Tool For Product Design Research Articles

A new approach to quality function deployment planning with financial consideration

Quality function deployment (QFD) is becoming a widely used customer-oriented approach and tool in product design. Taking into account the financial factors and uncertainties in the product design process, this paper deals with a fuzzy formulation combined with a genetic-based interactive approach to QFD planning. By introducing new concepts of planned degree, actual achieved degree, actual primary costs required and actual planned costs, two types of fuzzy optimisation models are discussed in this paper. These models consider not only the overall customer satisfaction, but also the enterprise satisfaction with the costs committed to the product. With the interactive approach, the best balance between enterprise satisfaction and overall customer satisfaction can be obtained, and the preferred solutions under different business criteria can be achieved through human–computer interaction. Scope and Purpose Quality function deployment (QFD) that originated in Japan in the late 1960s is a concept and mechanism for translating the ‘voice of customer’ into product through various stages of product planning, engineering and manufacturing. It has become a widely used customer-oriented approach to facilitating product design by analysing customer requirements (CRs). Determination of the target levels for the technical attributes (TAs) of a product with a view to achieving a high level of overall customer satisfaction is an important activity in product design and development. Traditional methods for QFD planning are mainly subjective, ad hoc and heuristic. They can hardly achieve global optimisation, and most of these models barely take into consideration the correlation between TAs. Moreover, most of these methods are technically one-sided without considering the design budget. However, the financial factor is also an important factor and should not be neglected in QFD planning. In addition, owing to uncertainties involved in the decision process, these deterministic methods could not formulate and solve it effectively. Taking into consideration the financial factors and uncertainties in the product design process, this paper deals with fuzzy formulation combined with a genetic-based interactive approach to QFD planning. By introducing new concepts of planned degree, actual achieved degree, actual primary costs required and actual planned costs, two types of fuzzy optimisation models are discussed in this paper. These models consider not only the overall customer satisfaction, but also the enterprise satisfaction with the costs committed to the product. With the interactive approach, the best balance between enterprise satisfaction and overall customer satisfaction can be obtained, and the preferred solutions under different business criteria can be achieved through human–computer interaction.

Applying the axiomatic approach to business process redesign

Many approaches are available and widely used to represent and design business processes. The axiomatic approach developed by Suh has not received much attention because it is taught primarily as a product design tool. In this paper, we share our experience in applying this approach to a product obsolescence procedure in a semiconductor‐manufacturing environment. The approach provides structure for analyzing process outcomes and the means used to achieve them, a framework that is valuable in business process design. The rules that form the foundation of the axiomatic approach allow the user to evaluate the quality of a proposed design in satisfying the problem or perceived need. We found that the axiomatic approach was an excellent tool for generating process designs and evaluating them, although some effort is required initially to understand the approach. In addition, because it is essentially a process mapping technique, turning the proposed design into reality requires organizational understanding and change.

A Dexterous Part-Holding Model for Handling Compliant Sheet Metal Parts

Material handling of compliant sheet metal parts significantly impacts both part dimensional quality and production rate in the stamping industry. This paper advances previously developed material handling end effector layout optimization methodology for rigid point end effectors [1] by developing a dexterous part-holding end effector model. This model overcomes the shortcomings of the rigid point part-holding end effector model by predicting part deformation more accurately for various modes of deformation and for a set of part-holding end effector locations. This is especially important for handling systems which utilize vacuum cup end effectors widely used for handling of large sheet metal parts. The dexterous end effector model design method and an algorithm for estimation of model parameters are developed. The algorithm combines data from design of computer simulations and from the set of experiments by integrating finite element analysis and a statistical data processing technique. Experimental studies are conducted to verify the developed model and the model parameter estimation algorithm. The developed methodology provides an analytical tool for product and process designers to accurately predict part deformation during handling, which further leads to minimization of part deformation, improvement of part dimensional quality and increase of production rate.

A Shared Multi-Media Design Environment for Concurrent Engineering over the Internet

The Internet is currently an important resource for businesses to conduct activities ranging from basic communication to data exchange. In addition, the Internet is fast becoming an important portal for concurrent engineering applications. The Virtual Design Studio (VDS) presented in this paper is to construct a virtual design environment over the Internet in order to over come geographical constraints, and satisfy the major issues of concurrent engineering. Traditional design activities have been studied and implemented in the VDS to enable effective and efficient collaborative design. In addition, the proposed virtual design environment also supports both the product design and distributed communication tools used by designers. The aim of VDS is to integrate the exist ing information technologies (such as remote file transfer, multimedia and virtual reality among others) into the design process and to ex plore the possibility of extending collaborative design system over the Internet. This infrastructure will enable the establishment of distrib uted design offices in a global environment by means of the Internet. As such, collaborative design resources can be made readily available to industries, research institutions and educational institutions. CyberCAD is the application developed to support the realization of VDS. Remote file transfer and platform independence have been implemented in CyberCAD to enable the sharing of resources. CyberCAD provides a powerful collaborative CAD system running on a PC based platform. A multimedia communication enabled CAD conference module has been integrated into CyberCAD. Video and audio communications provide the collaborative multimedia environment, which overcome the geographical limitation in traditional "face to face" collaboration and enhances interaction between designers. Drag and drop method has been adopted in the proposed CAD conference module for re mote design information sharing.

Generating and evaluating designs and plans for microwave modules

This paper describes the process planning techniques we developed for use in an Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) tool for the design and manufacture of microwave transmit/receive modules. Given a collection of data about the design of a microwave module, the IPPD tool uses a combination of AI planning and OR trade-off analysis to produce a collection of alternative designs and alternative process plans that have Pareto optimal values for manufacturing and purchasing lead time, process yield, cost, and number of suppliers. The IPPD tool provides facilities to enable the user to generate and examine these Pareto optimal alternatives in real time, in order to provide immediate feedback on how to modify the design to improve its cost and productivity.

GENESYS: A framework for designer guided evolutionary search for high performance products

Genetic Algorithms (GAs) have been demonstrated to be powerful generic tools for product design. However, they possess problems in convergence, sensitivity to internal parameters, which diminish their efficiency. In this work, we have developed an interactive evolutionary system called GENESYS, aimed at overcoming some of these problems. In GENESYS, these problems are alleviated by allowing the designer to interact with the system, continuously monitoring its progress and providing feed back on different aspects of the search. These vary from actually editing intermediate solutions to modification of objectives and internal parameters. The architecture of GENESYS and its different features are discussed in this paper.

A framework of distributed quality control

Historically, members of the supply chain exchanged quality-related information in a static, cumbersome manner. With recent advances in internet technologies, we propose that a new distributed quality control framework is possible. The proposed framework will support an initiative that integrates state-of-the-art information technologies with quality control tools for swift product design, process design, and quality assurance. The biggest impact of the proposed approach is that customers can be involved in decision making about product quality while the manufacturing of ordered products is being planned and produced, and after production at a supplier's facility is complete, without physically being there.

Effective modeling of the reflow soldering process: use of a modeling tool for product and process design

The increasing component packing density and consequent reduction in feature size in printed circuit assemblies (PCA's) continues to place manufacturers under extreme pressures. The most significant demand is for improved first-off process yields because of the high cost and technical difficulty of rework processes and concerns over the reliability of reworked products. The dominant process for the production of PCA's is reflow soldering of a stencil/screen printed solder paste to form the interconnection between the component termination and the substrate. It is crucial for the manufacturer to ensure that each termination experiences a suitable thermal history throughout the reflow cycle. Despite the advances in processes to cope with complex product features, such as increasing the uniformity and amount of heat transfer in the process, ensuring right-the-first-time is still a problem leading to increased lead-times, reduced yields and the scrapping of assemblies used to establish the ideal process parameters for each particular product. This paper describes the utilization of a predictive model as a tool for the off-line determination of the most appropriate process and its specific set-up for a PCA. Results are also presented where PCA design is altered to improve thermal mass distribution.

A modelling tool for the thermal optimisation of the reflow soldering of printed circuit assemblies

Thermal history variation within printed circuit assemblies (PCAs) during reflow soldering is considered one of the main drivers for manufacturing defects. It is recognised that predictive tools could be used to identify the temperature variations that arise during the reflow process and, in conjunction with experimentally derived data, determine their impact on manufacturing quality. A predictive model would also be useful to a designer for rearranging component placement for thermal mass distribution, hence enabling the optimisation of the design for manufacture prior to final design commitment. Likewise, such a predictive tool could be utilised for off-line optimisation of reflow oven profiles and in the design of more thermally efficient production equipment. This paper describes the development of representative process models of the reflow soldering of PCAs and outlines some of the more important parameters to consider for accurate simulation of the reflow process. Furthermore, the utilisation of the predictive model is presented as a tool for a number of end uses applicable to different application domains, namely: process configuration for any given PCA; selection of the most appropriate process and as a product design or verification tool to improve thermal mass distribution and hence temperature history during processing.

