Tag Archives: product launch

Disconnect

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There is a disconnect between the virtual and real world[/caption]
As an technology leader I am attracted to the bright colors in the emerging virtual world. The hum drum real world seems so stodgy dull and grey. Especially in the winter. It is easy to get sucked into the easy to understand simplifications needed to make virtual reality possible. However bright and colorful the food looks in the virtual world it has no smell or taste and my stomach still growls with hunger pangs.
Computerized finite element stress analysis is a really powerful engineering tool. It is very helpful to know the effects of changes in part shape without going to the time and expense of building and testing actual components. In today’s rapid paced business environment the time saving that is possible is necessary to bring products to market before they are obsolete. I am currently using the technique to evolve a vehicle rear suspension into a version that will carry twice as much load
There is a difference between opinioneering and engineering. I think it is going to work is more risky than I performed a representative test and it passed. However much that I like virtual testing like finite element, the purchasers of my vehicles want them to work in more than the virtual world. Fortunately my latest test vehicle did not require the camouflage paint used for automotive test vehicles. In the automotive world, creative paint jobs hide the new model styling from the press. In most cases even a rigorous test program is not enough. I remember an automotive rear suspension frame like I am currently designing that did not show its weakness until some actual vehicles were out on the road. A panic stop while traveling in reverse buckled the rear axle under the vehicle. Not funny when this occurs after the frame was production tooled.
Agile product development addresses some of this issue. In agile fashion, we accelerated placing our new generation of rear suspension arm in actual customer use much earlier in the launch process. This adds a reality check to the computer assisted design and testing.

Generic

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Generic drugs by Chris Potter

Generic drugs by Chris Potter

We want all the drugs we need to cure our personal ailments to be available as generics. The invisible hand of competition as described by Adam Smith, reduces the price we have to pay. This is a good thing if you are the purchaser. On the flip side, none of us wants our market offering to be governed by world competitive pricing. It is very hard to live in an expensive city like San Francisco if you receive a world competitive wage of a dollar a day. Given the fact that most players wish to avoid trying to sell their product on price alone, it is not surprising that most of the products that we buy have non generic features.
. The pendulum swings back and forth. In the newspaper hey day, generic black ink was sold by the drum. The advent of Xerox machines and ink jet printer swung the pendulum back from the generic side. Even though the ink within the cartridges is generic, encapsulating it in a non interchangeable package made it no longer generic. We all end up paying more than $50 for an amount of ink that would cost a few cents if you could buy it by the drum. The pendulum usually does not remain at full swing. Clever entrepreneurs already sell refill kits, such that it becomes possible to use cheaper generic ink.
Ink refill kit by Daniel Deiz Sanquirce

Ink refill kit by Daniel Deiz Sanquirce


Cost analysis in vehicle manufacture would be a whole lot easier if we could build a vehicle entirely from generic parts. This would be a good match to the management simplifications like competitive bidding. Certainly it would be convenient to believe that price is the only difference.
percentages apply to generic parts

percentages apply to generic parts

The reality is that all companies strive to create competitive advantages. Even though it is possible in most cases to find three suitable suppliers for every component, swapping suppliers usually involves opportunity costs like drawing changes, testing, retooling charges and set-up bills. This spills over into even the launch process where modern MVP (minimum viable product) strategies cause drawing updates between prototype and product reflecting the part design differences between those made by vendors who specialize in low volume rapid delivery and those made by vendors who specialize in lowest manufacturing cost.