DISCUSSION QUESTION

  • Why is interfunctional cooperation important for new product design? What are the symptoms of a possible lack of interfunctional cooperation?
  • In what circumstances might a market-pull approach or a technology-push approach to new-product design be the best approach?
  • Describe the steps that might be required in writing and producing a play. Compare these steps to the three steps for NPD described in Section 3.2. Is there a correspondence?
  • Why has there been an increase in product variety in our economy?
  • How can the modular design concept control production variety and at the same time allow product variety?
  • What is the proper role of the operations function in product design?
  • What form does the product specification take for the following firms: a travel agency, a beer company, and a consulting firm?

Find examples of modular design of products in everyday life.

Work with one of your classmates as your customer; you are the supplier. Have your customer select a product and specify the customer attributes (CAs) that are desirable. Then you specify the engineering characteristics (ECs) required to meet the customer’s needs. Complete the house-of-quality matrix by specifying the relationships in the matrix. Ask your customer if the resulting ECs will meet his or her needs.

What are the essential benefits of using a QFD approach to product design? Also, identify any negative effects that might apply to the use of QFD.

A student would like to design a backpack for student books and supplies. The CAs are a (1) comfortable backpack that is (2) durable with (3) enough room and (4) not too heavy to carry. Think of some ECs that can be used to measure these customer attributes. Then construct a QFD matrix showing the positive and negative relationships that you expect to see in this case.

An entrepreneur is designing a sub sandwich shop that would be located on campus. Define the CAs that you would like to see for the service (not the product) delivered at this location. Then specify some ECs that can be used for measurement of the service.

Suppose a car you want to buy has five choices for interior colors, three types of radios, three engine choices, two battery types (regular and heavy duty), 10 exterior colors, two transmission choices, and four types of wheel covers. How many possible combinations of the car are possible for the manufacturer? What can be done to limit the number of combinations without limiting customer choice?