ÜRETİM YÖNETİMİ - Deneme Sınavı - 4

The followings are some examples for them.
• 3D TVs in the introduction phase
• Blu Ray discs in the growth phase
• DVD and flash disks in the maturity phase
• Video cassette and floppy disc in the decline phase

Creativity is the ability to combine ideas in new ways to solve problems and exploit opportunities.

Concept development: In this stage, the idea is evaluated in terms of viability for the company, based on its strengths, capabilities and market demands.

Use common components and processes: In order to reduce the number of parts used, the design team can use parts that are common across several products or used in several processes. For example, a company manufactures 100 different types of refrigerators but do not use 100 different motors. Instead, they can use 5 to 10 different motors for all these 100 different refrigerators.

One of the important product design tools is quality function deployment (QFD). It is first used in Japan in the late 1960s as a form of cause-and-effect analysis, and it was brought to the United States in the early 1980s.

Defining the relationship is the first step in building a world-class production system.

Dr. Genichi Taguchi is a Japanese quality guru known with his work in the field of product design. According to his research, almost 80 percent of all defective items are caused by poor products design.

Job-shop processes: Generally job shop operates on a relatively small scale. In jobshop processes a high variety products in small batches with different processing requirements are produced.

The Product Life Cycle

Every product has a life span and they are born then they live and die. Every product goes out of the market by changes in the market sooner or later. The lives of products are changing from one product to another, from a few months to several decades. However, the structure of product life cycles are the same for all the products regardless of the length of the cycle. The phases of the products in the product life cycle are birth or introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

The Product Life Cycle

Since companies know that products they sell have a limited lifespan, most of them invest heavily in new product development in order to make sure that their businesses continue to grow.

Product Strategy

Product strategy defines the direction of the product and what the company wants to achieve.

Product Strategy

While companies try to construct strategies for the products in order to be successful in the competitive markets they need to know the activities and responsibilities of product design. So, they become conscious of the value of product design for their customers and themselves. The followings are some of the essential activities and responsibilities of a product design (Stevenson, 2009, p. 132):

Product Development Process

In the product development process, creativity, understanding, communication, testing and persuasion activities are essential for the success. Product development process is separated into three phases (Otto & Wood, 2001, p. 14).

The Design Process

Walsh et al. (1992) identify four “Cs” of design:

The Design Process

In design process creativity, design and innovation terms are used extensively and synonymously. Many countries encourage their own local manufacturers to design new products in order to help companies compete in the global market. Such attempts discover the value of design and promote it as an engine of innovation in products and business processes. Design takes new improved technologies out of research and development and into the market as original and usable products.

The Design Process

The followings are the design principles to simplify the products and processes (Martinich, 1997, p. 219): 1. Minimize the number of parts used 2. Use common components and processes 3. Use standard components and tools 4. Simplify assembly 5. Use modularity to obtain variety 6. Make product specifications and tolerances reasonable 7. Design products to be robust.

The Design Process

Four product design characteristics especially affect the ease and quality of assembly:

Quality Function Deployment

One of the important product design tools is quality function deployment (QFD). It is first used in Japan in the late 1960s as a form of cause-and-effect analysis, and it was brought to the United States in the early 1980s. Most of its popularity comes as a result of numerous successes in the automotive industry. QFD is transferring the voice of the customer to the design specifications of a product. During the implementation of this method multi-disciplinary teams from marketing, design, engineering and manufacturing are used in the organizations. QFD process starts by determining the requirements of the customer then finishes by translating these customer desires into the target design. The idea of QFD is to understand the desires of customers and to identify alternative process solutions. This information is then integrated into the evolving product design. QFD is used early in the design process to determine the needs and requirements of the customer and where to deploy quality efforts.

Product design can bring many opportunities to the company in the competitive market such as increasing market share, new customers and new products. Product design is the process of deciding on the characteristics and features of the company’s product based on customer’s needs and requirements. It is a critical process for a company and uses company’s core competencies and tries to find out the other competencies that must be developed. Moreover, product design causes changes by new products and markets for the rejuvenation of the company.

Many global companies are aware of having products that satisfy the needs and requirements of the customers. Otherwise, the existence and survival of the company are in danger. A good product is one of the essential factors of a company to be successful in the market.