DESIGN & ENGINEERING

Module-3

Prototyping- rapid prototyping; testing and evaluation of design; Design

modifications; Freezing the design; Cost analysis. Engineering the
design From prototype to product. Planning; Scheduling; Supply
chains; inventory; handling; manufacturing/construction operations;
storage; packaging; shipping; marketing; feed-back on design.

NASEEL IBNU AZEEZ M.P

Asst. Professor, Dept. of Mechanical engineering,
MEA Engineering College, Perinthalmanna.
Email: [email protected]

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Prototyping
It is highly recommended that the design team build its own physical models leading up to the
proof-of-concept prototype. Product concept models, on the other hand, are often carefully
crafted to have great visual appeal. These are traditionally made by firms specializing in this
market or by industrial designers who are part
of the design team. Computer modelling is
rapidly overtaking the physical model, which
by its nature is static, for this application. A 3D computer model can show cutaway views of
the product as well as dynamic animations, all
on a CD-ROM that can be easily produced in
quantity. Nevertheless, an attractive physical
model still has status appeal with important
customers.
Models for alpha-prototype testing are typically made in the model shop, a small machine
shop staffed with expert craftsmen and equipped with computer controlled machine tools and
other precision machine tools. To be effective it is important to use CAD software that
interfaces well with the numerically controlled (NC) machine tools, and it is important that the
shop personnel be well trained in its use. Most of the time required to make a prototype by NC
machining is consumed not by metal cutting but in process planning and NC programming.
Recent developments have reduced the time needed for these operations so that NC machining
is becoming competitive with rapid prototyping methods for the simpler geometries.
Beta-prototype models and preproduction test prototypes are made by the manufacturing
department using the actual materials and processes in which the product will be produced.

Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly
fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly
using three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD)
data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done
using 3D printing or "additive layer manufacturing"
technology.
Note that the time to make a RP model may take from 8
to 24 hours, so the term rapid may be something of a
misnomer. However, the time from detail drawing to
prototype is typically shorter than if the part was made in a model shop due to issues of
scheduling and programming the machine tools. Also, RP processes are able to produce very
complex shapes in one step, although typically they are made from a plastic, not a metal.
Three-dimensional Printing (3DP) is a RP process that is based on the principle of the inkjet
printer. 50 A thin layer of metal, ceramic, or polymer powder is spread over a part-build bed.
Using inkjet printing technology, fi ne droplets of a binder material are deposited on the powder
in the two-dimensional geometry defined by the digital slice of the three-dimensional part. The
inkjet is under computer control as in the other RP processes described previously. The droplets
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

agglomerate powder particles, bonding them together into a primitive volume element, or
voxel. The binder droplets also bond voxels together within the plane and to the plane below
it. Once a layer is deposited, the powder bed and part are lowered and a new layer of powder
is spread out and the binder is applied by the jet. This layer-by-layer process is repeated until
the part is completed and removed from the powder bed.
Prototype testing and evaluation:
There is a trade-off between the number of prototypes that will be built for a product design
and tested and the cost and length of the product development cycle. Prototypes help to verify
the product but they have a high cost in money and time. As a result, there is a strong trend,
particularly in large companies, to replace physical prototypes with computer models (virtual
prototypes) because simulation is cheaper and faster. A significant counter example to this
trend is Toyota, which sticks by its longstanding practice of using extensive physical prototypes
in component design.

Testing and evaluation, allows the client / customer to view the prototype and to give
his/her views. Changes and improvements are agreed and further work carried out.

A focus group can try out the prototype and give their views and opinions. Faults and
problems are often identified at this stage. Suggestions for improvement are often made
at this stage.

Safety issues are sometimes identified, by thorough testing and evaluation. The
prototype can be tested against standards.

The prototype can be tested against any relevant regulations and legislation.
Adjustments / improvements to the design can then be made.

Evaluating a prototype allows the production costs to be assessed and finalised.

