Riga Technical University

Product Design and Development

Rpniecisko raojumu projektana
Course code MRA716
Lecture 2
1

2. Design and Development Process Organization

A product design and development process is the
sequence of steps or activities, which are necessary to organize
rationally designing, manufacturing and commercialization of a
product.
A well defined development process is useful for the following
reasons:
1. Quality assurance

applying of engineering experience in the field of design

and development

2. Coordination
3.
4.
5.

roles of each participants in the development team are defined

(they know, when their contributions will be needed and with whom they will need
to exchange information and materials)
Planning development process contains milestones; the timing of these
milestones ensures the schedule of the overall process
Management identifying possible problem areas by comparing the actual
events with the scheduled process
Improvement careful documentation of the development process helps to
identify opportunities for improvement
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Rational product development process

(main phases)

Phase 0. Product Planning

Main activities and content of this phase:
(a) Assessment of market and present technology
development
(b) Goal of the project (main positive result which is expected)
(c) Application (or function) of the product (e.g.,
machine) to be designed
(d) Field of use (operation conditions of the product)
(e) Technical and economic requirements
(f) Limitations
(constraints)
on
design
and
development
3

Phase 1. Concept Development

A concept is a description of the form, function and features of the
product on principle level. For example, in mechanical engineering,
concept is an operation principle of machine or device to be developed.
Concept can be presented by a set of specifications, models of product to
be developed, diagrams, etc.
Alternative product concepts are generated and evaluated, taking account
of the needs of the target market, goal, technical & economic requirements
and limitations (see phase 0).

Phase 2. System-Level Design

This phase includes the definition of the product architecture (or structure)
and the decomposition of the product into subsystems and components.
Architecture describes internal arrangement of the product to be designed:
main elements and interconnections between them;
functional specification of each subsystem;
preliminary flow diagram for the final assembly process.
4

Structure of product

can be described with the aid of

functional diagram (scheme).

Example. Drive of conveyer

Functional scheme
Energy source

Mechanism
for motion transformation

Pulley of conveyer
with belt

More detailed description of the structure can be done, using

kinematic diagram, electric circuit, hydraulic scheme, etc.
Type of description is dependent on characteristics of an object to
be designed.
Example: kinematic diagram of conveyers drive includes the
following main units:
electric motor; belt transmission; reduction
gear box; coupling; pulley with belt.
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Phase 3. Detail Design

This phase includes the following main activities:
Robust calculations of main products parts
Designing of technology and tooling for each part to be fabricated
Making of drawings for each part to be fabricated
Identification of all of the standard parts and units to be purchased
from suppliers
5) Making of assembly drawings
1)
2)
3)
4)

The output of this phase is the control documentation for the

product, which includes:
1) The drawings or computer files describing the geometry of each part
and its production tooling
2) The specifications of the purchased parts
3) The assembly drawings
4) The process plan for the fabrication and assembly of the product

Two critical points of this phase:

production cost;
robust performance

Phase 4. Testing and Refinement

This phase includes making and evaluation of preproduction
versions of the product.
(a) Early (alpha) prototypes are built with the same geometry and
material as intended for the production version, but fabrication process is
more simple
Alpha prototypes are tested to determine:
whether the product will work as designed;
whether the product satisfies the key customer needs

(b) Later (beta) prototypes are built with parts supplied by the intended
production process, but may not be assembled using the intended final
assembly process
Beta prototypes are evaluated:
internally (by designing or manufacturing company)
by customers in their own use environment
The goal to answer questions about performance and reliability in
order to identify necessary engineering changes for the final product
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Phase 5. Production ramp-up

During this phase, the product is made using the intended (final)
production process.
The purpose of the ramp-up is to train the work force and to work
out any remaining problems in the production process.
Products are supplied to preferred customers and are carefully
evaluated to identify any remaining flaws.

At some points in the gradual transition from production ramp-up

to ongoing (or serial) production, the product is launched and
becomes available for widespread distribution.

Key activities and responsibilities of the different

functions of the company during each development phase

Key activities and responsibilities

during each development phase (continuation)

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