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Product Design L5- Ch6: Concept Generation. Dr. Husam Arman . Product Design and Development Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D. Eppinger 2nd edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 2000. Chapter Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Development Processes and Organizations 3. Product Planning
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Product Design L5- Ch6: Concept Generation Dr. Husam Arman
Product Design and DevelopmentKarl T. Ulrich and Steven D. Eppinger2nd edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 2000. Chapter Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Development Processes and Organizations 3. Product Planning 4. Identifying Customer Needs 5. Product Specifications 6. Concept Generation 7. Concept Selection 8. Concept Testing 9. Product Architecture 10. Industrial Design 11. Design for Manufacturing 12. Prototyping 13. Product Development Economics 14. Managing Projects
Concept Development Process Mission Statement Development Plan Identify Customer Needs Establish Target Specifications Generate Product Concepts Select Product Concept(s) Test Product Concept(s) Set Final Specifications Plan Downstream Development Perform Economic Analysis Benchmark Competitive Products Build and Test Models and Prototypes
We have customer needs and specs. What’s next? • What existing solution concepts, if any, could be successfully adapted for this application? • What new concepts might satisfy the established needs and specifications? • What methods can be used to facilitate the concept generation process?
…. the best way to get an idea is to get a lot of ideas … Linus Pauling
The Activity of Concept Generation • A good concept is sometimes poorly implemented in subsequent development phases, but a poor concept can rarely be manipulated to achieve commercial success. • Concept generation typically consumes less than 5% budget and 15% of the development time • Because the concept generation activity is not costly, there is no excuse for lack of diligence and care in executing a sound concept generation method.
Concept generation activity • Structured approaches reduce the likelihood of costly problems • Common dysfunctions during concept generation: • Consideration of only one or two alternatives, • Failure to consider the concepts employed by other firms in related and unrelated products. • Involvement of only one or two people in the process, confidence and commitment by other team members. • Ineffective integration of promising partial solutions. • Failure to consider entire categories of solutions.
A Five-Step Method • Step 1: Clarify the Problem • Step 2: Search Externally • Step 3: Search Internally • Step 4: Explore Systematically • Step 5: Reflect on the Results and the Process
Concept Generation Process • Clarify the Problem • Problem Decomposition • External Search • Lead Users • Experts • Patents • Literature • Benchmarking • Internal Search • Individual Methods • Group Methods • Systematic Exploration • Classification Tree • Combination Table • Reflect on the Process • Continuous Improvement
Vegetable Peeler Exercise:Voice of the Customer • "Carrots and potatoes are very different." • "I cut myself with this one." • "I just leave the skin on." • "I'm left-handed. I use a knife." • "This one is fast, but it takes a lot off." • "How do you peel a squash?" • "Here's a rusty one." • "This looked OK in the store."
Vegetable Peeler Exercise:Key Customer Needs 1. The peeler peels a variety of produce. 2. The peeler can be used ambidextrously. 3. The peeler creates minimal waste. 4. The peeler saves time. 5. The peeler is durable. 6. The peeler is easy to clean. 7. The peeler is safe to use and store. 8. The peeler is comfortable to use. 9. The peeler stays sharp or can be easily sharpened.
The nailer: Step 1 • Review assumptions underlying mission statement • The nailer will: • use nails (as opposed to adhesives, screws etc.). • be compatible with nail magazines on existing tools. • nail into wood. • be hand-held
Customer needs • Customer needs (for a hand-held nailer): • The nailer inserts nails in rapid succession. • The nailer works into tight spaces • The nailer is lightweight. • The nailer has no noticeable nailing delay after tripping tool.
Target specifications • No noticeable nailing delay after pulling trigger • Nail lengths from 25 to 38 mm. • Maximum nailing energy of 40 J/nail. • Nailing force of up to 2,000 N. • Peak nailing rate of 12 nails/second. • Average nailing rate of 4 nails/min. • Maximum trigger delay of 0.25 second. • Tool mass less than 4 kg • Maximum trigger delay of 0.25 sec.
Problem decomposition • Decompose complex problem into simpler sub-problems. • Many design challenges are too complex to solve as a single problem. • Split a complex problem into simpler sub-problems (Problem decomposition).