Using quality function deployment in manufacturing strategic planning

Describes efforts to extend the use of quality function deployment (QFD) to manufacturing strategy development. QFD uses a house of quality to translate the “voice of the customer” into engineering specifications. Originally developed and applied as a powerful tool for concurrent product and process design, QFD is widely used in industry as a technique within total quality management (TQM). The approach has only recently been applied in strategic planning. Describes how the traditional QFD concepts and methods can be used in the formulation of manufacturing strategy to ensure alignment with business strategy. Presents a case study at a powdered metals manufacturer to show how the QFD methodology can be adapted for use in manufacturing strategy formulation.

Computer aided workplace design: An approach to create a tool for the production engineer

As computerized tools for product design and production planning are taken into use in industry, ergonomics aspects may be left behind. This paper presents and discusses the theoretical basis for a tool that helps to meet the needs of concurrent engineering: a Knowledge Based System (KBS) that supports the design of a workplace, by a production engineer, in a CAD environment. The production engineer is asked to specify three structures: the products and parts of products handled, a plan for the work process and the layout of the workplace. The KBS subsequently performs an ergonomic analysis and presents an assessment to the production engineer, who then decides if any changes in any one of the three structures are necessary. The feasibility of the approach is analyzed.

Making virtual manufacturing a reality

Describes virtual manufacturing software which lets production engineers create life‐like, full‐action mock‐ups of automated production systems on computer workstations and then analyse and debug them before investing in costly capital equipment. Virtual manufacturing software that is compatible with CAD permits the design of manufacturing processes around three‐dimensional CAD production models. Explains that many prominent automotive companies are now using this software and gives examples. Concludes that by using virtual manufacturing as their product design tools, companies can now integrate product design, manufacturing system design and production stages, with all participants working with a single, current database.

The use of best design practices: An analysis of US navy contractors

Rapid and successful introduction of new products is a potentially significant source of competitive advantage for manufacturing firms. Organizations need to identify and manage those critical elements of the product development process (PDP) that have a positive influence on new product success. This research identifies the distinctive product development and design practices, policies and tools currently followed by companies (Navy contractors) that participated in an empirical research study known as the Best Manufacturing Practices Program. A summary of practices reported in the case studies is compiled using content analysis techniques, and the most interesting practices by individual companies are highlighted. We find numerous examples of sophisticated CAD techniques being used to enhance the development process, including expert system design advisers, computer simulation, and design databases. Companies are emphasizing the design policies of concurrent engineering and teamwork, and documenting design process knowledge into design manuals. Company effort still appear focused primarily on the phase of detailed design rather than the concept selection phase.

CAD Tools for the Design of High Performance MCMs

Advantages of using high speed and thermal analysis tools in a tightly integrated design environment are presented. The time to market, the quality of advanced technology designs, and the often assumed reliability of a product are all becoming the responsibility of the layout engineer. To ensure the success of the end‐product the designer must have available tightly integrated product design tools. They must reliably predict potential problems, such as transmission line delays, signal noise, device over‐heating etc., and therefore reduce multiple design iterations by producing designs that are correct first time.

A real-time computer-aided process planning system as a support tool for economic product design

Abstract A new computer-aided process planning (CAPP) system is presented that serves as a tool for concurrent design of prismatic parts and their manufacturing processes. The system provides timely manufacturing cost feedback to the designer for each added design feature. A hierarchical planning technique, an expert system with a multibank rule base, and a dynamic programming-based optimization module are employed in this real-time process planning system.

A real-time computer-aided process planning system as a support tool for economic product design

A real-time computer-aided process planning system as a support tool for economic product design

Software simulation as a tool for usable product design

A design exercise performed by human factors specialists is described. In this exercise a front-of-screen simulation of the Interactive Chart Utility was written before a working prototype was available in order to draft and test a series of on-line instructional (HELP) panels for incorporation into the final product. Trials were run in which the keyboard activity and utterances of naive subjects were recorded for later action replay, before and after redrafting the simulation. Three objective measures to detect the resulting improvement are considered, and the most robust identified.

Market analysis utilising cultural anthropological indicators

Suggests that cultural anthropological analysis affords a neglected tool for new product design and product improvement and this helps to minimise complexity and improve market effectiveness. States there are three objectives herein: examines the type of market where economic data alone may not be enough to make a proper market evaluation; evaluates the sort of factors which might be germane to choosing alternative markets for the current product and skills available; and suggests how such a qualitative analysis may be quantified in terms of cost variances to complete the necessary analysis. Conclusions are that only a when a wider range of data is available can a comprehensive new market strategy be finalised.

The digital computer as a tool in product design

The digital computer as a tool in product design