om

1. Product Design
Importance of Product Design
Production or operations strategy is directly influenced by product design for the following reasons:
(i) As products are designed, all the detailed characteristics of each product are established.
(ii) Each product characteristic directly affects how the product can be made or produced (i.e.,
process technology and process design) and
(iii) How the product is made determines the design of the production system (production design)
which is the heart of production and operations strategy

2. • What Does Product Design Do?
• The activities and responsibilities of product design include the following:
• (i) Translating customer needs and wants into product and service requirements (marketing).
• (ii) Refining existing products (marketing).
• (iii) Developing new products (marketing, product design and production).
• (iv) Formulating quality goals (quality assurance, production). 2
• (v) Formulating cost targets (accounting).
• (vi) Constructing and testing prototype (marketing, production).
• (vii) Documenting specifications (product design).

3. • Objectives of Product Design
• (i) The overall objective is profit generation in the long run.
• (ii) To achieve the desired product quality.
• (iii) To reduce the development time and cost to the minimum.
• (iv) To reduce the cost of the product.
• (v) To ensure producibility or manufacturability (design for
manufacturing and assembly).

4. • Factors Influencing Product Design
• (i) Customer requirements: The designers must find out the exact requirements of the customers to ensure that
the products suit the convenience of customers for use. The products must be designed to be used in all kinds of
conditions.
• (ii) Convenience of the operator or user: The industrial products such as machines and tools should be so
designed that they are convenient and comfortable to operate or use.
• (iii) Trade off between function and form: The design should combine both performance and aesthetics or
appearance with a proper balance between the two.
• (iv) Types of materials used: Discovery of new and better materials can improve the product design. Designers
keep in touch with the latest developments taking place in the field of 3
• materials and components and make use of improved materials and components in their product designs.
• (v) Work methods and equipments: Designers must keep abreast of improvements in work methods, processes
and equipments and design the products to make use of the latest technology and manufacturing processes to
achieve reduction in costs.

5. • (vi) Cost/Price ratio: In a competitive market, there is lot of pressure on designers to design products which are
cost effective because cost and quality are inbuilt in the design. With a constraint on the upper limit on cost of
producing products, the designer must ensure cost effective designs.
• (vii) Product quality: The product quality partly depends on quality of design and partly on quality of
conformance. The quality policy of the firm provides the necessary guidelines for the designers regarding the
extent to which quality should be built in the design stage itself by deciding the appropriate design specifications
and tolerances.
• (viii) Process capability: The product design should take into consideration the quality of conformance, i.e., the
degree to which quality of design is achieved in manufacturing. This depends on the process capability of the
machines and equipments. However, the designer should have the knowledge of the capability of the
manufacturing facilities and specify tolerances which can be achieved by the available machines and equipments.
• (ix) Effect on existing products: New product designs while replacing existing product designs, must take into
consideration the use of standard parts and components, existing manufacturing and distribution strategies and
blending of new manufacturing technology with the existing one so that the costs of implementing the changes
are kept to, the minimum.
• (x) Packaging: Packaging is an essential part of a product and packaging design and product design go hand in
hand with equal importance. Packaging design must take into account the objectives of packaging such as
protection and promotion of the product. Attractive packaging enhances the sales appeal of products in case of
consumer products (nondurable).

6. • LEGAL, ETHICALAND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• The major legal issues are:
• 1. Patents: A patent is a grant of property rights by the government to an inventor. Patents are exclusive property rights that
can be sold, transferred, willed, licensed or used as collateral, much like other valuable assets. In fact, most independent
inventors do not commercialize their inventions or create new products from their ideas. Instead, they sell or license their
patents to others who have the resources to develop products and commercial markets. Patent law stipulate broad categories of
what can and cannot be patented and in the words of the statute, any person who "invents or discovers any new and useful
process, machine, manufacture, composition or matter or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent." 8
• 2. Trademarks: It includes any word, name, symbol, distinguishing device or any combination there of adopted and used by a
manufacturer or merchant to identify his goods as distinguishing them from those manufactured or sold by others.
• Example: Trademarks can be names used in commerce such as Coke, clearly trademarked by the Coca-Cola Corporation. A
trademark can be a symbol like Apple Computer Corporation's unusual apple with a bite in the side. A distinguishing device
can be artistic renderings of corporate products, such as the wild mustang horse for the Ford automobile, the intricate shield
and insignia designed NFL football team.
• 3. Copyrights: A copyright extends protection to authors, composers, artists and it relates to the form of expression rather
than the subject matter. This distinguishing feature is important because most intellectual property has proprietary information
in terms of subject matter and if that property cannot be patented, the copyright only prevents duplicating and using the
original matter. The probation does not prevent another person from using the "subject matter" or rewriting the material.
• Example: The concept of an electronic spreadsheet is not protected; however the software program devised to create the
spreadsheet (form of expression) is protected by copyright.
• 4. Product Liability: It refers to the responsibility of a manufacturer or vendor of goods to compensate for injury caused by
defective merchandise that it has provided for sale. When individuals are harmed by an unsafe product, they may have a Cause
of Action against the persons who designed, manufactured, sold, or furnished that product.

7. • PROCESS PLANNING
• A process is a sequence of activities that is intended to achieve some result, typically to create added value for the
customers.
• A process converts inputs into outputs in a production system.
• It involves the use of organisation’s resources to provide something of value
• Process decisions involve many different choices in selecting human resources, equipment and machinery, and
materials. Process decisions are strategic and can affect an organisation’s ability to compete in the long run.
• Types of Processes:
• 1. Conversion processes; converting the raw materials into finished products(converting iron ore into iron and then
to steel). The conversion processes could be metallurgical or chemical or manufacturing or construction processes.
• 2. Manufacturing processes;
• a. Forming processes include foundry processes (to produce castings) and other processes such as forging,
stamping, embossing and spinning. These processes change the shape of the raw material (a metal) into the shape of
the workpiece without removing or adding material.
• b. Machining processes comprise metal removal operations such as turning, milling, drilling, grinding, shaping,
planing, boring etc.
• c. Assembly processes involve joining of parts or components to produce assemblies having specific functions.

8. PROCESS SELECTION:
• Process selection refers to the way production of goods or services is organised.
• It is the basis for decisions regarding capacity planning, facilities (or plant) layout, equipments and design of
work systems.
• Process selection is necessary when a firm takes up production of new products or services to be offered to
the customers.
• Three primary questions to be addressed before deciding on process selection are:
• (i) How much variety of products or services will the system need to handle?
• (ii) What degree of equipment flexibility will be needed?
• (iii) What is the expected volume of output?
PROCESS STRATEGY:
• A process strategy is an organisation’s approach to process selection for the purpose of transforming resource
inputs into goods and services (outputs)
• The objective of a process strategy is to find a way to produce goods and services that meet customer
requirement and product specification (i.e., design specifications) within the constraints of cost and other
managerial limitations

9. • Work Study:
• Work study is a technique which is employed to ensure the best possible use of men, machine, materials and
energy in carrying out a specific activity. It deals with the techniques of method study and work measurement.
• Work study is based on the principle that for every job, there is:
• a. One best way of doing it.
• b. A scientific method is the best and surest way of finding this best way.
• c. The time taken for doing the job by the best way can be measured and set as standards. (Time Study)
• Method Study or Methods Analysis:
• Work methods analysis or method study is a scientific technique of observing, recording and critically
examining the present method of performing a task or job or operation with the aim of improving the present
method and developing a new and cheaper method.
• Objectives of Method Study:
• 1. To study the existing proposed method of doing any job, operation or activity.
• 2. To develop an improved method to improve productivity and to reduce operating costs.
• 3. To reduce excessive material handling or movement and thereby reduce fatigue to workmen.
• 4. To improve utilization of resources.
• 5. To eliminate wasteful and inefficient motions.
• 6. To standardise work methods or processes, working conditions, machinery, equipments and tools.

10. • METHOD STUDY
• Method Study or Methods Analysis:
• Work methods analysis or method study is a scientific technique of observing, recording and critically
examining the present method of performing a task or job or operation with the aim of improving the
present method and developing a new and cheaper method.
• Objectives of Method Study:
• 1. To study the existing proposed method of doing any job, operation or activity.
• 2. To develop an improved method to improve productivity and to reduce operating costs.
• 3. To reduce excessive material handling or movement and thereby reduce fatigue to workmen.
• 4. To improve utilization of resources.
• 5. To eliminate wasteful and inefficient motions.
• 6. To standardise work methods or processes, working conditions, machinery, equipments and tools.

11. • MOTION STUDY
• Motion Study: It is defined as a systematic and critical study of existing
method of doing a task with a view to evolve the most efficient and
economic method of doing it.
• It is a method for setting up employee productivity standards in which:
• A complex job is broken down into small or simple steps.
• The sequence of movements taken by the employee in performing those
steps is carefully observed to detect and eliminate wasteful motion.

12. • WORK MEASUREMENT
• Work Measurement; Work measurement is defined as the application of techniques designed to
establish the work content of a specified task by determining the time required for carrying out the
task at a defined standard of performance by a qualified worker.
• Benefits of Work Measurement:
• Work measurement helps;
• 1. To develop a basis for comparing alternate methods developed in method study by establishing the
work content in each method of doing the job.
• 2. To prepare realistic work schedules by accurate assessment of human work.
• 3. To assist in labour cost estimation.
• 4. To provide information related to estimation of tenders, fixation of selling price and assessment of
delivery schedule.
• 5. To compare actual time taken by the worker with the allowed time (standard time) for proper
control of labour.

13. • PRODUCTIVITY
• Productivity; Productivity is achieving the highest results possible while consuming the least amount
of resources.
• The term productivity can be defined in two ways. In simple terms, productivity is defined as a ratio
between the output and input.
• In a broader sense, productivity is defined as a measure of how well resources are brought together in
organizations and utilized for accomplishing a set of results

14. • Kinds of Productivity;
• 1. Partial Productivity: This measures productivity of one factor or input, keeping other factors or
inputs constant or unchanged. These measure the change in output with respect to labour and capital,
one at a time respectively, keeping in other constant.
• 2. Total Productivity: Here, productivity is calculated with respect to the total cost or the total