Thesis_Fuzzy Front End Framework (06-10-01).ppt

Fuzzy Front End for New Product Development

1. 1
MASTER THESIS
FUZZY FRONT END
Framework
for an Electronic Product Development Department
Presented by
Suttisak Suriyachanhom
RCMSE, Faculty of Engineering
Chulalongkorn University

2. 2
Thesis Content
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Analysis of Company’s Current Practice
Chapter 4: Designing the FFE Framework
Chapter 5: A Demonstration Project
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendation

3. 3
1. Introduction
This thesis presents a customized framework for an
electronic product development department in dealing
with ambiguous, chaotic, and unstructured activities
during the early phase of product development –Fuzzy
Front End (FFE).
New Product Development Fuzzy Front End
System - Level Design
Detail Design (Hardware, Software, and Mechanical)
Production Evaluation (Pilot Run)
Design Evaluation (Sample Evaluation)
Commercialization
Figure 1 Product Innovation Process
Mass-Production
Sales & Service

STRUCTURE D PHASES & GATES
Product Strategy
Product Concept & Specification
Project Plan

4. 4
FFE Background
The FFE or pre-development phase begins when a new
product opportunity is first considered worthy of further
ideation, exploration, and assessment.
Then the management brings together a core team to
identify:
customer needs
market segments
competitive situations
and to investigate:
company’s capabilities
available technologies

5. 5
Thesis Objective & Scope
The objective is:
to develop a FFE framework for an electronic product
development department
The study project covers:
the pre-development activities of solid-state electricity
meter development in the case industrial company.
The FFE model shall be formulated, but this
framework shall not be fully implemented and tested
because there are time limitation and company
restriction.

6. 6
Expected Outcomes & Benefits
The result of this study shall include:
Identification of necessary pre-development activities
Descriptions and internal flowcharts for each component
Relationship diagram of components, so called FFE Framework
Benefits to the author and academic literature
(1)Exploration of uniqueness and difficulties of pre-development
activities
(2)How theoretical FFE models are adopted to the real world
application
Benefits to the case company
(1)A useful FFE framework for developing new products
(2)The product planning activities can be performed quickly and
effectively.

7. 7
Research Methodology
Review FFE Literature
Analyze the Current Practice
(1)Management Interviews
(2)Examine Speed Problem
(3)Diagnose Effectiveness
Design New Fuzzy Front End
(1)Set Up Design Requirement
(2)Outline the Overall Framework
(3)Develop Practical Methods & Tools
(4)Review the Customized Front End
Demonstrate How it works
(An Implemented Project)
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 2
Step 1
(Literature Study)
Step 2
(Data Collection)
Step 3
(Develop the FFE)
Step 4
(Validate the Framework)

8. 8
2. Literature Review
The author extensively explored FFE
literatures including both theoretical
foundations and best practice models.
This is to provide the author an in-dept
understanding of FFE characteristicsas well
as a cognitive set of FFE process choices

9. 9
Theoretical Foundation
Nature of FFE Activities
fundamentally differ from formal development stage
more experimental and ad hoc with uncertain time of completion
employs merely individuals or small amount of resources
FFE Outcomes
a well defined product concept
clear NPD project scope and targets
a business plan aligned with the corporate strategy
Categorization of FFE Processes
Sequential
Concurrent

10. 10
Review of FFE Processes
Sequential Types
Anil Khurana and Stephen R. Rosenthal (1997)
Charles J. Nuese (1995)
Steven A. Murphy and Vinod Kumar (1997)
Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D. Eppinger (2003)
David L. Rainey (2005)
Concurrent Type
Peter Koen, Greg Ajamian, Robert Burkart, et al.
Summary of Those Processes
Idea Generation and Selection
Concept Development
Project Planning

11. 11
3. Analyze the Current Practice
Current Product Development Practices

SMD EPDD MFD Director
Figure 3.2 the case company’s design and development process
1 2 3

12. 12
Management Opinion
Two open-end questions were prepared as foundations to
evaluate the outcomes of the current front end practice.
(1) Compared with projects in your previous experience, is the
case company’s speed for front-end activities too slow?
Can its cycle time be more shortened? In case of
answering “No”, please give me more explanation.
(2) Is the current front-end process effectivefor development
of new product platforms? Are its deliverable outcomes
sufficient and useful for performing full-development
activities in the further stage? Is it needed to put more
groundwork? In case of answering “No”, please give me
more explanation.