Component failure is often identified during the testing process. This may mean a
component is redesign and not the entire product.

Freezing the design

Design Freeze' describes the end point of the design phase at which a technical product
description is handed over to production. Although Design Freeze refers to an unchanging
design, in reality a complete freeze is not possible.

Design freeze time may be set by company authorities to time bound any design process or
otherwise a continuously changing design will leads to money loss as well as time loss in
industries. After proclaiming the design freeze, design team will never change any design
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

aspects and this indicates that the product is ready to handover into manufacturing unit. As
similar to design freeze the team may set freeze on any other stages of design process as
indicated in above diagram.

Cost analysis
An engineering design is not complete until we have a good idea of the cost required to build
the design or manufacture the product. Generally, among functionally equivalent alternatives,
the lowest-cost design will be successful in a free marketplace. The fact that we have placed
this chapter on cost evaluation toward the end of the text does not reflect the importance of the
subject. Understanding the elements that make up cost is vital because competition between
companies and between nations is fiercer than ever. The world is becoming a single gigantic
marketplace in which newly developing countries with very low labour costs are acquiring
technology and competing successfully with the well-established industrialized nations.
Maintaining markets requires a detailed knowledge of costs and an understanding of how new
technology can lower costs.
Cost estimates are used in the following ways:
1. To provide information to establish the selling price of a product or a quotation for a
good or service.
2. To determine the most economical method, process, or material for manufacturing a
product.
3. To become a basis for a cost-reduction program.
4. To determine standards of production performance that may be used to control costs.
5. To provide input concerning the profitability of a new product
Categories of cost:
We can divide all costs into two broad categories: product costs and period costs. Product costs
are those costs that vary with each unit of product made. Material cost and labor cost are good
examples. Period costs derive their name from the fact that they occur over a period of time
regardless of the amount (volume) of product that is made or sold. An example would be the
insurance on the factory equipment or the expenses associated with selling the product. Another
name for a product cost is variable cost, because the cost varies with the volume of product
made. Another name for period cost is fixed cost, because the costs remain the same regardless
of the volume of product made. Fixed costs cannot be readily allocated to any particular product
or service that is produced.
Yet another way of categorizing costs is by direct cost and indirect cost. A direct cost is one
that can be directly associated with a particular unit of product that is manufactured. In most
cases, a direct cost is also a variable cost, like materials cost. Advertising for a product would
be a direct cost when it is assignable to a specific product or product line, but it is not a variable
cost because the cost does not vary with the quantity produced. An indirect cost cannot be
identified with any particular product. Examples are rent on the factory building, cost of
utilities, or wages of the shop floor supervisors. Often the line between direct costs and indirect
costs is fuzzy. For example, equipment maintenance would be considered a direct cost if the
machines are used exclusively for a single product line, but if many products were
manufactured with the equipment, their maintenance would be considered an indirect cost.
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Returning to the cost classifications of fixed and variable costs, examples are:

Fixed costs:
1. Indirect plant cost
(a) Investment costs
Depreciation on capital investment
Interest on capital investment and inventory
Property taxes
Insurance
(b) Overhead costs (burden)
Technical services (engineering)
Product design and development
Nontechnical services (office personnel, security, etc.)
General supplies
Rental of equipment
2. Management and administrative expenses
(a) Share of cost of corporate executive staff
(b) Legal staff
(c) Share of corporate research and development staff
(d) Marketing staff
3. Selling expenses
(a) Sales force
(b) Delivery and warehouse costs
(c) Technical service staff

MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Variable costs:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Materials
Direct labour (including fringe benefits)
Direct production supervision
Maintenance costs
Power and utilities
Quality-control staff
Royalty payments
Packaging and storage costs
Scrap losses and spoilage

Another important cost category is working capital, the funds that must be provided in addition
to fixed capital and land investment to get a project started and provide for subsequent
obligations as they come due. It consists of raw material on hand, semi-finished product in the
process of manufacture, finished product in inventory, accounts receivable, 1 and cash needed
for day-to-day operation. The working capital is tied up during the life of the plant, but it is
considered to be fully recoverable at the end of the life of the project.
Cost analysis helps to:
To determine actual cost of a product or the process.
To compare the actual cost with the estimated cost.
To provide the management with actual cost figures so that it can frame practical sales
policies and cost structure etc.
To ascertain departmental efficiency on the basis of an actual cost it incurs for
production
To determine profitability of products.

