Chapter 4 Objectives

1. Explain the strategic importance of product and service design.

1) It has implications for the success and prosperity of an organization which:

i. Translates customer want and needs

ii. Refines existing products/services

iii. Develops new products/services

iv. Formulates quality goals

v. Formulates cost targets

vi. Constructs and test prototypes

vii. Documents specifications

2. List some key reasons for design or redesign.

1) Economic (e.g. low demand, excessive warranty claims, the need to reduce costs)

2) Social and demographic (e.g., aging baby boomers, population shifts)

3) Political and demographic (e.g., government changes, safety issues, new regulations)

4) Competitive (e.g., new or changed products or services, new advertising/promotions)

5) Cost or availability (e.g., of raw materials, components, labor)

6) Technological (e.g., in product components, processes)

3. Identify the main objectives of product and service design

1) Customer satisfaction

4. Discuss the importance of standardization.

1) Products are immediately available to customers

2) Interchangeable parts – lowers cost

3) Reduces time/cost to train employees

4) Lower design cost

5. Discuss the importance of legal, ethical, and environmental issues in product and service design.

1) Product liability – management is liable for injuries/damages caused by faulty product.

2) Must maintain ethical standards or risk damage to its reputation

3) Environmental issues are regulated

6. Briefly describe the phases in product design and development.

1) Idea generation

2) Feasibility analysis

3) Product specifications

4) Process specifications

5) Prototype development

6) Design review

7) Market test

8) Product introduction

9) Follow-up evaluation

7. Describe some of the main sources of design ideas.

1) Supply-chain based (Customers, suppliers, distributors, employees, etc.

2) Competitor based (reverse engineering)

3) Research based (Research and development R&D)

8. Name several key issues in manufacturing design.

1) Concurrent engineering – design and manufacturing are brought together to design

2) Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

3) Production requirements

4) Recycling

5) Remanufacturing

6) Component Commonality

9. Name several key issues in service design.

1) Degree of variation in service requirements

2) Degree of customer contact and customer involvement in the delivery system

10. Name the phases in service design.

1) Conceptualize

i. Idea generation

ii. Assessment of customer wants/needs

iii. Assessment of demand potential

2) Identify service package components needed (operations and marketing)

3) Determine performance specifications (operations and marketing)

4) Translate performance specifications into design specifications

5) Translate design specifications into delivery specifications

11. List the characteristics of well-designed service systems.

1) consistent with the organization mission

2) user friendly

3) robust if variability is a factor

4) Easy to sustain

5) Cost-effective

6) Value that is obvious to customers

7) Effective linkages between back of the house and front of the house operations(no contact with customer and direct contact with customers)

8) Have a single theme such as convenience or speed

9) Have design features/checks that will ensure reliable, high quality service

12. Name some of the challenges of service design.

1) Variable requirements – creates need for robust design

2) Service can be difficult to describe

3) Customer contact is much higher

4) Service/Customer encounter.