New Product Positioning in an Evolving Technology Environment

Product design decisions have significant impact on the environment at all stages of the product life cycle. The designer can make significant contribution to the environmental impact of a product by including design for environment (DFE) criteria up-front in the design phase. The up-front incorporation of DFE criteria adds design rules and guidelines above and beyond the current design criteria. The interdisciplinary nature of DFE, and, at times, its contradictory criteria can make its implementation confusing and overwhelming, at least at the beginning. To help alleviate the confusion and facilitate the acceptance and eventual incorporation of DFE as part of product design criteria, both the product design and product management community need a friendly DFE tool. In this paper we put forth a framework for the development of a user-friendly, easy-to-use software tool that should help both managers and product and process designers evaluate the environmental compatibility of products and their associated manufacturing processes. Of particular interest to the authors is the manufacture of electronic components and assemblies which involve process intensive, semi-continuous, and repetitive wet chemical and physical operations that define circuit patterns on polymers, ceramic and silicon substrates and associated component assembly processes. In this paper we outline an environmental figure of merit for product and process designs that provides the designer the capability to assess the environmental compatibility of various product and process choices. A brief discussion of the PC-based tool, its architecture and a sample application in product and process design will be given.

Intel, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, has focused on design for environment (DfE) for many years, integrating the practice into both semiconductor manufacturing operations and product design. This paper has summarized a few results of DfE programs underway at Intel. In semiconductor manufacturing Intel introduces a new manufacturing process every 18-24 months. In order to integrate environmental concepts into the design process Intel has found that the optimal time for inserting DfE into the design process occurs during the technology development phase. By establishing the DfE programs Intel has been successful in reducing the environmental footprints of each successive technology by establishing environmental goals during each new technology development cycle.

We propose a stochastic dynamic programming framework to model the management of a multi-stand forest under climate risk (strong wind occurrence). The preferences of the forest-owner are specified by a non-expected utility in order to separately analyze intertemporal substitution and risk aversion effects. A numerical method is developed to characterize the optimal forest management policies and the optimal consumption-saving strategy. The stochastic dynamic programming framework is applied to a non-industrial private forest-owner located in North-East of France. We show that the optimal decisions both depend upon risk and time preferences.

Noise load reduction is among the primary performance targets for some airports. For airports with a complex lay-out of runways, runway selection may then be carried out via a preference list, an ordered set of runway combinations such that the higher on the list a runway combination, the better this combination is for reducing noise load. The highest safe runway combination in the list will actually be used. The optimal preference list selection minimises the probability of exceeding the noise load limit at the end of the aviation year. This paper formulates the preference list selection problem in the framework of Stochastic Dynamic Programming that enables determining an optimal strategy for the monthly preference list selection problem taking into account future and unpredictable weather conditions, as well as safety and efficiency restrictions. The resulting SDP has a finite horizon (aviation year), continuous state space (accumulated noise load), time-inhomogeneous transition densities (monthly weather conditions) and one-step rewards zero. For numerical evaluation of the optimal strategy, we have discretised the state space. In addition, to reduce the size of the state space we have lumped into a single state those states that lie outside a cone of states that may achieve the noise load restrictions. Our results indicate that the SDP approach allows for optimal preference list selection taking into account uncertain weather conditions.

PurposeThe generic design environment for a flexible printed‐circuit board assemblies (PCBA) remanufacturing cell contains four interrelated complex design domains. Mechanical design domains are really complex and the use of well‐proven mechanical product design methodologies does not help the designer. Hence, this paper aims to develop a generic systematic design methodology for a flexible PCBA remanufacturing cell.Design/methodology/approachThe study investigates the use of conventional mechanical product design techniques for the design of a flexible PCBA rework (remanufacturing) cell. It indicates problems and the weaknesses when conventional product design techniques are used for the development of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). It then provides a new systematic mechanical design methodology for designing a flexible PCBA rework (remanufacturing) cell. The design methodology is intended to be generic in order to apply successfully to any FMS design.FindingsConventional product design methodology cannot be used directly for the design of a flexible PCBA remanufacturing cell. Hence, two design methodologies were developed: the generic FMS mechanical design methodology and a specific FMS design methodology for a PCBA rework cell. The first one was developed based on the tasks of the conventional product design process integrated with new design tools. The generic design methodology was then extended to obtain the second methodology for a PCBA rework cell design. Both of the methodologies were applied to a flexible PCBA rework cell design problem. Both design methodologies eliminated unusable design solutions at the early design stages of the conceptual design process and made the design process easier.Practical implicationsThe generic and specific design methodologies provide a better design environment, even for less specialized FMS designers.Originality/valueThe design methodologies may help for the commercialization of a flexible PCBA remanufacturing cell that may be used for SM rework and assembly.