Engineering the Design: From Prototype to Product

Conceptual design is often a cognitive process in which a designer formulate his/her ideas
through critical thinking process. After too many iterative design steps a designer stepped to
materialize those ideas. On the beginning of embodiment design, designer starts to check the
viability of design through prototype testing. The final goal of any design will be manufacturing
the product and commercially introduce that product in to market. Hence the post design work
flow starts from the designer to end user through different manufacturing processes, a designer
should aware about these post design procedure in order to reduce issues during these process.
Certain design considerations can reduce cost of post design procedures effectively.

Planning
Planning (also called forethought) is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities
required to achieve a desired goal. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as
psychological aspects that require conceptual skills. There are even a couple of tests to measure
someones capability of planning well. As such, planning is a fundamental property of
intelligent behavior.
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Planning for Manufacturing:

A great deal of detailed planning must be done to provide for the production of the design. A
method of manufacture must be established for each component in the system. As a usual fi rst
step, a process sheet is created; it contains a sequential list of all manufacturing operations that
must be performed on the component. Also, it specifies the form and condition of the material
and the tooling and production machines that will be used.
Specifying the production plant that will be used (or designing a new plant) and laying
out the production lines
Planning the work schedules and inventory controls (production control)
Planning the quality assurance system
Establishing the standard time and labor costs for each operation
Establishing the system of information fl ow necessary to control the manufacturing
operation
All of these tasks are generally considered to fall within industrial or manufacturing
engineering.
Planning for Distribution:
Important technical and business decisions must be made to provide for the effective
distribution to the consumer of the products that have been produced. In the strict realm of
design, the shipping package may be critical. Concepts such as the shelf life of the product may
also be critical and may need to be addressed in the earlier stages of the design process. A
system of warehouses for distributing the product may have to be designed if none exists. The
economic success of the design often depends on the skill exercised in marketing the product.
If it is a consumer product, the sales effort is concentrated on advertising in print and video
media, but highly technical products may require that the marketing step be a technical activity
supported by specialized sales brochures, performance test data, and technically trained sales
engineers.
Planning for Use:
The use of the product by the consumer is all-important, and considerations of how the
consumer will react to the product pervade all steps of the design process. The following
specific topics can be identified as being important user-oriented concerns in the design
process: ease of maintenance, durability, reliability, product safety, and convenience in use
(human factors engineering), aesthetic appeal, and economy of operation. Obviously, these
consumer-oriented issues must be considered in the design process at its very beginning. They
are not issues to be treated as afterthoughts.
Planning for the Retirement of the product:
The final step in the design process is the disposal of the product when it has reached the end
of its useful life. Useful life may be determined by actual deterioration and wear to the point at
which the design can no longer function, or it may be determined by technological
obsolescence, in which a competing design performs the products functions either better or
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

cheaper. In consumer products, it may come about through changes in fashion or taste. In the
past, little attention has been given in the design process to product retirement. This is rapidly
changing, as people the world over are becoming concerned about environmental issues. There
is concern with depletion of mineral and energy resources, and with pollution of the air, water,
and land as a result of manufacturing and technology advancement.
Benefits of planning

Planning reduces uncertainty, risk and confusion in operation

Planning guides decision making by managers
Planning helps in achieving coordination and control
Planning is an element of flexibility makes an organization capable of coping with
changing environment challenges
Planning leads to economy and efficiency in operations

