Seven Basic Quality tools documents
Definition of Quality Management -- it is a method for ensuring that all the activities necessary to design, develop and implement a product or service are effective and efficient with respect to the system and its performance. It is also a principle set by the company to endure the continuous advocacy of quality services and products, or the further improvement of it.
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OM 380-001
Professor Foster
Prototyping-A Mini-Tutorial
Original
text on www.freequality.org
Introduction
and Prototyping Defined
Although
most of us don’t remember the year 1947 when Chuck Yeager broke the sound
barrier in the Bell X-1 aircraft, it was a historical event for prototyping. Why?
Because the first prototype for this aircraft was a bullet. Yes, a bullet that is placed in a gun! During the development of the historic
aircraft, designers at Bell examined a 50-caliber bullet flying at supersonic
speed. The bullet was aerodynamically
stable even as it broke the sound barrier.
The Bell X-1 aircraft was designed in the shape of the 50- caliber
bullet. Adding wings and a powerful rocket engine made the Bell X-1 aircraft. That’s why the news stories referred to this
historical event as “a bullet with wings.”
The actual definition of a prototype is
“an original model after which other similar things are patterned,” according
to Webster’s II Dictionary. A more
innovative definition, according to Tom Kelley “Prototyping is problem
solving. It is a culture and a
language. You can prototype just about
anything-a new product or service, or a special promotion. What counts is moving the ball forward,
achieving some part of your goal.”
There
are several types of prototyping such as paper, Computer Aided Design (CAD),
rapid, and basic prototyping. Each of
these methods of prototyping are used in different industries. Each of these types of prototyping and their
usage are explained in the section below, How to Use Prototyping.
This mini-tutorial on prototyping will show how to use
prototyping, where prototyping is used, and finally where to get more
information about prototyping.
How
to Use Prototyping
A paper prototype is perhaps the cheapest of the
prototype options available. This option
creates a series of drawings of the design that the developer has
produced. These drawings are shown to
the decision-makers, which either approve or reject the designs. This allows the decision-makers to give
feedback to the developer, which can improve the design or product. This method of prototyping allows the company
to visualize the design in the early stage of the product, without investing a
lot of resources and money into the project, to determine if the product is
worth pursuing,.
Computer Aided Design (CAD) allows the developers to
draft their designs of the product on a computer. This option has improved the ability of the
designers while making the whole process much simpler. It can be used to design anything. This method of prototyping allows many
different people throughout the world to work on the design through the use of
CAM, a muti-user version of CAD. For
Boeing, a person in Japan and Europe can help design an aircraft being developed
in the United States. This method has
great benifits for global firms.
Rapid prototyping is used to accelerate the overall
design process. A rapid prototyping
machine makes a solid model from the bytes of the design information stored in
a computer. This is used to test
designer’s ideas before the product hit the shelves of the stores. Rapid prototyping often leads to a
high-quality, defect free product.
Software companies often use this method of prototyping because it
allows the users to try out the software and give feedback to the companies so
that improvements can be made quickly.
The product cycle time for computer related software is barely six
months, therefore making this method of prototyping valuable to the computer
industry.
Basic prototyping is a nonfunctional creation of the
design that can be analyzed by the target customer to receive valuable
feedback. The most popular basic
prototype is concept cars that the automobile industry use to receive feedback
on the design of the automobile. This is
valuable because mechanics of any car are basically the same; the difference is
the design of the car. This is what the
automobile industries are interested in and by using basic prototypes, they are
able to receive feedback from the customers.
Example
Where Prototyping is Used
One example of where prototyping is
commonly used is Starbucks Coffee Co.
The chain has a busy construction schedule that includes 500 new stores
and 350 remodels annually. To help out
with the process, Starbucks uses fixture prototyping. This company does
prototypes on an ongoing basis all year round.
In order to streamline the process, they form prototype teams within
Starbucks. The Starbucks team takes into
account the specific program requirements, including the function of the unit
and the intended location. Once all the
requirements have been established, the project is taken to a vendor. Once the vendor approves the paper drawings,
the Starbucks prototype team meets with the company to work out a rough cost
estimate and time line. To insure that
everything that’s been proposed will meet the clients needs, the team
continuously communicates the proposal changes to the client. When the project is given the green light by
the client, the Starbucks prototype team has weekly conference calls with the
vendor. This keeps everyone on
track. The vendor is given the paper
drawings, designs and equipment specifications to help design and develop the
prototype. The completed prototype is
set up at the vendor’s location. Once
the prototype is set up, the Starbucks team carefully reviews the unit,
insuring all the requirements are met.
After this review has been completed, a meeting is set up for all the
vendors who will be manufacturing the unit to analyze the prototype. This process finalizes the prototype and is
used for the remodeling job or construction of the new Starbucks store.
Where to Get More Information About
Prototyping
There are numerous websites, articles,
and books containing more information about prototyping. The following is a short list of sources that
I found useful.
http://www.freequality.org
http://www-rpl.stanford.edu/
http://rpmi.marc.gatech.edu
http://www.cubital.com
http://www.spline.nl/
http://www.helisys.com
Kelley,
Tom. “Prototyping is the Shorthand of
Innovation.” Design Management Journal Summer 2001: 35-42.
Anonymous.
“Prototypical Solutions.” Chain
Store Age Jul 2001: 96-98.
Jones,
Charmaine. “Perfecting the
Prototype.” Appliance Manufacturer Aug 2001:
49-50.
Jones,
Charmaine. “Paid prototyping=Rapid Time
to Market.” Appliance Manufacturer Oct 2001:
40-45.
Anonymous. “Replacement Part Prototyping Takes
Flight.” Research & Development Oct 2001: 13.
Foster,
S. Thomas. Managing Quality:An
Integrative Approach. Upper Saddle
River: Prentice Hall, 2001.