Product Design

Dr Deivanathan R
Assoc Prof., SMBS, VIT Chennai
 Introduction
• The economic future of India depends on our
ability to design, make and sell competitive
products. Excellent design and effective
manufacture are the pre-requisites.
• It is usually said that design is the essence of
engineering.
• The ability to design is both a science and an art.
The science can be learned through procedures
developed by eminent scholars. But the art can
be learned only by doing design.
 Product
• A product is the tangible end result of a manufacturing
process and is meant for satisfying human needs. The
product can be classified as follows: -
Convenience goods
• E.g. Cigarette, Candy, Magazines etc.
Shopping goods
• E.g. Jewellary garments etc.
Specialty goods
• E.g. Rare objects like stamps.
Industrial goods.
• Eg. Raw materials.
Requirements in a good product: -
Customer Satisfaction & Profit
• How to achieve customer
satisfaction?
• The product should function
properly.
• It must have desired accuracy
• It must have desired reliability
• It must be easy to operate
• It must be serviceable
• It must make minimum space
utilization
• It must withstand rough
handling
• Pleasant appearances.
• Reasonable price.
• How can it be profitable?
• It must be easy to
manufacture
• The raw material must be
cheap and easily available
• The manufacturing process
has to the decided on the
basis of quantity to be
produced
• It must use standard parts
• It must be easy to pack and
distribute.
 Design
• Definition of Design:
• “Design is that which defines solutions to problem
which have previously been solved in a different
way”
• “ Design is the conscious human process of
planning physical things that display a new form
in response to some pre-determined need”.
• “Design is an act of collecting all pertinent
information for the production of goods and
services to meet some human need”.
 Design
• The design of any component includes two things,
• Product design
• Process design
• The product design involves the development of
specification for a product that will be functionally
sound, good in appearance, and will give satisfactory
performance for an adequate life.
• The process design involves developing methods of
manufacture of the products so that the component
can be produced at a reasonably low cost.
 History of Design Process
• Design by Single Person
• Over-the-wall design
• Simultaneous Engineering
• Concurrent Engineering
• Integrated design and Manufacture.
Over the wall Design:
In this method each functional departments were separated from others, as shown by wall.
There was only one-way communications between Customer, Marketing, Engg. Design and
production department. This single direction over-the-wall approach is inefficient and costly
and may result in poor quality products.

By the early 1980's the concept of simultaneous engineering emerged. Here, the goal was the
simultaneous development of the product and the manufacturing process. This was
accomplished by assigning manufacturing representatives to be members of design team, so
that they could interact with the design engineers throughout the designs process.
Concurrent Engineering:
In the 1980's the simultaneous design philosophy was broadened and called concurrent
engineering.
A short definition of concurrent engineering is the simultaneous progression of all aspects,
at all stages of product development, product specification, design, process and equipment
etc.
In concurrent engineering the primary focus is on the integration of teams of people having
a stake in the product, design tools, and techniques and information about the product and
the processes used to develop and manufacture it. Tools and techniques connect the teams
with the information.
 Features of design process
The following features can be observed in a design process.

• Iteration
• Decision-making
• Conversion of resources
• Satisfaction of need

• Design is completed in many phases. In each phase, repeated attempts are

required to accomplish the aim. A satisfactory conclusion can be reached
on, only after a number of trials.
• Decision-making is essential for a designer to select one out of several. A
designer often comes across several equally acceptable alternatives to
meet some end. In such conflicting situations, designer has to make the
best decision.
• In any design process, there is conversion of resources such as time,
money, talent, materials and other natural resources.
• All designs are aimed at satisfying some human need. Needs, whether
important or unimportant is the starting point of design.
 Design by evolution
• This implies the traditional method of design in which the objects and articles that
we see around has taken its present form by gradual change over time.
• If one looks at history it can be seen that most of the tools, equipments,
implements, took a long time to acquire their present form. Each change was
made to rectify some defects or difficulties faced by the users.
• Bicycles, calculators, computers, steam locomotives etc. all went through a process
of evolution in which designers tried one concept after another.
• However, this evolutionary process is very slow. i.e., it took a very long period of
time to occur even a slight modification.
• In modern design situations the evolutionary methods are not adequate because of
the following reasons.
• 1. The traditional designing did not consider the interdependence of products.
They were concerned about only one component /product. But in the modern
world, the existence of one product is dependent on another in some way or
other.
• 2. Requirements of the customers of today's world changes so frequently.
Traditional design lags behind the advanced product & process technologies
available today.
• 3. Traditional design methods cannot cope with competitive requirements of the
modern world.
• Due to the above reasons modern design problem cannot be handled by
traditional methods.
 Design by Innovation
• Nowadays almost all designs are made by innovation. i.e.,
developments of a product by following scientific and purposeful
effort.
• The innovative design is entirely different from the past practice of
evolutionary design. Here the designer's task is greatly magnified. He
has to design and create something, which did not exist yet. Here he
tries to solve the design problem in a systematic and orderly manner.
This approach is similar to analytical problem solving.
• However, an innovative designer faces the following difficulties.

