A novel approach to product modularity and product disassembly with the consideration of 3R-abilities

In recent years, the production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has been one of the fastest growing areas of manufacturing. The recent European Community waste EEE directives aim to promote the recycling, reuse and reduction (3R) of such waste. The 3Rs are becoming increasingly important, due to current strict environmental regulations. However, research to enhance 3R-abilities with better design presents some difficulties: there is no present analysis of the impact of each of the 3Rs and analytical methods are often too complicated, so there is a need for practical and simple guidelines. To resolve these issues, this paper presents a novel approach that considers the relationships between product components and identifies the ideal product disassembly pattern and modularity by constructing a component matrix, with regard to product disassembly. The product disassembly, which identifies modules and disassembly pattern, also initiates a strategy to enhance 3R-abilities. Two cases are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

A methodology to redesign heterogeneous product portfolios as homogeneous product families

This paper presents a methodology to redesign heterogeneous product portfolios as homogeneous product families. A heterogeneous portfolio is one that has no common components, or shares a minimum number of components. The methodology proposed to homogenize the portfolio begins by analyzing the current product offerings to determine customer needs and functions. Then, a granulation process is initiated to remove redundancies, and identify physical function carriers to deliver the required functions. Next, function carriers are grouped on the basis of their functional commonalities into groups for parallel development. The applicability and the use of the methodology are illustrated through the redesign of an existing heterogeneous ‘office furniture’ product portfolio.     

An approach to competitive product line design using conjoint data

In today’s highly competitive environment, where market oriented firms aim to maximize profits through customer satisfaction, there is an increasing need to design a product line, rather than a single product. The main goal of designing a profit maximizing product line is to target the ‘right product’ to the ‘right customer’. Although conjoint analysis has turned out to be one of the most widely used techniques for product line design, it falls to explicitly consider retaliatory reactions from competitors. In this paper, we propose a new conjoint-based approach to competitive new product line design, employing the Nash equilibrium concept. The optimal product line design problem for each firm is formulated as a nonlinear integer programming problem. In the absence of a closed-form solution, to compute the Nash equilibrium and to determine the optimal product line, we propose a two-phase procedure: a sequential iterative procedure in the first phase, and backward induction in the second. To solve the optimization problem in each of the iterations of the sequential procedure, we used the branch-and-bound method. The proposed approach is illustrated under several scenarios of competition using previously published conjoint data.     

Eliciting and managing information for product definition

In recent years there has been considerable research in understanding and automating the overall design process, with a common goal of improving the quality of the end product. This project describes the methodology and validation processes for eliciting and managing product information for redesign of a whitewater cataraft Game. The customer information elicited from two groups of users-commercial and recreational-provide the product specifications for the redesign. Two iterations of the cataraft frame are demonstrated via use of a design database and the improvements in product quality and design time is experimentally validated.     

A systematic approach for coupling user satisfaction with product design

A fundamental assumption in this paper is that user satisfaction depends on product design. The approach consists of 5 steps: (1) define user satisfaction, (2) decompose product design elements, (3) conduct experiments, (4) develop relationship models, and (5) analyse critical design features. In order to demonstrate the practicability of this approach, relationship models were developed based on experimental data using a total of 60 subjects (30 American and 30 Korean subjects). In addition, critical design features and their common properties were identified for audio/visual consumer products. Similarities and differences between American and Korean consumers were discussed. The resulting relationship models can be used to predict user satisfaction and provide significant remedies for design change.     

A feature-based approach towards an integrated product model including conceptual design information

Due to the highly complex and informal data that has to be managed in the conceptual design this early design phase still lacks of suitable computer support. Furthermore, existing approaches towards a computer aided conceptual design are insufficiently integrated with the downstream applications of the product development process. The paper therefore introduces an approach towards a feature-based integrated product model that incorporates a feature-based representation scheme for capturing product semantics handled in the conceptual design phase and links early design with part and assembly modelling.     

Advanced product planning: a comprehensive process for systemic definition of new product requirements

This paper reports results of research into the definition of requirements for new consumer products––specifically, electro-mechanical products. The research dealt with the derivation of design requirements that are demonstrably aligned with stakeholder needs. The paper describes a comprehensive process that can enable product development teams to deal with statements of product requirements, as originally collected through market research activities, in a systematic and traceable manner from the early, fuzzy front end, stages of the design process. The process described has been based on principles of systems engineering. A case study from its application and evaluation drawn from the power sector is described in this paper. The case study demonstrates how the process can significantly improve product quality planning practices through revision of captured product requirements, analysis of stakeholder requirements and derivation of design requirements. The paper discusses benefits and issues from the use of the process by product development teams, and identifies areas for further research. Finally, the conclusions drawn from the reported research are presented.

A functional approach to redesign

This paper describes a methodology to assist in the identification of possible conceptual design variants during redesign. The approach is based on functional reasoning and involves: (1) the structural and functional analysis of an existing design; (2) the production of abstract representations of functions and design entities using conceptual graphs; and (3) design interrogation based on a functional tree approach. The research reported in this paper also focuses on the definition and the representation of elementary mechanical functions. Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) notations are used to structure in a computable form, the relevant information (or design knowledge) conceptualised in either the conceptual graphs or the functional trees. EBNF syntax is also used to formulate rules which aid the partial automation of the reasoning process. The EBNF notations can be mapped to any programming language. A diaphragm valve is used as a case study to demonstrate the approach.     

A new approach for minimum phase output definition

This paper presents a novel method for output redefinition for linear systems. The approach also determines possible relative degrees for the systems corresponding to any new output vector. To guarantee the minimum phase property with a prescribed relative degree, a set of new conditions is introduced. A key feature of these conditions is that there is no need to any form of transformations which make the scheme suitable for optimisation problems in control to ensure the minimum phase property. Moreover, the results are useful for sensor placement problems and for obtaining minimum phase approximations of non-minimum phase systems. Numerical examples including an example of unmanned aerial vehicle systems are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology.