This post- What Engineers Do During The Design Phase, is part 3 of the ‘Role of an Engineer’ series. If you missed part 1- Welcome To The Role Of An Engineer Series or if you missed part 2- What Engineers Do During The Define Phase you should definitely read these posts first since these phases build on one another.
This series is based on my experience as an engineer. Although the New Product Development Process is used in many industries, the exact tasks may vary.
The five phases of the New Product Development (NPD) Process include:
- Define
- Design
- Develop
- Test
- Launch
Design Phase
Steve Jobs summed it up best when he said, “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.”
In the Design phase of the NPD process, the brainstorming and prototyping starts. This is an iterative process. It involves purchasing materials, building prototypes, testing the prototypes, redesigning, and starting all over.
Below are the key tasks an engineer is responsible for during the Design phase:
- Translating the user needs into technical requirements
- Brainstorming potential solutions and choosing the most viable options to turn into prototypes
- Determining how to build the prototypes
- Finding vendors to source materials and components for the prototypes
- Testing the prototypes
- Redesigning the prototypes based on test results and re-testing
Translating User Needs Into Technical Requirements
The market specifications, or the user needs, are translated into product specifications. These are the technical requirements that the product must meet in order to function. What does that mean?
Let’s take a pen for example. A user requirement could be “Must fit comfortably in hand”. This is a requirement the user would expect from a pen.
The engineering team then translates these requirements into technical specifications. These specifications will control the design to ensure it is meeting the customers’ needs.
To continue with the pen example, a product specification for the market specification above could be the “Pen’s diameter must be 12mm +/- 1mm”.
Notice this specification is precise and measurable. This process is completed for every market specification until each of them has at least one product specification to control it.
Engineers will develop test methods for each product specification. The test methods will be used to demonstrates that the design meets the requirement.
For the pen, the engineering team would need to determine how to measure the pen’s diameter to verify it meets the product specification. A LaserMike is a piece of equipment that is used to measure the diameter of a product.
Prototyping
Once the product specifications are identified based on design needs, the actual designing starts! The engineers will brainstorm potential solutions, select the most viable options, and start prototyping.
Equipment to build the prototypes and materials are ordered so everything can be fabricated.
Engineering may reach out to manufacturing to get prototypes made depending on the severity of the change. If it is a drastic change, chances are manufacturing will not have the equipment on hand to complete the prototyping. In this case, a prototyping line will be set up. This is separate from the production line. Then, engineers can make prototypes quickly. They will also avoid interfering with the manufacturing of products that are already on the market.
Sometimes, the equipment used during prototyping is not the same as the actual manufacturing equipment which produces the final product. Therefore, it is important to understand how the manufacturing process could impact the design. Specifically, when the testing and selection are being completed.
An Iterative Process
Once prototypes are built, preliminary testing is completed. Prototypes are also brought to the customer to be assessed.
A lot of iterating happens in this phase. Prototypes are built and tested. Then, they are updated depending on the testing results and the feedback from the customer. You want to conduct rigorous testing on the prototypes during this phase. Early in the project, you want to learn about the different failure modes to limit surprises towards the end of the project.
This can take time, but it is worth it so you do not run into issues after the product is launched. You also do not want to move forward with a design that has not been thoroughly vetted. This could cost the company a lot of time and money if a design is pushed forwarded, only to find out later that it is not a viable option.
Vendor Research
Vendors (also called suppliers) are other companies that can provide the material or component you need. These companies are researched during this phase. Ideally you want multiple suppliers for a component or material. It is best not to rely on one supplier. This is because if they decide to stop manufacturing the item, then you have to find a replacement when the product is launched.
This could lead to a back-order situation, meaning there are orders that cannot be filled because product cannot be built. Also, that supplier would have a monopoly on the price since there is no competition. Therefore, choosing a material and component that multiple suppliers can make is best.
Meeting With Vendors
Interfacing with vendors was one of the challenges I faced as a new engineer. I was really nervous reaching out to vendors and describing what I needed This was because I was not really familiar with their processes. Coming out of college I really lacked the understanding of different types of manufacturing processes.
I was worried I would look dumb or not be able to answer their questions. Also, I was anxious about saying something I was not supposed to. I did not know how much information I was allowed to give them about the product their component was going into.
To overcome this, I tried to research the products the vendor produced. Then, I would research the manufacturing capabilities they listed on their website. This would give me a better understanding if they would be able to create the component I needed.
The first few times I met with vendors my boss came with me, which helped a lot. I saw how he interacted, the types of questions he asked, and took notes. After taking these steps, I was able to get over the intimidation of interacting with vendors.
Vendors play a large role in any project you are on, so I had to get over this concern fast!
Design Phase Case Study
In 2017, Juicero Press was launched and in 6 short months was taken off the market.
This product was designed to make juice from organic fruits and vegetable packs. These packs were sold specifically for the press, only from the company making the juicer. The juicer operated similarly to a Keurig, but with fruits and vegetables instead of coffee packets.
This $400 juice press had over 400 custom parts and delivered over 4 tons of force! Was all this necessary to replace the task of squeezing an orange by hand? Evidently not.
This is an example of over designing a product. Instead of making a simpler low cost solution, the company tried to make a high end design with all of the bells and whistles. The more custom parts a product has, the more it is going to cost to make, and the more the price to the consumer will go up.
Unfortunately, the market spoke and no one wanted to spend this much on a juicer. Another inconvenience to the user was that the fruit and veggie packets were sold only by the company through subscription.
This example illustrates the importance of design. Having the most technologically advanced product on the market is not always the best. Does your juicer need to connect to the internet?
Probably not.
Simple designs should be the goal. This is the premiss behind the KISS acronym, “keep it simply, stupid”. They are easier to manufacture, maintain, and can be sold at a lower cost to the consumer. This principle was obviously not applied to a juicer with over 400 custom parts and cost $400.
Summary
The goal of this phase is to challenge the prototypes and fail fast. You want to make sure you are considering all of the possibilities for how the design can fail before heading into the next phase, which is Development. Each phase you move into will cost the company more money and more resources. Therefore, it is critical to get the upfront work done correctly!
In summary, the tasks an engineer will need to complete during the Design phase include:
- Translating the user needs into technical requirements
- Brainstorming potential solutions and choosing the most viable options to turn into prototypes
- Determining how to build the prototypes
- Finding vendors to source materials and components for the prototypes
- Testing the prototypes
- Redesigning the prototypes based on test results and re-testing