Industrial Product Design

Vishal V. Dhende
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli
 What is a Product?

Any object or service that has a value

for a user.
• If no user is willing to use it, its not a
product.
• It must satisfy a purpose or a need
felt by its user.
Products we used before…
How they have evolved…
 What do we use Products for?
 Basic Needs
◦ Food
◦ Clothes
◦ Shelter
 Transport
 Healthcare
 Entertainment
 Sports / Leisure
 Agriculture
 Manufacturing
 Values Associated with Products
• Comfort
• Convenience
• Usability
• Status
• Brand value
• Quality
• Service
How Products Define Us?
Businessman / Executive
How Products Define Us?
Engineering Student
 How Products Defines Us?
Doctor
 Types of Products

• Primitive Products
– Mainly Agricultural
– Services – Doctors, Barter System
• Modern Products
– Endless…
– Tradeindia website alone markets over 3.5 crore
products and services….
 Types of Products
• Tangible Products
– Products with physical existence.
– Medicines, Food Products, Cars, Sports
Equipment.

• Intangible Products
– Services
– Banking, Insurance, Education, Entertainment.
 New Products
• New-to-the-World Products(10%)
• New Product Lines/Functions/Applications
(20%)
• Additions to Existing Product Lines(26%)
• Improvements and Revisions of Existing
Products(26%)
• Repositioning(7%)
• Cost Reductions(11%)
 Causes of New Product Success
• Technological Superiority
• Competitive Advantage
• Size and Speed in Market growth
• Identifying Needs/Wants
• Good Timing
• Effective Promotion/Communication
• Uniqueness of the Concept/Product
• Marketing and Managerial Synergy/Team Effort
 Causes of New Product Failure
• Failure in Market Research Findings
• Overestimated Demand and Size of Market
• Design Failure
• Positioning Problem
• Ineffective Communication/Promotion
• High Development Cost/ Price
• Pressure from Competitors
• Poor Timing
 Objectives of Industrial Design in
Engineering
• Optimize fitness for purpose based on market
requirements and the criteria of quality,
performance and cost effectiveness.

• Performance:
Improve in-service performance through
improvements in the man-machine
relationship
Industrial Design Parameters (Techniques)
• Aesthetics
• Color
• Style
• Ergonomics
• Graphics
• Performance
• Reliability
• Safety
• Overall appearance
• Cost effectiveness
 Aesthetics
• Concerned with form, color, style and
compatibility of an object with its visual
environment.
• Form includes shape, proportion, balance,
texture and finish.
• In the areas of texture and finish, form
overlaps with ergonomics and manual control
functions, wear and corrosion.
 Colour
• Emotional area
• Choice is determined by intuitive
considerations as well as its contribution to
form, ergonomic demands and safety.
• Should be appropriate to their purpose and
compatible with their environment
 Ergonomics
• Concerned with optimizing the overall and
detail design of the control, operation and
maintenance interfaces between machines
and men.
• Involves a knowledge of human characteristics
• Involves physiological and psychological
considerations.
 Graphics
• Art of the organization and presentation of
visual information so as to ensure rapid and
accurate appreciation by the operator.
• Can also add to overall aesthetic balance and
visual impression
• Embraces the selection and presentation of
scripts, symbols, diagrams and words for
instructions, nameplates and instrumentation.
 Using these parameters, engineers can
achieve their objective in the following areas

• Performance
• Reliability
• Safety
• Overall Appearance
• Cost Effectiveness
 Performance
• Can be assessed by measurement or abstract
criteria which is often dependent on
ergonomics.
• Power plant – efficiency
• Steering system – mechanical components,
their stability and feedback to driver
 Reliability
• Can be assessed in terms of failure rates, loss of
use associated with repairs or preventive
maintenance, and life expectancy
• Can be improved by reducing risks of incorrect
operations which lead to excessive damage and
wear.
• Can also be reduced by design for ease of
maintenance involving ergonomic man/machine
relationship affecting accessibility, nature of
adjustment, facilities for replacement,
measurement etc
 Safety
• It is reduced by inadequacies in presentation
of information, control, interlocks, guards,
handling arrangements
• Instructions which permit incorrect operation
or misuse of protective systems.
• Good ergonomics and graphic design can
minimize risks.
 Overall Appearance
• Of a product in relation to its environment is
important in creating an impression of quality
and functional efficiency.
• Environmental acceptability including the
influence the machine may have on the
environment in terms appearance and
compatibility or interference with local
amenity, its effect on operator during working.
 Cost Effectiveness
• Industrial design combined with value analysis
can help reduce cost
• This can be done through elimination of non
essential complications, cost effective
selection of components, materials, finishes
and processes and standardization of interface
details
Product Development Process [Ulrich]
 Product Development Process