Some useful tips to get started • Create a function diagram of an existing product. • Create function diagram based on an arbitrary product concept already generated by the team or on a known sub-function technology. • Be sure to generalize the diagram to the appropriate level of abstraction.
Two other approaches • Decomposition by sequence of user actions. – Move tool to approximate nailing position, – Position tool precisely, – Pull trigger. • Decomposition by key customer needs – Fires nails in rapid succession, – Fits in tight places, – Has large nail capacity. Simple technical functions and a lot of user interaction Form is the primary problem not the technology (toothbrush)
Focus on critical sub-problems • The aim of decomposition techniques is to split a complex problem into simpler sub-problems, then tackle each in a focused way.
The Nailer:Step 2 - Search externally • Conduct external searches to find existing solutions to either the overall problem or a sub-problem identified during the decomposition step. • Use search engines (in advanced mode) to find existing solutions discussed on Internet sites
External Search:Hints for Finding Related Solutions • Lead Users • benefit from improvement • innovation source • Benchmarking • competitive products • Experts • technical experts • experienced customers • Patents • search related inventions • Literature • technical journals • trade literature
Patents • Try the European patent office • http://ep.espacenet.com • US patent office • http://patft.uspto.gov
Step 3 - Search internally • Suspend judgment • Suspend evaluation for the days or weeks required to generate a large set of alternatives is critical to success. • Generate a lot of ideas • Most experts believe that the more ideas a team generates, the more likely the team is to explore fully the ‘solution space’.
Step 3 - Search internally (cont) • Welcome ideas, even if they do not seem very feasible • Ideas which initially appear infeasible can often be improved, “debugged” or “repaired” by other members of the team. • Use graphical and physical media. • Reasoning about physical and geometric information with words is difficult.
Hints for Generating SolutionConcepts • Make analogies • Experienced designers always ask themselves what other devices solve a related problem. • Wish and wonder • Beginning a thought or comment with “I wish we could.....” or “I wonder what would happen if ....” helps to stimulate oneself or the group to consider new possibilities.
Hints for Generating SolutionConcepts • Use related stimuli • Most individuals can think of a new idea when presented with a new stimulus. • Use unrelated stimuli • Occasionally, random or unrelated stimuli can be effective in encouraging new ideas. • Set quantitative goals • Set a goal of 10 or 20 concepts. • Use the gallery method • Use the gallery method to display a large number of concepts simultaneously for discussion.
TRIZ • In the 1990’s, a Russian problem solving methodology called TRIZ (a Russian acronym for theory of inventive problem solving) began to disseminate in Europe and USA. • Useful in identifying physical working principles. • The key idea is to identify a contradiction that is implicit in a problem.
TRIZ • TRIZ is a problem solving method based on logic and data, not intuition, which accelerates the project team's ability to solve these problems creatively. • TRIZ relies on the study of the patterns of problems and solutions, not on the spontaneous and intuitive creativity of individuals or groups. • More than three million patents have been analyzed to discover the patterns. 31
TRIZ • TRIZ research began with the hypothesis that there are universal principles of creativity that are the basis for creative innovations that advance technology. • There are only 40 ways to solve a contradiction (i.e. the problem) 32
TRIZ “Somebody someplace has already solved this problem (or one very similar to it). Creativity is now finding that solution and adapting it to this particular problem”. • Generic principles can provide solutions to specific problems by the means of analogical thinking
The nailer:Step 4 - Explore systematically • After external and internal search there are probably tens or hundreds of solutions to sub-problems, or concept fragments • Navigate the space of possibilities… • With the concept classification tree • With the concept combination table
Refining problem decomposition • Too much instantaneous power (~10000Watt) for an outlet, battery or fuel cell to deliver in few miliseconds • Must accumulate and then trigger
Managing the exploration process • Combination tables and classification trees are not unique • Just simple ways to organize thoughts • Exploration step acts as a guide for further creative thinking • Often the concept generation phase is not so straightforward • In fact its almost always iterative...
Step 5: Reflect on the Results and the process • Is the team developing confidence that the solution space has been fully explored? • Are there alternative function diagrams? • Are there alternative ways to decompose the problem? • Have external sources been thoroughly pursued? • Have ideas from everyone been accepted and integrated into process?
