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ETM 551 Lecture 5 -Concept Generation.ppt 2 Concept Generation Example: Power Nailer • What existing solution concepts, if any, could be successfully adapted for this application?. Conce

Product Design & Development

Concept Generation

ETM 551 Lecture 5 -Concept

Generation.ppt

2

Concept Generation Example:

Power Nailer

• 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?

Concept Development

Process

Perform Economic Analysis Benchmark Competitive Products Build and Test Models and Prototypes

Identify Customer

Needs

Establish Target Specifications

Generate Product Concepts

Select Product Concept(s)

Set Final Specifications

Plan Downstream Development

Mission

Statement Test

Product Concept(s)

Development Plan

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 developmenttime

• Because the concept genaration activity is not costly, there is no excuse for lack of diligenceand care in executing asound concept

generation method

Preliminary questions

After identifying customer needs and

establishing target product specifications, the

team should ask:

• What existing solutions could be adapted for this application?

• What new concepts might satisfy these needs and specifications?

• What methods can be used to facilitate concept

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Concept generation activity

• Structured approaches reduce the

likelihood of costly problems

– Common dysfunctions during concept

– 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

• Classification tree

• Combination table

5 Reflect on solution and process

• Constructive feedback

SUBPROBLEMS

NEW CONCEPTS

EXISTING CONCEPTS

INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

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.

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Customer needs

– 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

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Target specifications (cont)

• 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 problems.(Problem decomposition)

sub-ETM 551 Lecture 5 -Concept

Problem Decomposition:

Function Diagram

Store nails

Store or accept external energy

Isolate nail

Convert energy to translational energy

Apply translational energy to nail

Energy

nail

Hand-held nailer

Energy (?)

Signal (?) Material (nails)

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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

subfunction technology Be sure to

generalize the diagram to the appropriate level of abstraction

Tips to get started

• Follow one of the flows (e.g., materials) and determine what operations are

required

The details of the other flows can be

derived by thinking about their

connections to the initial flow

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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.

Products with very simple technical functions involving

a lot of user interactions

Products in which form, and not working principles or technology, is the primary problem

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

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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 and Internet Searches:

Hints for finding related solutions

• Literature

– technical journals – conference

proceedings – trade literature – government reports

ETM 551 Lecture 5 -Concept

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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.

ETM 551 Lecture 5 -Concept

– 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 (cont)

• 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

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Hints (cont)

• Use the gallery method

– Use the gallery method to display a large

number of concepts simultaneously for

discussion.

• 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

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Solutions for two of the

nailer’s subproblems

The nailer:

Step 4 - Explore systematically

• After external and internal search there

are probably tens or hundreds of solutions

to subproblems, or concept fragments

• Navigate the space of possibilities…

– With the concept classification tree

– With the concept combination table

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Concept classification tree

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

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Concept combination table

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Managing the exploration

process

• Combination tables and classification treesare 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

ETM 551 Lecture 5 -Concept

• 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?

• A product concept is an approximate

description of the technology, working

principles, and form of the product

• The concept generation begins with a set

of customer needs and target

specifications

• In most cases an effective team will

generate hundreds of concepts, of which 5

ETM 551 Lecture 5 -Concept