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The problem with design is you do not know what you want until you see it?
How many times do you hear the decision makers saying that they will know what they want when they see it. Whilst ISO9000 does not recognise this as an official procedure, we at PDG have processes in place to make sure this happens. Human nature is such that we all have perceptions of what it is we require, it is PDG’s mission to ensure that these perceptions are met but also include a WOW factor. During a product development opportunities arise to improve various aspects of a product. This is one of the facets that makes PDG stand out from the crowd.
Below are two case studies, which typify the customer focus and added value, supplied by PDG.
Client ‘A’ came to see PDG with the intention of making the main part of one of their products in plastic. The component in question was made in stainless steel, and they believed plastic would offer a cost reduction. The product fitted into the hotel/health spa industry, where the company were loosing market share in this highly competitive market due to their costs.
During the design process, PDG assessed the companies other products to establish if any other benefits could be made. During the design process we identified that:
- in changing the main part to plastic, enabled an opportunity to integrate a number of other parts and fixings into the design.
- with innovative use of tooling, we could make this design common over the range of his products.
- with a few innovative design changes, we could make the product suitable for use outside.
- Modifications to the electronics and software enabled the design to be adapted to the US market.
- The changes for the US market enabled the power input requirements to be made modular.
Professional styling integrated with sound engineering principles created a product that more than satisfied the client’s wildest dreams. Including new electronics for remote monitoring reduced the overall size of the product even further.
Additionally, because the products now had styling and became simple to install with intuitive user interfaces it was now suitable for the domestic market, with major retail stores becoming involved.
A study was undertaken to ensure the economics were sound for each option. With the current sales it was established that over 22% savings were possible and the new markets the new design option had opened would double the production volumes. A further benefit was that the workforce would not need to be increased, due to the nature of the manufacturing processes and integration of the product range.
This new design, now had the potential of including the electronics and changing the installation philosophy from skilled plumber and electrician, to a DIY product. Including the electronics, with some innovative software, actually reduced the overall size of the product by over 175%.
Reducing the size of the product was not only beneficial for the existing industrial market, but made is suitable for the domestic market.
Whilst we cannot guarantee this level of success on all our developments this particular project was typical.
Cordless Paging Device.
BACKGROUND - Our client’s product known as ‘Silent Alert’ is a personal paging system for deaf, deaf blind and hard of hearing. It enables them to be more independent by providing information not available due to their disability i.e. if some-one is at the door, there is a fire alarm etc. When triggered by one of the remote sensors the pager will vibrate with a unique pattern and illuminate the relevant pager keypad symbol. The original product had been in production for three years and whilst technically it was in advance of the competition, it was beginning to loose market share due to appearance.
When PDG became involved to update the design, it became clear that the existing product had a number of features that made assembly difficult and lengthy, there were too many parts and with complex tooling. With regards to the electronics these were to be updated using latest technologies to enable the product to be reduced in size. The new design also needed to include items from the user feed-back workshops.
It is very easy when undertaking an update to a design to try to use as much as possible from the existing product, this invariably compromises any improvements. What is needed is to take all the good points from the existing design and pay close attention those features that could be improved. This development was no different, as we value analysed each part and assembly, we brainstormed ways to achieve the same function but more economically whilst at the same time improving the quality of the product.
PROJECT BRIEF - The client initially called PDG in to advise on the possibility of making the tank for a 3Kw unit in plastic.
FEASIBILITY - PDG looked at the feasibility of making a plastic tank for the 3Kw version identified. During the initial phase of generating a specification, PDG looked further into the clients product range and installed situations. It was identified that a 6Kw and 9Kw unit were made along similar lines but with larger tanks (to hold two and three, 3Kw elements respectively). The production quantities of these larger units were 50% for the 6Kw and 25% for the 9Kw of the 3Kw unit quantities. During discussions with the client, PDG added to the brief to look at the feasibility of making the tanks modular. If this could be done then one design of modular tank would suffice for all units making the return on tooling more attractive. However the cost of the 3Kw tool is likely to be higher if options are to be included, but at the feasibility stage this would be clearly idenitified.
STANDARDS – During the feasibility stage, the standards regarding steam generating equipment were changed, such that the units had to conform to IPX5. IPX5 is an environmental standard under EN60529:1991. The original units only needed to conform to IP02. This fully sealed requirement posed problems with heat dissipation, discussed later.
CONSOLIDATION
It soon became aware to the client that to change the tank from stainless to plastic would miss out on a number of benefits of using plastic mouldings. For instance, could the mouldings be configured to enable the unit be smaller, small enough to go under a shower tray?
Other points raised showed some of the problems associated with the drainage cycle. The pump that drained the tank was very noisy and operated 20 minutes after the system was shut down. Users in hotel en-suites were not too keen to be woken just as they were falling asleep! How could this be avoided?
SOLUTIONS
There were a number of solutions that were integrated into the unit, the results of which resulted in a unit that was 60% smaller than the original. The main tank moulding was common to all variants (3,6,9Kw). The electronics were integrated into the main unit. A venturi system was developed to combine both drain and fill cycles noislesly. Electronics were miniturised and enclosed with the tank as well as redeveloping the external connections to the unit such that it was simple to manufacture, simple to install and simple to use.
CLIENTS VIEW
With the PDG involvement we have developed a steam generator that meets the original market requirements. With the innovative use of plastic mouldings, the development of a miniturised fill and drain system using a venturi and the use of state of the art electronics and software, we now have a product that has opened up new markets to us.
The final brief identified a target design which would include a modular system that was;
Modular
Had a plug in electronics module directly onto the tank
This is a device for generating steam at atmospheric pressure for use in the leisure market where sauna’s, steam rooms etc require a consistent flow of steam at the touch of a button. The amount of steam required is largely dependent on the size of the room. More steam requires either a more powerful unit. Currently most manufacturers use stainless steel tanks with traditional water level sensing devices, pumps and control circuitry.
The scene is changing. The environmental specification allowed the use of IP2 sealing standard, which catered for the drops of water falling vertically on the unit. The new standard requires both electrical safety and water resistance to IPX5, which is basically a hosepipe jetting water at all angles onto the device. To make the existing designs compliant to IPX5 besides being costly increases the size of the unit which has prevented some sales.
The solution is to develop a low cost modular unit.
PDG investigated a number of options, the most apparent one being to redesign the unit using plastics.
The basic specification is that the unit needs to;
- Be small, optimum envelope 230 x 180 x 80mm
- Contain as small amount of water as possible to reduce fill to steam times.
- Cycle the water every 90minutes to prevent hardness building up.
- Drain with outlet temperature of no more than 40°C
- Drain water out with minimum noise
- Be modular in 3KW steps
- Have safety protection to protect from boil dry situation.
- Fully automatic operation from start / stop only control.
- Connections to external monitoring systems.
- 240v 50Hz operation
- Case temperature not to exceed 50°C
- Mains water pressure 6 bar max
- Simple to install
The solution was to make full use of plastics to incorporate many added value features.
The main water tank, with steam trap and 3KW element was developed as a common part able to be connected, side by side, to increase the capacity using the same moulding. This method of increasing capacity has been patented.
The front control area was developed as an extrusion, cut to length depending on the product rating, i.e. the more modules connected the longer the extrusion.
The drain empty previously accomplished by a solenoid valve for the fill cycle and a vibratory pump for the drain was solved by the using a venturi in a novel way, for which a patent has been produced.
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