13. 13
Management Opinion(cont.)
SPEED
While the Japanese companies spend about 1 month for formal planning
activities, the case company spend 4 months or more.
The case company is probably lacking of suitable methods and tools
for its front-end process. Thus, after embodying those practices, its
process can be shortened.
EFFECTIVENESS
Current practice may not give an effective result. Because the process
was run without any formal method, its inadequate groundwork
sometimes resulted into difficulties in the other phases
Occasionally the current front-end practices employing each member
experiencedidn’t deliver sufficient and useful outcomes.
Therefore, the case company should put more front-end groundwork
and necessitate the important items in an explicit form.

14. 14
Detail Investigation
The results of management opinions have indicated that:
•the current front-end practices have to be improved in terms of speed
and effectiveness.
In order to redesign the fuzzy front end process, it is necessary to
deeply understand what are lacking of.
A check list for diagnosing
front-end capability
A model for accelerating
front-end activities
Speed & Effectiveness
Figure 3.4 Structure Method for Analysis

15. 15
Investigate Front-End Speed by
using an Acceleration Model
Examine Market UncertaintyReduction
There is no specific requirement to clarify target market and no
suggested methods and tools to bring together the customer
requirements and the defined concept.
Examine Technical UncertaintyReduction
Although the current FFE process requires performing technical
investigation of product concept and then concluding it into design
specification, the requirement and the methods provided are too broad.
Initially the degree
of uncertainty is very
high because very
little is known about
market and
technical information
As work on FFE progresses,
the FFE team’s knowledge
increases. Then the
fuzziness level gradually
decreases

16. 16
Diagnose the front-end
effectiveness with the checklist
1 Awareness
2 Island of Capability
3 Integrated Capability
4
8
10
4 8 10 Intuitive Explicit in Part Explicit
Little
Integration
Partial
Integration
Full
Integration
D
egree of Process Integration

Degree of Formality
Figure 3.6 The Front-End Capability Map
The current front-end practice is
at the awareness stage 1.
Khurana and Rosenthal (1997)
suggested the companies that score
3 or less have deficient front-end and
are likely to have major problems
with their product development
efforts.

17. 17
4. Design the FFE Framework
ESTABLISH Design Requirements
OUTLINE Basic Framework
DEVELOP Practical Methods & Tools
VERIFY The FFE Framework
“By employing the same analogy as in general design processes, then”
Based on the review of
literature and the
analysis of current
practices, a FFE
framework is proposed

18. 18
Establish the Design
Requirements
(1) The FFE must fit within the case company structure and process
shall not require new departments or additional resources
must fit into the first stage of existing design and development process
(2) The FFE must deliver desirable outcomes required by the ISO
procedures
include product strategy, design specification and standards,
manufacturing chain, cost analysis, project resource and schedule, and
business case
(3) The methods for reducing uncertainty should be additionally
adopted
direct contact to customers, customer complaints, customer surveys,
market research, and analysis of competitors
simulation, virtual reality techniques, rapid prototyping, and early
physical prototyping
(4) The FFE must be improved in terms of formality and integration
to reach the Islands of Capability level

19. 19
Outline the Framework

CONCEPT
PREREQUISITES
Gate Review
Further Development Stage

IDEATION

PLANNING
3 Elements FFE

NO-GO
GO
Figure 4.1 FFE Framew ork
Product
Plan
Developm ent
Control Sheet
Supporting Elements
(1) New Product Strategy
(2) Product Family Road Map
(3) Organizational Structure
Practical Methods and Tools

