Manufacturing

Systems
Concurrent Engineering
 Concurrent Engineering
Concurrent Engineering:
Is a strategy where all the tasks involved in product
development are done in parallel.

Collaboration between all individuals, groups and

departments within a company.
• Customer research
• Designers
• Marketing
• Accounting
• Engineering
Concurrent Engineering
Suppliers R&D Customers

Commercial
Design Process Competitors Idea
Idea
Generation
Generation
Marketing

Product or Service concept

Feasibility
Feasibility
Study
Study
Performance Specifications

Linear Process
Preliminary
Form Design
Design Form Design
Revising and testing
prototypes

Functional Production
Functional Production
Design Design
Design Design
Design Manufacturing
Specifications Specifications

Pilot run and final

Pilot run and final
tests
tests

Final Design and

process plans

Product Launch
Product Launch
Concurrent Engineering

Techniques:
•Perceptual mapping
•Benchmarking
•Reverse Engineering
Concurrent Engineering

Perceptual Mapping
Good
Taste
Coco Pops

Low Cheerios High

Nutrition Nutrition
Rice Krispies

Shredded Wheat

Bad Taste

•Compares customers perception of available products

•Identifies gap in market
Concurrent Engineering

Benchmarking
• Get the best product available
• Base performance specifications for new product
on it

Reverse Engineering
• Dismantle and inspect competitors product(s)
• Select features to incorporate into new product
 Concurrent Engineering

Demand for the proposed product?

Cost of developing and producing the product?
Does company have manufacturing capability?
Skilled personnel?
 Concurrent Engineering

Form Design: Physical appearance of the product

Functional Design: Performance of the product
Production Design: How to manufacture product
Concurrent Engineering

•Prototype produced
•Adjustments made
•Final specification agreed
Concurrent Engineering

•Manufacturing process commences

•Product is marketed to buying public
Concurrent Engineering

Traditional Process = Linear

Vs
Concurrent Engineering = Team collaboration
Concurrent Engineering
Why Concurrent Engineering?
•Pace of market change has increased
•Companies must keep pace with changing
markets
•Decisions made sooner rather than later
•Reduces/eliminates repetition of tasks
•Reduces waste and reworking of design
•Product quicker to market
•Maximises company profit
•Company operates more efficiently
Concurrent Engineering
To make decisions concurrently:
• Team knows the design goals/objectives
• Team is aware of the interrelationships between
all aspects of the design process
• Superior communication between all sections of
the company

Method:
Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
 Concurrent Engineering

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Collection of matrices that converts the needs of the
customer into technical specifications at all stages of
the design and manufacture process.

Product Planning (most popular)

•House of Quality
 Concurrent Engineering
House of Quality 1. Customer requirements
prioritised (scale or %)
2. Competitive product evaluation
3. Engineering characteristics
4. Interrelationships of 1 & 3
5. Relations between engineering
5 characteristics
6. Targets for new product

1 4 2

6
 Concurrent Engineering
Example: Water-pond Alarm
1. Identify customer requirement and prioritise them
(scale or %)
 Concurrent Engineering
2. Compare product to competitors

weighting
Competitive
Assessment

Attribute   1 2 3 4 5
Sensitive to water
level 25   B A X  

Durable 15   A B X  

Makes a loud noise 10   B X A  

Inexpensive 25   B A X

Small 10   B A X  

Looks Good 15   B X A  
 Concurrent Engineering
3.Identify engineering characteristics

Complexity of circuit

Material for casing

Energy Efficiency

Cost of Sensor
Weighting
Attribute          

Sensitive to water level 25 ++ +   ++

Durable 15     +  
Makes a loud noise 10 + -    
Inexpensive 25 --   + --
Small 10 - -    
Looks Good 15     +  
 Concurrent Engineering
4. Identify strength of interrelationships between customer
requirements and the engineering characteristics.
Legend:

Complexity of circuit

Material for casing

Positive correlation +

Energy Efficiency

Cost of Sensor
Strong positive correlation ++
None

Weighting
Negative correlation -
Strong Negative correlation - -
Attribute          

Sensitive to water level 25 ++ +   ++

Durable 15     +  
Makes a loud noise 10 + -    
Inexpensive 25 --   + --
Small 10 - -    
Looks Good 15     +  
 Concurrent Engineering
Interpreting the matrix
Sensitivity to water level is likely to be very dependent on complexity
of circuit

Complexity of circuit

Material for casing

Energy Efficiency

Cost of Sensor
Increasing the noise level could
reduce the energy efficiency

Weighting
Attribute          

Sensitive to water level 25 ++ +   ++

Durable 15     +  
Makes a loud noise 10 + -    
Inexpensive 25 --   + --
Small 10 - -    
Looks Good 15     +  
 Concurrent Engineering
A complex circuit and quality sensor could increase cost of product

Complexity of circuit

Material for casing

Energy Efficiency

Cost of Sensor
The choice of material will affect the
durability of the product

Weighting
Attribute          

Sensitive to water level 25 ++ +   ++

Durable 15     +  
Makes a loud noise 10 + -    
Inexpensive 25 --   + --
Small 10 - -    
Looks Good 15     +  
 Concurrent Engineering
5. Identify correlation between engineering
characteristics.
A good quality
sensor could
Increasing complexity improve energy
of circuit could efficiency
require a more costly
sensor

Complex circuit
(more parts) could
reduce energy
efficiency
 Concurrent Engineering
6. Identify targets for new product

120

Target 120 <30

Concurrent Engineering

© 2002 DRM Associates

 Concurrent Engineering
Role of CAD in Design & Manufacture
•Model part or assembly being designed
•Part visualised and manipulated on screen
•Realistic
•Function tested
•Textures & lighting effects can be applied
•Photorealistic effects
•Manufacturing drawings generated automatically
•Modelled part and its manufacturing requirements
shared with the entire design and manufacturing team
 Concurrent Engineering
Role of CAD in Design & Manufacture
•Geometry from CAD system used to produce part on
CAM system
•CAD model used by marketing to create images for
packaging
•Simulate behaviour of product under stresses and
forces using CAE system
•Model data used by rapid prototyping machine
 Concurrent Engineering
Role of CAD in Design & Manufacture

Advantages:
•All above can be done concurrently
•Manufacturing problems identified early
•Changes in design can be seen immediately
•Speeds up design and prototyping processes
 Concurrent Engineering

Design for the Environment

There are three major elements of design for the

environment:
•Design for environmental manufacturing
•Design for environmental packaging
•Design for disposal and recyclability.
 Concurrent Engineering

Design for Environmental Manufacturing:

•Non-toxic processes & production materials
•Minimum energy utilization
•Minimize emissions
•Minimize waste, scrap & by-products
 Concurrent Engineering

Design for Environmental Packaging:

•Minimum of packaging materials
•Reusable pallets and packaging 
•Recyclable packaging materials
•Bio-degradable packaging materials
 Concurrent Engineering

Design for Disposal & Recycling:

•Re-use/refurbishment of components & assemblies
•Material selection to enable re-use (e.g., thermoset
plastics vs. thermoplastics) and minimize toxicity
•Avoids filler material in plastics such as fibreglass and
graphite
•Minimum number of materials/colours to facilitate
separating materials and re-use
•Design for serviceability to minimize disposal of non-
working products
 Concurrent Engineering

Design for Disposal & Recycling:

•Material identification to facilitate re-use
•Design to enable materials to be easily separated
•Design for disassembly (e.g., fracture points, fastening vs.
bonding)
•Avoid use of adhesives
•Limit contaminants - additives, coatings, metal plating of
plastics, etc.
•Maximize use of recycled or ground material with virgin
material
 Concurrent Engineering