1. He has to collect and evaluate information on a product, which is non-

existing yet.
2. Necessity of analyzing complicated interaction of components.
3. He has to make predictions regarding its performance.
4. He has to ensure the technical and economical feasibility of the product.
 Methods of Innovative Design
• As we know, innovative design is an organized, systematized and logical approach
for solving a design problem. There are two design methods for innovative design.
• Design by creative design route
• Engineering Design

• Design by creative route [Creative Design]

• This is a design method that demands maximum ‘creativity' from the part of the
designer in solving his problems.

• Creativity
• Majority of designs belong to variant design, where the designer simply modifies
an existing system. But the success of engineering design depends on the modes
of thinking and acting distinctively different from others. A creative designer is
distinguished by his ability to synthesize new combinations of ideas and concepts
into meaningful and useful forms.
• Design is commonly thought of as a creative process involving the use of
imagination and lateral thinking to create new and different products.
 Qualities of a creative designer
The creative designer is generally a person of average intelligence, a visualiser, a hard
worker and a constructive non-conformist with average knowledge about the problem
at hand.
Generally, a creative designer has the following qualities.
• Visualization ability.
Creative designers have good ability to visualize, to generate and manipulate visual
images in their heads.
• Knowledge
All designers start their job with what they know. During designing, they make minor
modifications of what they already know –or, creative designers create new ideas out
of bits of old designs they had seen in the past. Hence, they must have knowledge of
past designs.
• Ability to manipulate knowledge
The ability to use the same knowledge in a different way is also an important quality
of a designer.
• Risk taking
A person who does not take the risk of making mistakes cannot become a good
designer. For example, Edison tried hundreds of different light bulb designs before he
found the carbon filament.
 Qualities of a creative designer
Non-conformist
There are two types of non-conformists:-constructive and obstructive. Constructive
non-conformists are those who take a firm stand, because they think they are right.
Obstructive non-conformists are those who take a stand just to have an opposing view.
The constructive non-conformists might generate a good idea. But the obstructive
non-conformists will only slow down the design process. Creative designers are
constructive non-conformists, and they want to do things in their own way.
• Technique
Creative designers have more than one approach to problem solving. They are
prepared to try alternative techniques, till they reach a satisfactory solution.
• Motivation
They always motivate others in the design team. In such a favourable environment
creativity is further enhanced.
• Willingness to practice
Creativity comes with practice. Creative designers are ready to practice for a long
enough period.
 Roadblocks to Creativity
• Fear of making a mistake
• Unwillingness to think and act in a way other than the accepted norm.
• Desire to conform to standard solutions.
• Unwillingness to try new approaches
• Fear of criticism
• Lack of knowledge
• Overconfidence due to past experience
• Unwillingness to reject old solutions
• Fear of authority
• Difficulty in visualization
• Inability to distinguish between cause and effect
• Inability to collect complete information
• Unwillingness to be different
 Methods to enhance Creativity

