Post Module Assignment: Product Design and Development Management

Post Module Assignment Submission form:
Module Title: Product Design and Development Management
MODULE DATES: 19 – 25 Feb 2020
STUDENT ID NUMBER: ES 966
Poly U: 19109468G
WMG: U1944540
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1 Case Analysis 4
2 Apple Inc. – Form, Function, and Appeal 4
1 Apple’s Business Model 5
2 Establishment of Design and Product Development 7
3 Advantages of Setting up Design and Product Development Capabilities 7
2 Improvements in Output and Productivity 7
3 Improvement in Consumer Oriented Culture 8
3 Operational Changes – The Stage-Gate Process 8
4 Structural Changes within the Organization 10
4 In-Product Development Group 10
4 Establishment of the In-Product Development Group 11
5 Roles of the In-Product Development Group 12
1 Problem Identification 12
2 Solution Design 12
3 Technical Evaluation 13
4 Resource Preparation 13
5 Third-party Collaboration 14
6 Analysis and Comparison of Structural Changes 15
5 Relating Structural Change with Product Development 16
6 Key Activities of the Chosen Process 16
7 Design Sketch 16
8 Product Marketing 19
7 Takeaways 19
8 Bibliography 19
9 Appendices 21
9 Product Sketch Components
10 Various Layouts for the Product Design
Add-on features and Related Components
Final Product Design
1 Introduction
Understanding the importance of design and product efficiency is essential for any engineer. It allows for the creation of innovative products that are affordable and resilient for any use. In this report, the authors would like to focus on the fundamental principles of design efficiency in line with developing a new product. On the one hand, this includes the different circumstances that the company face, such as its manufacturing capacities, number of personnel, and its strengths and weaknesses. This would then be compared to the case of Apple Inc., which is a company that also creates mobile phones. On the other hand, this includes the necessary steps to set up an efficient process, including the operational and structural changes. All in all, this research believes that a holistic perspective is essential to produce a lean design.
1.1 Case Analysis
ZR Inc is a company with a long history of manufacturing products per its client's instructions. Initially, it specializes in manufacturing small electrical kitchen appliances (e.g., kettles, coffee makers, bread toasters, and food processors) for global brands. As of today, it has grown into an organization with around 500 in-house staff and has developed its manufacturing capability, which incorporates (1) design production, (2) product testing, (3) and quality assurance, among others. However, despite its capacity to test its product and quality, design and testing its product are only feasible when it has its in-house design team.
In terms of product design, the company focuses on the creation of "meaningful products." Notably, it has a firm belief that products must have a practical function, be environmentally-friendly, and purposeful for its intended consumers.
1.2 Apple, Inc. – Form, Function, and Appeal
Now that the company's specific circumstances are established, it would be best to compare it to one of the most innovative and consumer-facing device companies in the world – Apple Inc. Apple Inc. was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Although it has been operational for a long time, it gains its most significant advantage in the tech industry when Jobs returned to the company in 1997. During that time, he reshaped its design culture with the iMac introduction, bringing the company back to stand for the "cool brand." However, capital markets were unappreciative of Job's move, and the iMac, like apple's previous products, was typical of the "non-mainstream" crowd, with a little positive impact on apple's market value.
In 2001, Jobs entered the music player market with what would become the miracle iPod. The iPod's initial version exemplifies a product that focuses too much on 'form' and 'appeal,' but not on 'function.' Thus, although the iPod proved to be a fashionable and novel item, it failed to gain too much traction due to its lack of features.
Nonetheless, although the company was admired by "non-mainstream" users as late as 2003, it was able to gain a lot of traction when it launched iTunes as a part of its service. This complemented the iPod by adding 'functions' towards its form and appeal. Thus, together with the iPod's continuous design innovation and the launch of iTunes, the company was able to take the title of being one of the "most innovative companies" as early as 2001 (FastCompany.com, n.d.).
1.2.1 Apple's Business Model
Before analyzing apple's business model innovation in greater detail, let's look at what business model innovation is. According to Clayton et al., a business model is a system for creating and delivering customer value and company value. Notably, this can be divided into four closely related elements, namely; (1) customer value proposition, (2) profit model, (3) essential resources, and (4) key processes. Customer value proposition refers to what value you can bring to your customers that can't be replaced. The profit model refers to how you can profit from creating value for your customers; the critical resource is how to gather resources to provide value for customers. The critical approach is the internal system and culture to realize customer value. Customer value proposition and profit model define customer value and company value, respectively, while crucial resources and key processes describe how to realize customer value and company value.