Strong seasonality at high latitudes represents a major challenge for many endotherms as they must balance survival and reproduction in an environment that varies widely in food availability and temperature. To avoid energetic mismatches caused by limited foraging time and stochastic weather conditions, bats employ the energy-saving state of torpor during summer to save accumulated energy reserves. However, at high-latitude small-bats-in-summer face a particular challenge: as nocturnal foragers, they rely on the darkness at night to avoid predators and/or interspecific competition, but live in an environment with short, light summer nights, and even a lack of true night at the northernmost distributions of some bat species. To predict optimal behaviour in relation to latitudinal variation in diurnal cycles, we constructed a stochastic dynamic programming model of bats living at high latitudes. Using a stochastic dynamic programming framework with values that are representative for our study system, we show that individual energetic reserves are a strong driver of daytime use of torpor and night-time foraging behaviour alike, with these linked effects being both temperature- and photoperiod-dependent. We further used the model to predict survival probabilities at five locations across a latitudinal gradient (60.1° N to 70.9° N), finding that combinations of photoperiod and temperature conditions limited population distributions in the model. To verify our model results, we compared predictions for optimal decisions with our own empirical data collected on northern bats (Eptesicus nilssonii) from two latitudes in Norway. The similarities between our predictions and observations provide strong evidence that this model framework incorporates the most important drivers of diurnal decision-making in bat physiology and behaviour. Comparing empirical data and model predictions also revealed that bats facing lighter night conditions further north restrict their mass gain, which strengthens the hypothesis that predation threat is a main driver of bat nocturnality. Our model findings regarding state-dependent decisions in bats should contribute to the understanding of how bats cope with the summer challenges at high latitudes.

Design for environment and design for disassembly practices in Malaysia: a practitioner's perspectives

Design changes are frequently encountered in the product development process. The complexity of the design changes is multiplied when the product design involves multiple engineering disciplines. Very often, a simple change in one part may propagate to its neighboring parts, therefore, affects the entire product assembly. Both parts and assembly must be regenerated for a physically valid product model, at the same time, the regenerated product model must meet designer’s expectations. When a product is being developed in a Concurrent Design and Manufacturing (CDM) environment, the design changes are usually implemented first by altering geometry of the product represented in computer-aided design (CAD) solid models. If the product solid model is not parameterized properly, the changes in geometry often lead to invalid parts or assembly. At the part level, the changes may yield a solid model with invalid geometric features if it is not properly parameterized. In this case, the entire product assembly is in vain. Even when individual parts of the product are regenerated correctly, parts may still penetrate to their neighboring parts or leave excessive gaps among them, if the solid model is not properly parameterized at the assembly level. In this paper, solid modeling and assembly techniques implemented in two major CAD tools, Pro/ENGINEER and SolidWorks, will be discussed. A set of guidelines will be proposed for the designers to parameterize the solid models in order to capture the design intents more effectively in the product virtual mockup. These guidelines at both part and assembly levels will support designers to successfully conduct product design in the CDM environment. A number of examples, including a slider-crank mechanism and its crankshaft, a single-piston airplane engine and its components, as well as a number of simpler parts are presented to illustrate and demonstrate the parameterization method and guidelines proposed for both Pro/ENGINEER and SolidWorks.

Environmentally conscious product development, eco-design or design for environment is the methodology trying to introduce environmental requirements into product design. The first step of this process is the gathering of customer requirements for a structured product development procedure, such as quality function deployment (QFD). The problem is that environmental requirements are usually unspoken by the customers. This paper describes a methodology for uncovering such requirements by using environmental default questions in an elaboration process. This leads to an increased customer environmental awareness, and it generates a comprehensive list of requirements suitable for use in a subsequent QFD process. The effects of the elaboration process are demonstrated in one case study.

Environment-oriented product development and costs reduction often go hand in hand. The Environmental Design Cost model [Willems (1995)] has been developed to give companies the possibility to calculate the present and future costs of various environment-friendly changes in product designs. This model calculates the changes in the production costs and the changes in the present value of future end-of-life processing costs.