• Use of analogy
• Asking question from different view points
• Memories of past designs
• Competitive products
• Deliberate day-dreaming
• Reading science fictions, etc.
Intuition
• Intuition means sudden ideas or flashes of inspiration and
involves complex associations of ideas, elaborated in
subconscious mind. Intuitive ideas lead to a large number
of good and even excellent solutions.
 Creative Design Route
• During preparation period, the designer
analyses the need and collect all the
necessary information required at
various stages.
• Concentration is the period when the
designer digests all the aspects of the
problem situation and tries various
possible combinations.
• The next step is the incubation period.
The designer relaxes away from the
problem for some time.
• Illumination is the sudden insight and
throwing up with a solution.
• The final step is the verification. Now,
testing and inspection of the design is
done and the details are completed.
• For a designer using creative methods
for design, habitual or familiar methods
must be avoided.
 ENGINEERING DESIGN
• This is a logical and intellectual attempt to solve design problems. It largely depends on discoveries
and laws of science.
• Any design work starts with Recognition of the need . The need for a design is initiated by either a
market requirement, the development of a new technology or the desire to improve an existing
product.
• Once the need has identified, the next step is to define the design problem . The definition of the
problem expresses as specifically as possible, what the design is intended to accomplish. It should
include objectives and goals, definitions of any special technical terms, the constraints on the
design and the criteria that will be used to evaluate the designs.
• The success of a design project depends on the clarity in the definition of the problem. Need
Analysis is the technique used to define the problem.
• The next step is collecting information . In many phases of deign process a large quantity of
information may be required. The required information can be obtained from textbooks, journals,
or other agencies.
• The conceptualization step involves, finding several design ideas to meet the given need.
Inventiveness and creativity is very important in this step.
• The different ideas conceived are weighted and judged in the evaluation step. The advantages and
disadvantages of each idea against its performance, cost aesthetics etc is valued.
• After evaluation, the best design is emerged. This final design with every detail is furnished in last
step-ie communicating the design.
•
 Problem-solving Methodology

• Knowingly or unknowingly we follow six basic actions when

we try to find solution of any problem.
1. Establish or convince ourselves that there ‘is' a problem. Or
we understand that a solution is needed.
2. Plan how to solve this problem
3. By analyzing the problem we decide what is actually
required from the problem-solver. Or we decide the
requirements.
4. Generate alternative solutions.
5. Evaluate the alternatives.
6. Present the acceptable solution.
 Design Process- Simplified Approach
• A simplified approach to designing outlined by Morris Asimow is
given below.
• According to him the entire design process in its basic forms
consists of five basic elements as given below.
 Design Process- Simplified Approach
Design operations imply the various processes done during designing. These include
• Searching for possible alternatives systems to satisfy a need.
• Formulating a model for analysis purpose.
• Materials selection, etc.
But in order to carryout the above processes (i.e., design operations) a lot of information
is required. The required informations may be broadly classified into two.
1. General Information
E.g. Scientific Laws
Information on market trends etc.
2 . Specific information .
E.g. Information on manufacturer's catalogue
Materials science handbook etc.
Once the designer has obtained the necessary information he can start design
operations. The design operations give outcome s. The outcome may be in the form of
Computer print outs, or drawings.
Next stage is the evaluation of this outcome. The purpose of evaluation is to decide
whether this outcome is able to meet the need. Here a comparison between the
capabilities of the outcome and the need is carried out. If the outcome is sufficient to
meet the need, the designer goes on to next step, otherwise the design operation is
repeated .
 Morphology of Design.
• Morphology means ‘a study of form or structure'. Morphology of design refers
to the time based sequencing of design operations. It is a methodology of
design by which ideas about things are converted into physical objects. The
logical order of different activities or phases in a design project is called the
morphology of design.
• The morphology of design as put forward by Morris Asimow consists of seven
phases.
• Phase 1 Feasibility Study.
• Phase 2 Preliminary Design.
• Phase 3 Detailed Design.
• Phase 4 Planning for manufacture.
• Phase 5 Planning for distribution.
• Phase 6 Planning for consumption/use
• Phase 7 Planning for retirement
 Morphology of design – seven phases
Phase 1. Feasibility Study.
This stage is also called conceptual design. A design project always begins with a
feasibility study. The purpose and activities during feasibility study are
• To ascertain there really exists a need (ie) the existence of need must be supported
by necessary evidences, rather than the outcome of one's fancy
• Search for a number of possible solutions
• Evaluate the solutions
– i.e. is it physically realisable?
– Is it economically worthwhile?
– Is it within our financial capacity?

Phase 2 Preliminary Design.

This is the stage at which the concept generated in the feasibility study is carefully
developed. The important activities done at this stage are:
• Model building & testing
• Study the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions.
• Check for performance, quality strength, aesthetics etc.
 Seven phases of product design
Phase 3: Detail Design
• Its purpose is to furnish the complete engineering description of the tested
product. The arrangement, from, dimensions, tolerances and surface properties of
all individual parts are determined. Also, the materials to be used and the
manufacturing process to be adopted etc. are decided. Finally, complete prototype
is tested.

