Shipulski On Design

Everything starts from what’s been done before.  Designing a new product starts with assessing the subassemblies of your existing product.  Here’s how the assessments go for the subassemblies.

First, make two Pareto charts: cost by subassembly and part count by subassembly.  Prioritize the subassemblies on the left of both charts.

If the functionality is sufficient and the cost is right, reuse it as-is.  This allows you to spend your time and energy elsewhere.

If the cost is right but the functionality needs to be adjusted, adjust it and move on.  The technical risk is low, and the cost will still be right.  Spend your energy where the problems are.

If functionality is good and the cost is high, simplify the product using part count reduction.  Create a bench test to verify functionality and robustness are better than the old one.

If the functionality is insufficient and the cost is too high, spend your energy here.  Create a bench test to quantify the performance of the existing subassembly.  Turn up the dials to increase the stress on the subassembly until it breaks.  Fix the part that breaks.  Repeat until you run out of time.  Create two Pareto charts for the subassembly: cost by part and part count by part type (main part, fastener, connector, protection, label).  Design out the highest cost parts and redesign the highest cost parts that remain.  Design out fasteners, connectors, protection parts, and labels.

Create a functional test for the product as a whole (think miles per gallon for a new car) and test the old one until it breaks.  Build the new product with the new subassemblies and test it until it breaks.  The performance must be better, and it must perform under stress longer than the baseline product.  Break the new product, fix the weakest link, and retest.  Do this until you run out of time and launch it.

This is The Way.

Image credit — George Redgrave