In order to render cost effective and environmentally friendly products, design for environment (DFE) is becoming of critical use in the preliminary phases of the product design and development process. This can be enhanced by employing computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided engineering (CAE) tools, which have the ability to manipulate the product concepts in electronic environment. This paper presents an integrated product design and development (iProD) framework with the integration of DFE guidelines combined with CAD/CAE principles. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a case study involving a desktop organiser selected from the Caribbean market. The proposed integrated framework is considered to be highly valuable for its implementation in similar product development situations to achieve business benefits such as reduced cost and time which would in turn improve the profitability.

Design projects have been surrounded by tight schedule and cost overruns. Therefore, it is indispensable to resolve the design changes in an economical way. This work introduces an advanced technique to assess and optimize change propagation paths for multiple change requirements occurring simultaneously during the product development process. A novel multiple change requirement algorithm and a mathematical model considering the overall propagated risk are developed, to explore cost-effective change propagation paths in terms of lead time. The risk is quantified with regard to propagation likelihood and change impact, which results in re-work. Design structure matrix framework is used to capture the dependencies between components. It is revealed that the change requirements execution sequence has a significant effect on the total number of change propagation paths, change steps, distinct change components, and completion time. This approach is illustrated by a case study, which indicates that the proposed methodology can assist the designer in exploring and selecting optimal change propagation paths.

Coal Fired Steam Power Plant (CFSPP) Project is a complex project that requires multidisciplinary knowledge in its implementation. As a result, cost overruns often occur in its implementation. In Indonesia, most power plant projects are using EPC contracts (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction). The contractor is fully responsible for any failures that may occur during the work implementation period. The aim of this study is to compare the realization of completion costs for CFSPP projects with Bill of Quantity (BoQ) and the factors that influence deviations. This research was conducted qualitatively based on the data obtained. Deviations are calculated based on the difference between completion costs and BoQ. Discussions and interviews were conducted with Project Managers and Site Commercial and Risk Managers who were directly involved in construction phase to determine the causes of cost overruns. The result is that the actual cost incurred in the CFSPP project is 3x the cost listed in BoQ. There are cost overruns in each work group including Civil Works, Mechanical Works, Electrical Works and Others Works. Indirect cost realization is 29.84% of total completion cost. The factors that influence cost overruns are: (i) Contractors do not understand the details of the work to be done, (ii) Changes in design and (iii) Realization volume exceeds initial planned volume. The results of this study are expected to be input in preparing owner estimate for CFSPP projects and adding new risk factor lists in CFSPP during construction phase.

Additive Manufacturing increasingly becomes a viable alternative to conventional manufacturing technologies. However, the knowledge and awareness to achieve a ready-for-manufacturing and quality-ensured design of additively manufactured products are mostly lacking. Knowledge from the manufacturing process on how certain process variables affect the product requirements must already be considered in product design to assure and potentially enhance the quality a priori, thus saving time and cost-intensive iterations. Therefore, this knowledge must be front-loaded as a basis to suitably adapt product and process design simultaneously. This contribution therefore proposes a framework for the simultaneous product and process design synthesis of existing designs by providing insight knowledge about product and process design specific to Fused Layer Modeling. This is achieved via a consolidated ontology-based knowledge representation and its integration in a design environment. Thus, the aim, in contrast to most existing approaches, is to provide this knowledge on a product- and application-specific basis to parallelise product and process design for non-assembly mechanisms and exploit currently unused potential concerning the interaction between the different domains. This can shorten development times and also compensate for a lack of background knowledge in certain areas. A practical use case highlights the general procedure, benefits, and applicability.

Content processing of network packets requires real-time rates and high throughput, which a platform field programmable gate array (FPGA) can provide. It also requires a high-level design approach that allows time-to-market deadlines to be met. The paper introduces a two-step development process that allows the enhanced memory and I/O facilities of a content processor to be utilized but also avail of the more complete simulation and debug facilities on a compatible development board. This can be achieved by providing a complimentary or shadow design environment. High-level design is available for FPGAs in terms of hardware compilation and the provision of an on-chip runtime environment (RTE). The Tarari content processor supports both of these but investigation has shown that the RC200 development board assists in reducing design turn-around time.