Phase 0 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Concept System-level Detail Design Testing and Production
Planning Development Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Ulrich and Eppinger 2004

Generate mission Example
statement Mission: “design a better hand-held roofing nailer”
(target market, Assumptions:
business goals, The nailer will use nails (as opposed to adhesives, screws, etc.)
key assumptions The nailer will be compatible with nail magazines on existing tools
and constraints) The nailer will nail through roofing singles into wood
The nailer will be handheld.
Product Development Process

Phase 0 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Concept System-level Detail Design Testing and Production
Planning Development Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Identify needs of Ulrich and Eppinger 2004

target market;
Select several product Example
concepts for further Needs of target market:
development and The nailer inserts nails in rapid succession.
testing The nailer is lightweight.
The nailer has no noticeable nailing delay after starting tool.

Product concepts:
Rotary motor with spring and single impact
Rotary motor with spring and multiple impacts
Linear motor with a moving mass and single impact
Product Development Process

Phase 0 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Concept System-level Detail Design Testing and Production
Planning Development Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Define product Ulrich and Eppinger 2004

architecture
Decompose product
into subsystems and
components
Define final assembly
scheme
Product Development Process

Phase 0 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Concept System-level Detail Design Testing and Production
Planning Development Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Complete Ulrich and Eppinger 2004

specification of
geometry, materials
and tolerances of all
parts
List of standard parts
to be purchased
Detailed drawings
Process plans for
fabrication and
assembly
Product Development Process

Phase 0 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Concept System-level Detail Design Testing and Production
Planning Development Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Building of alpha- and beta- prototypes

alpha: same material and geometry
- does it work?
- does it satisfy customer needs?
beta: parts supplied by production
process
- tested internally and by customers
- tested for performance and reliability
Product Development Process

Phase 0 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Concept System-level Detail Design Testing and Production
Planning Development Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Small volume
production to train
workforce and work
out any remaining
problems.