Scheduling
Scheduling is the process of arranging, controlling and optimizing work and workloads in a
production process or manufacturing process. Scheduling is used to allocate plant and
machinery resources, plan human resources, plan production processes and purchase materials.
It is an important tool for manufacturing and engineering, where it can have a major impact on
the productivity of a process. In manufacturing, the purpose of scheduling is to minimize the
production time and costs, by telling a production facility when to make, with which staff, and
on which equipment. Production scheduling aims to maximize the efficiency of the operation
and reduce costs.
The schedule must portray the activities required to support the project plan.
Provides time-scaled network schedules that define when work tasks are to be
performed.
Produces reports that provide the Project Manager, the information necessary to
monitor schedule status and to initiate corrective action if required.
Provides assistance in implementation of corrective action when required
Before we can do any real scheduling, we have to know what we have to do every single day
that takes up time. We already know we have client work that eats up significant chunks of our
time, but there are other things we do as well: email, general admin work, answering phone
calls, meetings, sending invoices, estimating projects, self-education, etc. We have to come to
terms with how much time we spend doing these things on the daily basis and how much time
we have left for client work.
Batch production scheduling is the practice of planning and scheduling of batch manufacturing
processes. Although scheduling may apply to traditionally continuous processes such as
refining, it is especially important for batch processes such as those for pharmaceutical active
ingredients, biotechnology processes and many specialty chemical processes. Batch production
scheduling shares some concepts and techniques with finite capacity scheduling which has
been applied to many manufacturing problems.

MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services. It
includes the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished
goods from point of origin to point of consumption. Interconnected or interlinked networks,
channels and node businesses are involved in the provision of products and services required
by end customers in a supply chain.
Supply chain management has been defined as the "design, planning, execution, control, and
monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a
competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand
and measuring performance globally.
Supply chain management is the management of network of interconnected businesses
involved in the ultimate provision of goods and services required by the end customer.
Supply chain management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-inprocess inventory and finished goods from point-of-origin to point-of-consumption.

Suppliers

Material
Costs

Manufacturers

Warehouses &
Distribution Centers

Transport
Transport
ation
ation
Manufacturing
Costs
Costs
Costs

Inventory
Costs

Customers

Transportation
Costs

Organizations increasingly find that they must rely on effective supply chains, or networks, to
compete in the global market and networked economy. Successful SCM requires a change from
managing individual functions to integrating activities into key supply chain processes. In an
example scenario, a purchasing department places orders as its requirements become known.
The marketing department, responding to customer demand, communicates with several
distributors and retailers as it attempts to determine ways to satisfy this demand. Information
shared between supply chain partners can only be fully leveraged through process integration.
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Inventory Management
Inventory management is a science primarily about specifying the shape and percentage of
stocked goods. It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of
a supply network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of
materials. The scope of inventory management concerns the fine lines between replenishment
lead time, carrying costs of inventory, asset management, inventory forecasting, inventory
valuation, inventory visibility, future inventory price forecasting, physical inventory, available
physical space for inventory, quality management,
replenishment, returns and defective goods, and
demand forecasting. Balancing these competing
requirements leads to optimal inventory levels,
which is an ongoing process as the business needs
shift and react to the wider environment.
Successful inventory management involves creating a purchasing plan that will ensure that
items are available when they are needed (but that neither too much nor too little is purchased)
and keeping track of existing inventory and its use. Two common inventory-management
strategies are the just-in-time method, where companies plan to receive items as they are
needed rather than maintaining high inventory levels, and materials requirement planning,
which schedules material deliveries based on sales forecasts.
Inventory management involves a retailer seeking to acquire and maintain a proper
merchandise assortment while ordering, shipping, handling, and related costs are kept in check.
It also involves systems and processes that identify inventory requirements, set targets, provide
replenishment techniques, report actual and projected inventory status and handle all functions
related to the tracking and management of material. This would include the monitoring of
material moved into and out of stockroom locations and the reconciling of the inventory
balances.

