Design Overview

The output of the screening phase is a reduced set of projects passes through to a formal design process that includes developing product specifications, selecting technologies, compiling drawings, and building prototypes.

Recognizing that customer perceptions are paramount and that roughly 75-80% of a product's ultimate costs are "hard wired" in during the design phase, there are four complementary concepts that frame the design process:

(a) Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

(b) Target Costing

(c) Design for Manufacturing (DFM)

(d) Rapid Prototyping.

In combination, QFD, target costing, DFM, and rapid prototyping match products to market requirements, support the firm's profitability objectives, and reduce the risk of a subsequent failure.