Impact of Product Life Cycle on the Environment

•Product life cycle = design, manufacture, use & disposal

stages of product

•Minimise a products negative impact on the environment

•Incorporate DfE considerations into design process of a

new product
 Concurrent Engineering
Case study 1: Desktop computer
Design Stage:
•The design could specify the following
•Reusable components e.g. monitor, keyboard
•Recycled materials where possible
•Minimise toxic materials used
Manufacture:
•Use ethical work practices and sources for raw materials
•Use ‘clean’ manufacturing processes
•Minimise transport of components and materials
•Implement quality procedures to minimise waste etc.
Use:
•Low power consumption
•Serviceable items rather than replaceable e.g. disk drive, peripherals etc.
Disposal:
•Design for disassembly – use easily dismantled fixings etc.
•Identify materials used for recycling
•Minimise mixed materials to facilitate separation later
 Concurrent Engineering
Role of Testing in Product Design

•Cannot predict with absolute certainty how product

will perform
•Need test product before mass production
•Mass production very costly to setup
•Changes cannot be made easily
•Speeds up design and prototyping processes
 Concurrent Engineering
Role of Testing in Product Design

Possible tests:
•Product meets performance specifications
•Expected life of product
Accelerated testing
•Likely cause of failure
Concurrent Engineering
Performance test: Pond Alarm
Test Procedure Minimum Result
performance
Casing Seal Submerge in water for No evidence of water
8 hours ingress
Remove, Dry,
disassemble and
inspect

Sensitivity of sensor Submerge probes to Alarm should trigger

8mm in sample of pond before 8mm is reached
water Alarm should reset
Retract within 1 min

Battery life Trigger alarm and Alarm should sound for

measure time until 1 hour minimum
battery depletes.

Ability to withstand Place in freezer at No damage should be

extreme weather -15°C and in oven at apparent to casing or
50°C for 1 hour function

Alarm Volume Trigger in an Should be audible up

unobstructed area then to 30m
move away until alarm
is no longer audible
 Concurrent Engineering
Role of Accelerated Testing

•Used when expected life is long to capture life data

•Life data is needed to estimate the reliability of a product
•Tests are conducted on a sample or prototype
•Tests cause product to fail in same manner as normal use
•Test time is greatly reduced
Product is quicker to market
Low development and warranty costs

Qualitative or Quantitative
 Concurrent Engineering
Qualitative Accelerated Tests
•To reveal probable failure modes
•Good tests quickly reveal failure modes
•Improve design product
•Performed on small number of samples
•Product subjected to one severe level of stress
e.g. Stress cycling or hot to cold
•Product intact – pass
•Failure - action taken to eliminate cause of failure
•Only tests conditions encountered in real use
•Cannot be used to quantify life of product
 Concurrent Engineering

Quantitative Accelerated Life Tests

•Quantify the life of the product

•Controlled application of accelerated stress conditions
to simulate product failure
•Reduces the time-to-failure for a product
•Data used to estimate reliability of product
 Concurrent Engineering

Example:
A washing machine to last for ten years in normal use.
Expected typical household use: three times a week for a wash
cycle that will last for 2 hours on average.

What type of test should be used?

How long must the machine survive during the test?

Total hours life required for the machine is:

2 hours/wash x 3 washes/week x 52 weeks/year x 10 years = 3120
hours

Use a quantitative accelerated test. Run the machine constantly for

3120 hours
 Concurrent Engineering
Sample Paper: HL
Explain why accelerated testing is used on some products.
Some products have a long life – need to test reliability
– quantify life of product - warranty
A washing machine will be used for two hours per day, three
days per week in normal use. What type of accelerated testing
will determine the lifetime of the washing machine?
Quantitative test – data is used to determine expected normal life
time of product
During testing, the washing machine ran for 3000 operating
hours before failing. Recommend a suitable guarantee period
for the washing machine and give reasons for your
recommendation.
2hrs/day x 3days/week = 6hrs/week
3000/6 = 566.67 weeks
566.67/52 = 10.8975
Guarantee period = 10 years.