What makes Apple great is not just it provides stylish design for new technologies, but that it combines them with a remarkable business model that focuses on form and function. For example, in iTunes, the real innovation lies not only in its software and complementary design to the iPod but in the idea of making it easier for subscribers to download digital music. In other words, by combining both iTunes and iPod, Apple has created a new business model. This innovation transformed two industries, the music player industry, and the music recording industry. The innovation and business model gives a brand-new definition of value and provides unprecedented convenience for customers.
By taking all of these things into consideration, it is apparent that for ZR Inc. to improve its capabilities as a company, it has to establish its own in-house creative team that focuses on function, appeal, and form.
2 Establishment of an In-house Design and Product Development
In the previous section, the author has provided an overview of the company and a model company – Apple Inc. This includes the latter's focus on form, function, and appeal in its product development, which is the main reason for its success. However, since the creation of a lean and cost-efficient product requires a shift in the overall manufacturing within the Organization, structural and manufacturing changes should be conducted.
In this section, the author would like to discuss using the Stage-gate New product development process. This includes (1) the advantages of setting up a design and product development capability, (2) structural shifts implemented, and (3) the critical activities utilized for the new development process.
2.1 Advantages of Setting up Design and Product Development Capabilities
As stated earlier, creating a lean and cost-efficient product required different changes within the company to take advantage of its benefits fully. One of which included establishing an in-house product design and development team, which was necessary to create designs and better independence from other third-party companies.
2.1.1 Improvements in Output and Productivity
After the creation of the department, several significant improvements could be readily observed. First, there has been a drastic increase in fresh ideas from each member of the team. Second, the company also received more biddings and designed more products based on the clients' needs. This led the company to increase its manufacturing capacity by strategically analyzing every stakeholder's requirements and the best product that would fulfill those needs.
The further development of the company's manufacturing capabilities has emphasized one of its substantial aspects – experience. Since the company has been producing for its clients for an extended period, cost estimation, feasibility studies, and risk management are vital.
2.1.2 Improvement in Consumer Oriented Culture
To turn idea designs into a functional and practical product, the author's team has focused on determining consumers' needs. Specifically, the team prioritized the development of a consumer-oriented culture through the use of a five-stem method, namely; (1) Data gathering from customers, (2) data interpretation and consideration of consumer's needs, (3) Organization of the level of needs (i.e., primary, secondary, and (if necessary) tertiary needs), (4) establishment of the relative importance of the needs, and (5) reflection and conclusion. This methodology is based on the standard five-step marketing methods commonly used to target specific consumer segments CITATION Die17 \l 1033 (Dietrich 2017). Additionally, each of these steps was then conducted using a questionnaire method specifically targeted to the consumer segment.
After presenting the company's advantages after the design integration, the next step shows some of the changes that have happened during the product development process.
3 Operational Changes – the Stage-Gate Process
To create a lean product design, it is essential to utilize a development process that would complement the structural changes that are proposed within the company. Accordingly, one of the most effective methods used even by international companies is the Stage-Gate Process.
The Stage-Gate Process is a process that aims to reduce development risk during the innovative phase of the company. Generally, it has five (5) gates, each of which acts as a tool to make effective product decisions from the 'Idea Generation Phase' to the 'Launch Phase' (Figure 1).
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 - Stage-Gate Process
In simpler terms, this process allows for "incremental commitments" towards a product or a design. In fact, because of its structure, it provides for several activities to be performed simultaneously, which also decreases the amount of time needed compared to the traditional model wherein the latter phase should wait for the earlier stage to be completed. Simply said, the Stage-gate process gives ample room for the company to commit resources to its innovative stage without spending too many resources on one product.
However, similar to any other process, the Stage-gate process also has its own weaknesses. For example, in one study done by Chao et al. (2014), it seems that the Stage-Gate process carries the risk of killing a useful and innovative idea even before it reaches the latter stages brought about by the "informational asymmetry" within a hierarchical company. Nonetheless, as discussed later in this chapter, the new team would be defined by a "flatter structure" compared to the traditional hierarchical structure of the whole company.
In line with the case, it could be seen that the use of this process can allocate sufficiently, but not excessive resources towards the development of several prototypes. Given that the new department is only new and more 'experimental' in nature, this process's utilization can increase the department's innovativeness without wasting too many resources on failed versions of the product. This also reduces the risks on the part of the company, making it more profitable in the long run.
4 Structural Changes within the Organization
Several changes can be implemented within the Organization to fully take advantage of the increased cost-efficiency (brought by the Stage-Gate Process) of the new department and product. However, the question still remains as to what type of structure is better between an in-house and third-party collaboration. In the subsequent sections, two types of structures would be discussed: (1) In-product development group and (2) third-party collaboration.
4.1 In-Product Development Group
First, the author's team plans to adopt an in-product development group with the primary goals of developing the concept, conceptualizing the id...