Copyright © 2004 by ASME 1 `Proceedings of DETC ‘04: ASME 2004 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences And Computers and Information in Engineering Conference September 28-October 2, 2004, Salt Lake City, Utah DETC2004-57221 DRAFT PROTOTYPE PARTITIONING BASED ON REQUIREMENT FLEXIBILITY R. E. Moe Department of Mechanical Engineering The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712 smerk1234@hotmail.com Daniel D. Jensen U.S. Air Force Academy Dept. of Engineering Mechanics USAF Academy, CO 80840-6240 Dan.jensen@usafa.af.mil Kristin L. Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712 wood@mail.utexas.edu ABSTRACT Prototype partitioning is an often-overlooked step in the product development process that has great potential for improving project success. This paper discusses the importance of applying a systematic prototype partitioning strategy to a product development project. Quite often, prototypes are chosen based on historical reasons, with the premise that requirements are rigid and inflexible. Alternatively, a method is proposed here for prescribing a partitioning strategy that is tailored to the specific characteristics of a project and is based upon the three components of requirement flexibility: cost, schedule, and performance. By considering the realistic flexibility in these requirements, strategic prototyping decisions may be made to promote the success of a development project. Three product development applications illustrate the proposed method: the Black & Decker SnakeLight ™, a senior-level design project at the United State Air Force Academy, and the product development of a new umbrella concept based on compliant components. 1.0 INTRODUCTION A broad definition of a prototype is a simplification of a product concept meant to resolve issues in product development (Otto, et al. 2001). These issues may include customer needs, manufacturability, technical performance, market analysis, product liability, aesthetics, ergonomics, and product theme among others. Inasmuch as effective prototyping hinges upon planning, a key to improving prototyping effectiveness, and thereby product development success, is to improve the prototype planning process. This planning process, including the allocation and division of prototyping tasks, is what we refer to as prototype partitioning. There is a significant investment at stake in product development. Depending on the industry, companies will spend 2-8% of sales on R&D. In spite of this, there are estimates that 40-46% of product development resources are spent on products that are cancelled or do not yield adequate returns (Cooper 1993). Product development project cancellation rates are reported to be between 30-50% (Ulrich, et al. 2000; Linberg 1999; Galal, et al. 1999; Patel 1999). Although there are many reasons for the failure of product development projects, two types of risks can be mitigated. First, excessive resources might be spent to determine that a project is not worth pursuing. These are wasted resources that could be applied to other projects. Second, resources might be directed away from a project that is worthwhile. This case represents a lost opportunity. Both of these issues may be mitigated using the correct application of the information from the product requirements. In addition to these resource management issues, many products that enter the market have not been developed to their full potential. This reduced potential may be associated with many aspects of the product development process. Decisions regarding prototyping are one such aspect. Effective prototype decisions, such as how many concepts to prototype simultaneously, how the information is used to sequence the prototypes, and whether replanning of the prototype strategy is needed based on testing results, are