Why Inventory?
1. Time: The time lags present in the supply chain, from supplier to user at every stage,
requires that you maintain certain amounts of inventory to use in this lead time.
However, in practice, inventory is to be maintained for consumption during 'variations
in lead time'. Lead time itself can be addressed by ordering that many days in advance.
2. Seasonal Demand: demands varies periodically, but producers capacity is fixed. This
can lead to stock accumulation, consider for example how goods consumed only in
holidays can lead to accumulation of large stocks on the anticipation of future
consumption.
3. Uncertainty: Inventories are maintained as buffers to meet uncertainties in demand,
supply and movements of goods.
4. Economies of scale: Ideal condition of one unit at a time at a place where a user needs
it, when he needs it" principle tends to incur lots of costs in terms of logistics. So bulk
buying, movement and storing brings in economies of scale, thus inventory.
5. Appreciation in Value: In some situations, some stock gains the required value when
it is kept for some time to allow it reach the desired standard for consumption, or for
production. For example; beer in the brewing industry
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Manufacturing Process
Producing the design is a critical link in the chain of events that starts with a creative idea and
ends with a successful product in the marketplace. With modern technology the function of
production no longer is a mundane activity. Rather, design, materials selection, and processing
are inseparable. There is confusion of terminology concerning the engineering function called
manufacturing. Materials engineers use the term materials processing to refer to the conversion
of semi-finished products, like steel blooms or billets, into finished products, like cold-rolled
sheet or hot-rolled bar. A mechanical, industrial, or manufacturing engineer is more likely to
refer to the conversion of the sheet into an automotive body panel as manufacturing. Processing
is the more generic term, but manufacturing is the more common term.
A manufacturing process converts a material into a finished part or product. The changes that
take place occur with respect to part geometry, or they can affect the internal microstructure
and therefore the properties of the material. For example, a sheet of brass that is being drawn
into the cylindrical shape of a cartridge case is also being hardened and reduced in ductility by
the process of dislocation glide on slip planes.
Manufacturing Process are classified into:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Primary shaping process

Machining process
Joining process
Surface finishing process
Process affecting change in properties

1. Primary shaping process

Two types:

One which produce finished product (deforming process) i.e. requires no metal removal
Examples: casting, forging, rolling etc.
One which requires machining operations (material removal process)

Casting

MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

Rolling Process

10

Design & Engineering

Module-3

2. Machining Process
Machining is any of various processes in which a piece of raw material is cut into a desired final shape
and size by a controlled material-removal process. The processes that have this common theme,
controlled material removal, are today collectively known as subtractive manufacturing, in distinction
from processes of controlled material addition, which are known as additive manufacturing.

Metal Cutting

Lathe Turning

Drilling

3. Joining & Surface finishing process

Welding
In the welding process, two or more parts are heated and melted or forced
together, causing the joined parts to function as one. In some welding
methods a filler material is added to make the merging of the materials
easier. There are many different types of welding operations, such as the
various arc welding, resistance welding and oxyfuel gas welding methods.
These will not be covered in this introduction, however.

Brazing

During the brazing process a filler metal is melted and distributed in between multiple solid metal
components after they have been heated to the proper temperature. The filler metal must have a melting
point that is above 840 degrees Fahrenheit but below the melting point of the base metals and the metal
must also have high fluidity and wettability. No melting of the base metals occurs during brazing.

Soldering

Soldering is similar to brazing; the only real difference being that in soldering
the melting point of the filler metal is below 840 degrees Fahrenheit. Again,
no melting of the base metals occurs, but the filler metal wets and combines
with the base metals to form a metallurgical bond.

