operational steps, business planning reduces the likelihood of venture disbanding and accelerates product development and venture organizing activity. Empirically, we examine 223 new ventures initiated in the first 9 months of 1998 by a random sample of Swedish firm founders and provide support for our hypotheses. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Smart moulds for cost effective components

With increasing pressure to accelerate product development, reduce manufacturing costs and improve output, whilst maintaining high quality and health and safety compliance, the composites industry is faced with many challenges. Meeting these requires the combined efforts of engineers, designers, materials suppliers and the manufacturer, with the mould maker usually at the centre of the discussions. Matthew Chalk of Offshore Composite Structures discusses the mould maker’s role.

Achieving competitive differentiation: the challenge for automakers

The automotive industry is at a crossroads. The key to survival and prosperity will be to achieving and sustaining competitive differentiation. Competitive differentiation depends on distinguishing quality, cost/value, and timeliness attributes. The industry is experiencing significant changes: (1) Quality – the definition of quality has moved on from traditional objective measures (such as reliability, durability, noise) to expanded definitions that are more subjective, experiential and emotional criteria. (2) Cost/value – the price of an auto has decreased due to the declining real cost of goods (competitiveness has forced automakers to take out costs and pass saving on to consumers), and the margin shrinkage that is the result of information transparency. Internet sites are offering retail prices, dealer invoices, rebates, financing, online buying services, etc.; this has enhanced the consumer’s power. (3) Timeliness – bringing a product to market quicker than the competition will mean that an OEM can nimbly translate market trends into products eagerly sought by buyers. Attractive products require fewer incentives to move them over their lifetimes. The implications of how automakers approach and execute differentiating strategies: attributes are continually being redefined by creative designers and engineers, new materials, and new technology; a greater focus is being placed on features that are useful and valued by consumers; experiential attributes are increasingly significant as sources of differentiation; customer handling excellence (while important) will always be outweighed by product attributes; and competitive benchmarking is useful only up to a point. For all automakers, the foundation for competitiveness are: invest in fresh, attractive, affordable, consumer‐driven products rather than incentives that push product to consumers; nimbleness must be achieved through accelerate product development; push for the use of intelligent platform, subassembly and component sharing; target flexible manufacturing and work practices; optimize order to delivery processes; cap production of individual car lines to control supply; and focus on key developing markets (the last “battlefields”).