Sources and Methods of Product Cycle

The design team may have to explore a number of sources and methods such as:

1. Historical Information

This is related to the already existing information collected through the literature, marketing surveys, etc.

2. Market Forces

Before going ahead with product design, it is also essential to consider the various market forces that will affect the product in one way or the other.

Having identified all the requirements and the controlling factors, it would be possible to specify a general solution, which will be broad and would not contain too many details. This can be done by resorting to past designs, engineering standards, technical reports, catalogues, handbooks, patents, etc. This will help in its further evaluation and refinement at a later stage.

The next stage in the design process is the clear definition of the problem and coming up with all possible ideas for solutions. In the next stage, the identified solutions are further explored for the final design solution. In the analysis stage, the design process does a thorough analysis of the product to get as much of information as possible before committing to final manufacturing. For this purpose a large number of computer aids are available. The analysis stage is basically an iterative one with modification to the geometric model being carried out until the desired end result is achieved.

Before committing the design to manufacture, it is also essential to carryout some physical tests on the part. This will be in addition to the computerised analysis carried out using various facilities as outlined in the earlier stages. After finalising the product design, it is important to move the product to the manufacturing stage. Already the geometric models of the individual components as well as the assemblies are available both in electronic form as well as hard copy form from the earlier stages. They will be utilised for developing the necessary manufacturing processes again utilising computers to their fullest extent.