Phase 4: Planning for manufacture

• This phase includes all the production planning and control activities necessary for
the manufacture of the product. The main tasks at this phase are
• Preparation of process sheet, i.e. the document containing a sequential list of manufacturing
processes.
• Specify the condition of row materials.
• Specify tools & machine requirements.
• Estimation of production cost.
• Specify the requirement in the plant.
• Planning QC systems.
• Planning for production control.
• Planning for information flow system etc.
 7 phases of product design
Phase 5: Planning for Distribution
• The economic success of a design depends on the skill exercised in marketing.
Hence, this phase aims at planning an effective distribution system. Different
activities of this phase are
• Designing the packing of the product.
• Planning effective and economic warehousing systems.
• Planning advertisement techniques
• Designing the product for effective distribution in the prevailing conditions.

Phase 6: Planning for Consumption/use

• The purpose of this phase is to incorporate in the design all necessary user-
oriented features. The various steps are
• Design for maintenance
• Design for reliability
• Design for convenience in use
• Design for aesthetic features
• Design for prolonged life
• Design for product improvement on the basis of service data.
 7 phases of design
Phase 7: Planning for Retirement.
• This is the phase that takes into account when the product has reached
the end of useful life. A product may retire when
• It does not function properly
• Another competitive design emerges
• Changes of taste or fashion
The various steps in this phase are
• Design for several levels of use
• Design to reduce the rate of obsolescence.
• Examine service-terminated products to obtain useful information.
 Feasibility Study
• Step 1 – Need analysis – establishing its economic existence
• Step 2 – design problem identification and formulation
• “Is the engineering statement of the problem relevant and adequate to commit
the ensuing steps in the design?”
• Step 3 – synthesis of possible solutions
• For example design systems that could reduce fatality in a car crash can be (a) seat belt
(b) collapsible steering rod (c) air cushion.
• Step 4 – Physical realizability
• The goods or services described by a design should have a utility to the consumer
which equals or exceeds the sum of total costs of producing it.
• Step 5 – Economic worthwhileness
• The method of assessment could be the net present value, which states that the
present worth of cash flows into the project when added up during the useful life
of the product should be greater than the initial investment for the project.
• Step 6 – Financial feasibility
 Preliminary Design
• Selection of design concept
• Sensitivity analysis
• Compatibility analysis
• Stability analysis
• Formal optimization
• Prediction of system behaviour
• Testing the design concept
• Simplification of the design
 What is a need?
• A need can be defined as a personnel unfulfilled vacancy
which determines and organizes all psychological and
behavioral activities in the direction of fulfilling the vacancy
• A product can be product and marketed only if it is
‘needed' by the customer.
• A person buys a pen because he ‘needs' to write.
• A patient ‘needs' something that can cure his illness. These
examples show that needs are nothing but a scarcity or
problem or wants felt by a person, device or a system.
• In fact a designer's goal is to find solutions to such
problems
 Hierarchy of Human needs
Maslow developed a hierarchy of human needs as given below
1. Physiological needs
- These are the basic needs of the body- For example, thirst, hunger, sex,
sleep etc.
2. Safety and security needs
For a person whose physiological needs are met, the new emerging needs are
safety needs. These include, protection against danger, threat etc.
3. Social needs
Once the physiological and safety needs are met, the next dominant need is
social need. For example he/she want to love and be loved, he want to be “in
group”, etc.
4. Psychological needs
These are the needs for self-respect and self- esteem, and for recognition.
5. Self-fulfillment needs
These are the needs for the realisation of one's full potential through self-
development, creativity, and self-expression.
 Variety of Needs
Following are the needs, which can generate ideas for the development of new products.
(i). Variation of an existing product.
This could be a change in a single or a few parameters of an existing product.
Eg - Changing the length of a cylinder, -Changing the power of a motor, etc.
(ii) Improvements in the existing product.
This implies the need to redesign some of the features of an existing product. Such needs can arise, when
-Customers want a new feature or better performance than existing features
-A vendor can no longer supply components or materials that had been used so far
-Manufacturing or assembly departments identifies a quality improvement
-Invention of a new technology that can be incorporated in the existing design.
(iii) A change in production model
Whenever the production model changes from job-shop to mass, a corresponding change in product
design may be demanded. For example, there is more tendency to buy off-the shelf components for
short-run products.