20. 20
Practical Methods & Tools
Element 1: Ideation
Methods and Tools
Opportunity Identification
Market Segment Grid
Voice of Customer
Customer Visit Program
Competitive Analysis Table
Idea Generation & Selection
Suggested Sources of Ideas
Idea Selection Table
Understanding Customer Needs
Assessing Competitive Situation
OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION
Defining the Product/Market Segment
Selecting the Potential Idea
IDEA GENERATION AND SELECTION
Getting Sources of Ideas
Figure 4.3 Overview of Ideation element

21. 21
Practical Methods & Tools
(cont.)
Element 2: Concept
Methods and Tools
Establish Basic Specification
A Simple Relationship Matrix
Design the Concept
Concept Definition Process
Assess Feasibility
Rapid prototype/Visualization
Product Cost Modeling

 Prepare the list of customer needs
 Collect comparative benchmarking
 Set the target values
ESTABLISHING BASIC SPECIFICATION
Figure 4.5 Overview of Concept element

 Key functions and Features
 Physical Appearance and aesthetic attributes
 Operation Principle and Product Architecture
 Consideration of Product Family
DESIGNING THE CONCEP T

 Perform Preliminary Technical Investigation
 Test the Concept w ith Customers
ASSESSING TECHNICAL AND MARKET FEASIBILITY

22. 22
Practical Methods And Tools
for The FFE (cont.)
Element 3:Planning
(1.) Development Schedule and Resource Allocation
i.Work Breakdown Structure
ii.Gantt Charts
(2.) Development Expense and Tools/Facility
Investments
Mold/Die/Tool Estimates and Manufacturing Facilities
Development Facilities and Expense
(3.) Sales Plan and Marketing Strategy
(4.) Manufacturing and Supply Chain
(5.) Financial/ Business Case Analysis
Case Analysis Table

23. 23
Verify the Proposed
Framework
Company Structure and Process Fit
not require any new department, and additional resources
not affect to any radical change
Desirable Outcomes
it obviously indicates that the use of the customized FFE leads to deliver
the company’s required outcomes.
Further Uncertainty Reduction
Compared with the present FFE process, the customized FFE
framework has been further improved with the use of methods and tools.
Formality and Integration Improvement
The result of diagnosing FFE capability showed that the customized
framework was improved from the awareness level to the island of
capability level

24. 24
5. A Demonstration Project
The developed FFE framework was implemented into a
demonstration project, a new platform project namely as
Multi-2 Meter (M2M).
First the author explained the framework to people who involve
Then the core team performed pre-development activities with the use of
this framework including the suggested practical methods and tools
Finally, the core team ends up with the deliberated documents: product
plan and development control sheet
Project Background
The Multi-2 Meter (M2M) -the case company needs a new platform
model
New Product Strategy & Product Family Roadmap –according to the
company’s annual plan
The Project Leader and the Core Team -includes EPDD manager,
engineer 1 and engineer 2

25. 25
FFE Activities –IDEATION
(1) Opportunity Identification
To preliminarily obtain current information, the core team
appointed meetings with the sales forces. by questioning about:
Is the market still segmented in the same pattern as in previous information?
Is there any new or emerging segment?
How many competitors do address each segment? What makers and models?
Is there any new product coming? Is there any competitor moving out? Is
there a new comer?
Can sales get any new requirements in the form of tender specification or
problems/difficulties that the customers are encountering?
Can sales obtain competitors information in the forms of catalogues, manuals,
samples, and company information?
From the analysis of the above sources of information, the core
team then:
asks Sale/Marketing department (SMD) to visit customer sitein order
to gain in-depth understanding of customer needs

26. 26
FFE Activities –IDEATION
(cont.)
(1.1) Defining the Product/Market Segment
Substation
Type

(HV-CT, Cl 0.2s)
Industrial
Type

(HV-CT, Cl 0.5s)
Commercial
Type

(HV-CT, Cl 0.5s)
(LV-CT, Cl 0.5s)
(LV-DC, Cl 1)
Residential
Type

(LV-DC, Cl 1)
(LV-DC, Cl 1)

