Rain Water Energy Harvest
We are a design team in a large green technology company and we have been commissioned to do a design with the following mission statement:
Design a device to convert the potential energy of rain fallowing on residential houses into energy and store it in batteries. The main buyers of this device are regular home-owners and builders. The product is to be DIY and available at home-improvement retail stores. The device is to have a payback period of 5 years in an area with an average rainfall similar to Portland, Oregon.
The Seven Steps of the Design Process
1. – Develop PDS – PDS document (dynamic document)
2. – External search - Existing products and related technologies (Research)
3. – Internal search (Brainstorming) – Lots of ideas
4. – Evaluation and selection – Select one idea to pursue
5. – Detail design (engineering) – physical details
6. – Prototyping, testing, evaluating – feasibility evaluation, improvement suggestions
7. – Documentation – production drawings, design process, user manual, safety guidelines
Identification of Customers
External customers
Customer / What do they wantHome owners
(end users /buyers) / Cost, Payback period, Reliability, high energy harvest, Ease of installation, safety, esthetics, ease of operation, low maintenance, long life, Anti Theft
Builders (buyers) / Cost, ease of installation, performance, safety,
Retailers / Cost, Nice packaging Long shelf life, exciting features. Small package sizes, Long warrantees, Reliability
Government
Fed/State/city/local / Codes, regulations, laws, city, state, Fed, local
Shipping / Size, weight, shape, mode of transportation
Codes and standards / Standard sizes, tests,
Manufacturing / Manufacturable, manufacturing site limitations
Service and maintenance / Low maintenance, low cost, ease of maintenance, standard replacement parts, available tools
Internal customers
Customer / What do they wantManagement / High profit, low cost, low risk, Timeline, On-budget, documentation,
Marketing / Exciting features, good looks, low cost, high performance, reliability,
Installable to the majority of houses
Manufacturing / Manufacturable at target sites
Legal / Break no laws, safe, warning signs, no patent infringement,
Procurement/Purchasing / Preferred venders
Packaging / Features that facilitate proper packaging (size, weight, shape, protection)
Installation
Support / Easy installation with standard tools
Reorganizing customer needs in terms of PDS categories
This table can be filled out in any order until all customer needs are done
PDS Category / Requirement / PriorityPerformance / Quick return of investment – x years
Reduction of carbon footprint – by y%
High energy conversion efficiency – z% / H
M
H
Environment / Exposed parts subject to rain, wind, sun, moisture, dust / H
Life in service / TBD through marketing / H
Quantity / N a year for M years / -
Shelf life / TBD through marketing / H
Cost (retail) / TBD through marketing / H
Size and Shape / Package size less than x by y by z / M
Weight / Package weight less than W lbs / M
Maintenance / Once a year, 10 minutes max, $5.00 max / H
Installation / Easy to install
Adaptable to x% of houses in US / H
M
Ergonomics / No handling or service after installation / H
Safety / Safe to people, pets, wild life / H
Materials / No specific constraints unless in codes/regulations / -
Manufacturing / Made in US facilities but otherwise no constraints / H
Shipping / Company trucks / -
Packaging / Must withstand shipping temperatures and vibration and package dropping / H
Aesthetics / To rate acceptable by n% of focus group members / H
Quality and Reliability / Must pass ASME life-cycle testing xyz.3 with a score of 98 or more out of 100. / H
Applicable codes and standards / Federal, state, city, local Regulations
Applicable codes / H
Testing / Per Standards (score TBD) / H
Company procedures / Follow Design Document abcd regarding processes / H
Documentation / Follow Design Document abcd regarding processes / H
Legal / Follow required safety warning, search patent databases / H
Timelines / Per company design guideline in abcd / H
Disposal/Recycling / Use recyclable materials as much as possible / L
Other (Noise)
Theft
colors / Must be quiet during operation
Difficult to steal valuable components
TBD / H
L
Selecting Metrics and Setting Targets
PDS / Requirement / Metric / Target / BasisPerformance / Quick return of investment
Reduction of carbon footprint
High energy conversion efficiency
Environment / Exposed parts subject to rain, wind, sun, moisture, dust
Life in service / Long life
Quantity / TBD
Shelf life / Long shelf life
Cost (retail) / Affordable to typical homeowners
Size and Shape / Small added footprint to house
Weight / Light weight
Maintenance / Low maintenance
Installation / Easy to install
Adaptable to most houses in US
Ergonomics
Easy to use / No handling or service after installation
Directly plugs into the wall outlet
Safety / Safe to people, pets, wild life
Materials / Meet all regulations and codes
Manufacturing / Made in US facilities
Shipping / Company trucks
Packaging / Must withstand shipping temperatures and vibration and package dropping
Aesthetics / To rate acceptable by focus group members
Quality and Reliability / Must pass ASME life-cycle testing with good score
Applicable codes and standards / Federal, state, city, local Regulations
Applicable codes
Testing / Per Standards- score high
Company procedures / Follow Design Document abcd regarding processes
Documentation / Follow Design Document abcd regarding processes
Legal / Follow required safety warning, search patent databases
Timelines / Per company design guideline in abcd
Disposal
Recycling / Use recyclable materials as much as possible
Noise
Theft / Must be quiet during operation
Difficult to steal valuable components
Creating a House of Quality Summary of PDS
Customer Need / Imp / Payback period (Years) / Hours to Install / Cost ($)Retail / Design
Life (Years) / Service
Hrs/Year / Green
Tech
INC
Quick Return of Investment / 2 / ****
Easy to install / 1 / ****
Affordable / 2 / ****
Long Life / 1 / ****
Low maintenance / 1 / ****
Reliability / 1
Quiet / 1
Green Tech INC / 8 / 3 / 850 / 10 / 5
Target / 6 / 2 / 700 / 10 / 5
Basis / Marketing
Analysis / Bench-
Marking / Market / Bench-
Marking / Bench-
Marking
Verification method