Whatever may be the situation, a company has to identify or locate a need before the production of any
device. This crucial step is called Recognition/ Identification of need.
Examples:
1. With the free-entry of Chinese products to Indian market, manufacturers in India recognize a need to sell
their products at a lower price.
2. When a company observes that their products do not perform well, the company recognizes a need to re-
design it.
 Need Statement
• Once the need has recognized, the next step is to prepare the need statement.
• It is a general statement specifying the problem for which a solution is required. In other
words-It is the objective of design, expressed in the form of a statement.
Need Statement – Examples
Give one need statement for each of the following
Bicycle
Voltage stabilizers
Personnel Computer
i). Bicycle: -
“A device for a common person to travel reasonable distance comfortably with least effort” –
“The initial cost should be low- and be as light as possible, have adequate life, be easy to
maintain etc “
(ii). Voltage stabilizer
“A solid state noiseless electrical device of adequate power rating to provide continuously an
output at constant voltage, accepting the input power at varying voltage between the
limits__and__volts “. The indications for input and output voltage levels may be provided.
iii). Personnel Computer
“A computing device to accept input data, manipulate it according to a set of instructions
and provide the desired output on CRT and printer”
 Identification/Recognition of Needs
• The beginning of any design process is the recognition of need or
problem.
• When a turner hears an awkward noise from some part of the lathe
he identifies/ recognises a need. i.e. the lathe requires repair.
• When the sales personnel observes that their customers are always
complaining of poor performance of the products, a need to
develop a better product is identified.
• Similarly, when the customers are unsatisfied with the present
‘model', a new need is recognised.
• Needs can be identified from,
• Careful market analysis
• Statements made by politicians from their observations
• Interpretations of a community's requirements
• Trends in other parts of the world
 Need identification and Problem
definition
• Understanding any problem thoroughly is crucial to reaching an outstanding solution.
• Gathering Information from Customers
• - Interviews with Customers: continuously meet w/current and potential customers
- Focus Groups: A FG is a moderated discussion w/ 6-12 customers of a product.
- Customer Complaints: A sure way to learn about needs for product improvement
- Warranty Data: Statistics on warranty claims can pinpoint design defects.
- Customer Surveys: A written questionnaire

• Constructing a Survey Instrument

• Determine the survey purpose.
• Identify what specific information is needed.
Design the questions.

• Each question should be:

Unbiased
Unambiguous
Clear
Brief
 Problem Definition
• Customer Survey
• Customer requirements
• Product Dissection
• Engineering Characteristics
• Benchmarking
• Quality Function Deployment
 Customer survey
• Three categories of questions:
Attitude questions: How the customers feel or think about
something
Knowledge questions: questions asked to determine whether
customer knows the specifics about a product
Behavior questions: Contain phrases like "how often","how
much", or "when"
• Ethnographic Studies
• Ethnography is the process of investigation and
documentation of the behavior of a specific
group of people under particular conditions
 Customer Requirements
• Designers must compile a ranked listing of what customers
need and want from the product being designed.
The set of needs and wants are Customer Requirements.
• Design Point of View of Customer Requirements
• Performance deals with what the design should do when it
is completed and in operation.

• Quality is a complex characteristic with many aspects and

definitions. A good definition: the totality of features and
characteristics of a product or service that bear on its
ability to satisfy stated or implied needs
Classifying Customer Requirements
• A Kano diagram is a good tool to visually partition customer
requirements into categories that will allow for their prioritization.
• Kano recognized that there are four levels of customer
requirements:
-Expecters: These are the basic attributes that one would expect to
see in the product, i.e., standard features.
-Spokens: These are the specific features that customers say they
want in the product.
-Unspokens: These are product attributes the customer does not
generally talk about, but they remain important to him or her.
-Exciters: Often called delighters, these are product features that
make the product unique and distinguish it from the competition.
• Critical to Quality CRs
• The highest-ranked CRs are called CTQ CRs. Means that these CRs
will be the focus of design team efforts because they will lead to
the biggest payoff in the customer satisfaction.
 Product Dissection
• Observing a product during its use is one of the most natural ways
to gather information about it. The next logical step in product
investigation is to take the object apart to see how it works. This
process is known as both product dissection and reverse
engineering.

The product dissection process includes four activities:

1) Discover the operational requirements of the product.
2) Examine how the product performs its functions.
3) Determine the relationship between parts of the product.
4) Determine the manufacturing and assembly processes used to
produce the product.