Finally…

LAUNCH!!
Idea Generation Techniques
• Creativity is an extremely important facet of life and is
a feature of many of the tasks we do every day.
• It can occur in a multitude of situations ranging from work
to pleasure, from artistic portrayals (music compositions,
new media art) to technological innovation.
• Most texts regard creativity as a beneficial process in an
organization and it has been said to offer a competitive
advantage in the design processes.
• Although creativity can be hard to measure, it is
understood as a vital area of research in a wide variety
of disciplines.
Idea Generation Techniques
• Idea generation, or the act of generating novel, applicable
ideas, is the activity most frequently associated with
creative problem solving (CPS).
• As the ideas generated in this stage are used throughout
the creative process, taking the idea generation phase
seriously is crucial to the success of the CPS process.
• Research has attempted to increase the number of ideas
produced by creative professionals because a direct
relationship between the number of initial ideas produced
and the quality of the final idea has been established.
Idea Generation Techniques
• One of the most influential early models of creativity
was proposed by Wallas.
• He divided the creative process into the four distinct phases
of Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Verification.
• Preparation involves gathering knowledge and
understanding the problem.
• In the Incubation phase, the subconscious takes over,
mulling over the problem without deliberate concentration.
• Illumination occurs as a sudden flash of light, when the
solution has been discovered.
• Verification consists of evaluation of the newly formed
idea.
 Idea Generation Techniques
• Warr and O’Neill synthesized
the main creativity models
into a unified model of Idea
Generation, Problem
Preparation and Idea
Evaluation.
• This Generic Creative Process
model stressed the
similarities of all previous
models and attempted to
reach a uniform consensus.
Idea Generation Techniques
• In order to help individuals in the idea generation
process, researchers have identified methods to
stimulate creative thought, generate more ideas,
and expand on the solution space.
• These techniques categorize the methods used by
creative professionals in pursuit of the creative
end product.
• Idea generation techniques consist of a mixture
of artificial formal techniques and classifications
of naturally occurring design practices.
 Idea Generation Techniques
• Design Cycle Model
• These phases are represented as distinct
circles due to the deliberate separation of
the design cycle by time management
practices.
• Under a strict deadline, designers must
ensure that they place clear boundaries
between the phases in the cycle, ensuring
that the product is delivered to the client on
schedule.
• When the designer leaves the idea
generation circle he or she has an idea that is
ready to implement.
• Following the completion of the solution, the
designer evaluates the solution and its
representation.
• This evaluation leads to a new insights
utilized in the next iteration of the design
cycle.
Idea Generation Techniques
• IR3 Idea Generation Model
• This model describes the fluid
cycle of idea generation
utilized by designers during
the conceptual stage of the
design cycle.
• Within this model the designer
generates and refines ideas,
eventually leaving the circle
with an idea that is ready to
implement and moving to the
next cycle in the overarching
design cycle.
Idea Generation Techniques
1. Role Playing: Role playing involves designers acting out
scenarios. These scenarios are often ones that the
designers observed during the research phase of the design
process when they participated in user research.
2. Active Search: Active search refers to designers hunting for
a particular solution. This hunt could range from a web
search for images of current vacuum cleaners to searching
through books, magazines, newspapers, etc. to find the
demographics of a particular population.
3. Attribute List: Attribute listing refers to taking an existing
product or system, breaking it into parts and then
recombining these to identify new forms of the product or
system.
Idea Generation Techniques
4. Brainstorm: Brainstorming involves generating a large
number of solutions to a problem (idea) with a focus on
the quantity of ideas. During this process, no ideas are
evaluated; in fact unusual ideas are welcomed. Ideas are
often combined to form a single good idea. Brainstorming
can be used by groups as well as individuals. Since
brainstorming was the first idea generation technique
created it is often referred to as, “the mother of all idea
generation techniques”.
5. Collaborate: Collaboration refers to two or more
people working together towards a common goal.
Designers often work in groups and co-create during
the entire creative process.
Idea Generation Techniques
6. Concrete Stimuli: Concrete stimuli are used when designers
want to gain new perspectives on a problem by manipulating
physical materials. This could be looking at paint chips, feeling
different material textures or physically maneuvering objects.
7. Critique: Critique refers to receiving input on current design
ideas. This could be collaborative such as receiving a design
critique from a colleague or individuals critiquing their own
ideas (either systematically or intrinsically). This technique
often spurs new thought by finding solutions to design flaws
within current concepts.
8. Documenting: Documenting refers to designers writing
down ideas (physically or electronically). This includes
journaling, writing stories, and taking notes.
Idea Generation Techniques
9. Expert Opinion: Designers often elicit opinions from experts to
identify potential problems with products or services before more
comprehensive evaluations. This occurs when they are looking for
an answer to a problem that is outside their domain knowledge or
when they want to test a new idea.
10. Empathy/User Research: User research requires the designer to
observe people in everyday situations in order to develop empathy
for them. The methods used to conduct this type of research is
founded in ethnographic research methods such as observations,
field studies.
11.Encompass: Encompassing is an inspirational technique which
involves designers immersing themselves in information relevant to
the current project.
Idea Generation Techniques
12. Forced Analogy: Forced analogy involves comparing the
current problem with something else that has little or nothing in
common in order to gain new insights and results. This technique
often generates ideas for new areas of research.
13. Incubate: Incubation refers to stepping back from the
problem to let the subconscious mind work.
14. Passive Searching: Passive searching refers to designers
looking through material (web, magazines, books) for inspiration
without searching for a particular solution to a problem. They
are simply looking for inspiration.
15. Prototyping: Prototyping, in this study, refers to a low fidelity
model of an idea. These models can be created with any type of
material (paper, clay, etc.) as they are only used to conceptualize
a thought.
Idea Generation Techniques
16. Reflect: Reflection occurs when designers review their
previous work (sketches, documents, prototypes, etc.)

17. Sketching: Sketching refers to a rough drawing of an idea.

18. Socializing: Socializing refers to talking with others about

topics unrelated to the current project.