Buffing

Polishing and buffing are finishing processes for smoothing a work pieces
surface using an abrasive and a work wheel or a leather strop. Technically
polishing refers to processes that use an abrasive that is glued to the work
wheel, while buffing uses a loose abrasive applied to the work wheel. Polishing
is a more aggressive process while buffing is less harsh, which leads to a
smoother, brighter finish.
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

11

Design & Engineering

Module-3

4. Process effecting change in properties

Heat treating is a group of industrial and metalworking processes used to alter the physical,
and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is
metallurgical. Heat treatments are also used in the manufacture of many other materials, such
as glass. Heat treatment involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to extreme
temperatures, to achieve a desired result such as hardening
or softening of a material. Heat treatment techniques
include annealing, case hardening, precipitation
strengthening, tempering, normalizing and quenching. It is
noteworthy that while the term heat treatment applies only
to processes where the heating and cooling are done for the
specific purpose of altering properties intentionally,
heating and cooling often occur incidentally during other
manufacturing processes such as hot forming or welding.

Job production & Batch production:

Job Production is used when a product is produced with the labor of one or few workers and
is scarcely used for bulk and large scale production. It is mainly used for one-off products or
prototypes (hence also Prototype Production), as it is inefficient; however, quality is greatly
enhanced with job production compared to other methods. Individual wedding cakes and madeto-measure suits are examples of job production. New small firms often use job production
before they get a chance or have the means to expand. Job Production is highly motivating for
workers because it gives the workers an opportunity to produce the whole product and take
pride in it.
Small number of pieces produced only once - Prototype
Small number of pieces when need arises- Parts of stopped models
Small number of pieces periodically after time interval Raincoats
Batch production is the method used to produce or process any product in groups or batches
where the products in the batch go through the whole production process together. An example
would be when a bakery produces each different type of bread separately and each object (in
this case, bread) is not produced continuously. Batch production is used in many different ways
and is most suited to when there is a need for a quality/quantity balance. This technique is
probably the most commonly used method for organizing manufacture and promotes specialist
labor, as very often batch production involves a small number of persons. Batch production
occurs when many similar items are produced together. Each batch goes through one stage of
the production process before moving onto next stage.
Batch produced only once
Batch produced repeatedly at irregular intervals
Batch produced periodically at non intervals to satisfy continuous demands
So job production involves less quantity and more varieties while batch production involves
large quantity of identical parts.

MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

12

Design & Engineering

Module-3

Feedback on Design
At a projects start, the possibilities are endless. That clean slate is both lovely and terrifying.
As designers, we begin by filling space with temporary messes and uncertain experiments. We
make a thousand tiny decisions quickly, trying to shape a message that will resonate with our
audience. Then in the middle of a flow, we must stop and share our unfinished work with
colleagues or clients.
The critique as a collaborative tool: When we embrace a truly collaborative process, critiques
afford the incredible intersection of vision, design, strategy, technology, and people. The
critique is a corrective step in the process that allows different ways of thinking to reach
common groundfor example, compromising on visual vs. technological requirements.
Critiquing an unfinished design mitigates the risk of completely missing a projects ultimate
goals. Acting as a wedge in the creative process, good feedback can readjust the design message
and help us figure out what were really trying to say

Its important to remember that critiques are meant to improve output rather than hinder
process. Encouraging the overlap of ideas from multiple people, as in critiques, facilitates these
breakthroughs.
For a designer, a good feedback can:
prevent a meandering design from veering too far from timeline, budget, scope, or other
project constraints
allow others to help, teach, and guide when there are weaknesses or confusion,
accustom others to the shoddy state of unfinished designs to talk about bigger ideas and
strategy
familiarize colleagues, managers, and clients with the design process, invest everyone
in the project early on, circumvent alarming change requests by responding
immediately as a team
distribute responsibility for developing creative output
help build team trust, and eliminate destructive ego
Download Slide Presentation regarding above topics (Covering Module-3 Syllabus)
http://www.slideshare.net/naseelazeeniya/engineering-design-prototype-to-productplanningscheduling-inventory-cost-analysis
MEA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERINTHALMANNA

13