MET270

Product Analysis Project

Fall 2014

ASSIGNMENT
Select a manufactured product to study. The product shall have at least one substantial
and unique part for each team member to analyze. Assume the product is to be massproduced (~100,000 per year) and all parts of the product are made in one big factory
from raw materials or basic forms. That is, nothing will be outsourced, not even
fasteners. You will reverse-engineer your part and plan a manufacturing system to
produce it. The goal of the project is to think carefully about how to mass-produce a
variety of parts in the most efficient way.
In addition, you will use your part as an opportunity for further study into a particular
manufacturing process. You must go outside of the DeGarmo textbook to learn about a
specific topic in manufacturing. Your source must be: either a journal article or
conference proceedings, or a book written on a specific manufacturing technique. Your
source must have been published after 2000, so it is relevant to manufacturing today.
For instance, if your part is cast from aluminum you might find an article about new
aluminum casting alloys and heat treating. Then in your report you would summarize
the article and write about how it is relevant to mass-producing your part. Please use
the library and our engineering technology librarian, Martin Wallace, to find a source.
Each team shall prepare a written report on their product and the factory to produce it.
The report should include the following in the order shown:

Product description
Make, Model and Price (real world)
Customers for this product (real world)
Assumptions about making the product for this assignment (materials, production
quantities, factory type and size, etc.)

Manufacturing System
Create a flow chart like Figure 2-5 in the power point presentation that shows the
progression from raw materials to a finished product. This may include parts you
are not analyzing.

Part Documents
Reverse engineer your part using a 3D modeling program (Solid Edge or
equivalent). Create a reasonably accurate 3D model of each part, then a
dimensioned drawing. Dimension and tolerance the main features of the part.
You may create a company title block. Be sure to include material on the
drawing.
Create route and process sheets like Figure 2-6 and 2-7 in the power point
presentation for each part. The route sheet shall describe each manufacturing
operation you think is required for your part, and the equipment and tooling
required. Also include in-process quality control operations. Design the
manufacturing process using lean concepts (eliminate waste, 100% quality,
single-piece flow, u-shaped cells). You may not be able to give as much detail as

MET270

Product Analysis Project

Fall 2014

found in the text; give your best assumptions. This is key section of your report
and will show me whether you have applied the material in the course.
Summarize the article or book section related to your part (3-4 paragraphs), then
tell me what you learned from researching your topic.

Factory Design
Work as a team to design a factory to create your product. It must include all of
the processes each team member needs to make their part, as well as assembly,
packaging, shipping and receiving.
Create a block diagram like Figure 2-4 in the power point presentation (simple
shapes describing each station) of your factory showing the part manufacturing
processes and the sub and final assembly processes. Use arrows to show part
and product flow. Make it as professional and neat as possible (no handwriting).

Teams are graded based on the completeness, accuracy, and quality of the
report.
See grading matrix posted on first class.
Review power point presentation made in class and posted on first class
for more detail.
Each team need to establish a project manager that can be the point of
contact for me and the teams should make any changes that are needed to
make your group work better.
All 11 team projects are due 12/15/14 at the beginning of the class.
Team participation forms are to be turned in 12/15/14 at the beginning of
the class. No hand written documents
Late projects of team participation forms will not be accepted.
Each team makes a short presentation about its product and factory.
Put the presentations on a flash drive no exceptions.
All teams will present on 12/15 in order during the scheduled finals time

9:15

12/15
to 11:30 in normal class room.
The presentation is to be 10 minutes + 0/ - 2 minutes - rehearse in advance
to make sure you meet the presentation length criteria. All information in
the presentation needs to be contained in the report. (The presentation is a
compressed version of your report).
Put presentation in a binder 2 tabs full project and power point

MET270

Product Analysis Project

Fall 2014