Engineers do reverse engineering to discover information that they

cannot access any other way!
 Literature
• Technical Literature
In addition to information from special interest
publications, there are scholarly journals that
publish research quality information.
• Patent Literature
Not all products are patented, but patent literature
does include inventions that have become successful
products.
Patent - Gives the owner the right to prevent others
from making, using or selling their invention
 Define the Engineering Characteristics
• Establishing the engineering characteristics is a critical step toward writing
the product design specification.
Concept generation starts when a good description of the product is given.

• A "good description" of a product is comprised of solution-neutral

specifications.
Design Parameters
• Parameters are set of physical properties whose values determine the
form and behavior of a design.
Parameters include the features of a design that can be set by designers
and the values used to describe the performance of a design.
Design Variable
• A design variable is a parameter over which the design team has a choice
Constraints
• A design parameter whose value has been fixed becomes a constraint
during the design process. Constraints are limits in design freedom.
 Benchmarking
• It is a common product development activity used by
engineers to expand and refresh their understanding of
products of similar type to what they must design.
It is a process for measuring a company's operations against
the best practices of companies both inside and outside of
their industry.
• Quid Pro Quo Basis
• Benchmarking operates most effectively on a quid pro quo
basis-- as an exchange of information between companies
that are not direct competitors but can learn from each
other's business operations.
A company can look for benchmarks in many different places,
including within its own organizational structure.
 Benchmarking
• Most Common Sources of Resistance to Benchmarking
• Fear of being perceived as copiers
Fear of yielding competitive advantages if information is traded or shared
Arrogance: A company may feel that there is nothing useful to be learned by looking outside
of the organization
Impatience: Companies that engage in an improvement program often want to begin making
changes immediately

• Two Initial Steps of Benchmarking

• 1) Select the product, process, or functional area of the company that is to be
benchmarked.
That will influence the selection of key performance metrics that will be measured
and used for comparison.
2) Identify the best-in-class companies for each process to be benchmarked.
A best-in-class company is one that performs the process at the lowest cost with
the highest degree of customer satisfaction, or has the largest market share.
 Benchmarking
Competitive-Performance Benchmarking Procedure
• 1) Determine feature functions, and any other factors that are
important to:
- End user satisfaction
- Technical success of the product
2) Determine functions that:
- Significantly increase the costs of the product
- Have the greatest potential for improvement
3) Determine the features and functions that differentiate the product
from its competitors.
4) Establish metrics by which the most important functions or features
can be quantified and evaluated.
5) Evaluate the product and its competing products using performance
testing.
6) Generate a benchmarking report summarizing all information
learned about the product, data collected, and conclusions about
competitors
 Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
• QFD is a planning and team problem-solving tool that has been adopted by a wide variety of companies as the tool
of choice for focusing a design team's attention on satisfying customer needs throughout the product development
process.
• Deployment
• The term deployment in QFD refers to the fact that this method determines the important set of requirements for
each phase of PDP planning.
Uses them to identify the set of technical characteristics of each phase that most contribute to the satisfying the
requirements
• QFD process:
• A methodology for infusing the voice of the customer into every aspect of the design process.
• House of Quality translates customer requirements into quantifiable design variables, called engineering
characteristics.
Room 1: Customer Requirements
Room 2: Engineering Characteristics
Room 4: Relationship Matrix
Room 5: Importance Ranking of ECs
Room 3: Correlation Matrix
Room 6: Competitive Assessment
Room 7: Technical Assessment/Dificulty Ranking
Room8: Setting Target Values for ECs
• Interpreting Results of HOQ
• The highest-ranking ECs from the HOQ are either constraints or design variables whose values can be used as
decision-making criteria for evaluating candidate designs.
If a high-ranking EC has only a few possible candidate values then it may be appropriate to treat that EC as a
constraint.
There are certain design parameters that can only take a few discrete values.
The lowest-ranking ECs of the HOQ are not as critical to the success of the design. These ECs allow freedom during
the design process because their values can be set according to priorities of the designer or approving authority.
 Product Design Specification
• In the product development process, the results of the design
planning process that governs the engineering design tasks
are compiled in the form of a set of product design
specification (PDS). (example: Table 3.3)

• The PDS is the basic control and reference document for the
design and manufacture of the product.

• The PDS is a document that contains all of the facts related to

the outcome of the product development.

• Creating the PDS finalizes the process of establishing the

customer needs and wants, prioritizing them, and beginning
to cast them into a technical framework so that design
concepts can be established
 References
• https://quizlet.com/158563029/chapter-3-
problem-definition-and-need-identification-
flash-cards/
• https://www.amiestudy.com/studynotes/desi
gn/8.htm