C

104


C

103






B

104

B

102

1

3

Customer 1

Customer 2
IEC meter
ANSI meter



D

104




E

104

B

304




D

104+

A

102

(Price range: x,xxx ~ x,xxx THB)
(Price range: xx,xxx ~ xx,xxx THB)
XYZ
Products
Figure 5.3 Market Segment Grid

27. 27
FFE Activities –IDEATION
(cont.)
(1.2) Understanding Customer Needs
List up the Needs 4 Market Segm ents / 2 Prim ary Custom ers
Table 5.1 Customer Needs Lists

28. 28
FFE Activities –IDEATION
(cont.)
(1.3) Assessing Competitive Situation

29. 29
FFE Activities –IDEATION
(cont.)
(2) Idea Generation and Selection

30. 30
FFE Activities –CONCEPT
(1) Establish Basic Specification
By comparing the customer needs with the specifications
extracted from competitive products, the FFE team is able to set
the specification

31. 31
FFE Activities –CONCEPT
(cont.)
(2) Design the concept
Key functions and features
by using the customer requirement specifications compared with the
available products, the FFE team researched for available techniques
and technologies to define the key functions and features.
Physical appearance and aesthetic attributes
the FFE team then requested mechanical designers draw up
construction models which showed physical appearance as well as
aesthetic attributes.
Operating principle and product architecture
The core team set up meeting with relevant engineers to consider key
operating principle of the new meter.
Consideration for the product family

32. 32
FFE Activities –CONCEPT
(cont.)
(3) Assessing Product/Market Feasibility
Computer Visualization
The 3-D model made of CAD software was employed to facilitate a
technical feasibility assessment.
Product Cost Modeling
From the key functions and features, electronic block diagram, and
mechanical concept, the product cost was modeled to explore
possible profit
Test the concept with the customers
By bringing the conceptual specifications, functions/features, and
mechanical models to discuss with the key customers.

33. 33
FFE Activities –PLANNING
(1) Development Schedule and Human Resource
Allocation
Gantt Chart
Work Breakdown
Structure

34. 34
FFE Activities –PLANNING
(cont.)
(2) Development Expense and Tools/Facility Investments

35. 35
FFE Activities –PLANNING
(cont.)
(3.) Sales Plan/Marketing Strategy
“SMD will first establish connection channels with network providers.
Throughout the development period XYZ will try to update business
information in order to re-enter to the market at suitable time. Up on the
M2M is available; SMD will try to share the market with competitor D with
the advantage of competitive price and a local manufacturer.”
Sales Targets

36. 36
FFE Activities –PLANNING
(cont.)
(4.) Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Subcontractor A
XYZ
Purchasing Department

Mechanical &
Electrical Parts
Raw
Materials
Electronics
Parts
A Key
Components
XYZ
Store 1:
Electronics
XYZ
Store 2 :
Mechsnics/Ele.
XYZ
RAW MAT. Store
XYZ
WHM (Part Fab.)
XYZ
WHM (TOU Ass’y & test)
XYZ
F/G Stock In-House
Local Market
(Customer 1 & 2)

37. 37
FFE Activities –PLANNING
(cont.)
(5.) Financial and Business Analysis

38. 38
6. Conclusion
The goal of this thesis is to provide an easy-step
approach, the FFE framework
The outcomes of this customization contain:
identification of prerequisites
sub-divisions of essential tasks
description of recommended methods
offerings of supporting tools
Development of FFE can be summarized as
Set up the Design Requirements
Create the Outline Framework
Develop Practical Methods and Tools
Verify the FFE Framework

39. 39
Discussions &
Recommendations
Benefits from Using the Framework
The FFE team is able to start quickly and complete their jobs
faster than ever
The FFE team is able to execute such up front activities
effectively
Recommendations for the Case Company
There are still other categories of product developments in the
case company; electromechanical products, incremental
improvement, and minor change.
In order to fully appreciate the benefits of this FFE framework,
the case company should extensively apply or customize this
developed model to cover other kinds of product development
projects.

40. 40
Thank You for Attention
Q & A
Presented by
Suttisak Suriyachanhom
The Regional Centre for Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Chulalongkorn University