• Chase R.
, Jacobs R, Aquilano
N., Grando A., Sianesi A.,
Operations Management,
McGraw-Hill
Bibliography • Baldassarre F., Supply
management. Analisi
strategica e processi
gestionali, FrancoAngeli
PRODUCT Prof. Valerio De Luca
[Link]@[Link]
DESIGN 2025/2026
INTRODUCTION
Design is a process for
conceiving a system,
product or service
aimed at meeting needs
and desires. It is a
decision making
process, often iterative,
that optimally converts
resources, to achieve
defined goals.
RAPID
BRAINSTORMING
PROTOTYPING
Withhold judgment
Build on others’ ideas
Delimit the subject
Speak one at a time
BRAINSTORMING
Think in terms of quantity
Encourage out-of-the-box ideas
Visualize
ROUGH
RAPID (New→market share)
RIGHT
RAPID PROTOTYPING
CONTRACT MANUFACTURER
Companies specialized in
producing goods or services
for other businesses
Examples:
• Semi-finished products for automobiles (assembled on
site)
• Marketing studies for mass consumption
• Clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies
CORE COMPETENCIES
Activities that the company performs better than its
competitors
• Possibility of access to multiple markets
• Increase the value perceived by consumers
• Difficult for competitors to imitate
Ex: Black and Decker (electric motors for repairs, cleaning, and
household appliances)
Understanding the optimal level of integration
Examples: Sun Microsystem, Dell (customer knowledge, logistics processes, relationships
with integrated suppliers), Apple
GENERIC DESIGN PROCESS
ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMIC IMPACT
TAKING PREFERENCES INTO ACCOUNT
IMPACT ON PROCESSES
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Project objectives:
market targets, business
goals, assumptions and
STAGE 0: constraints
PLANNING
Input: strategic guidelines, market goals,
and technological advancements
STAGE 1: CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
• Needs → Alternatives
• Concept: form, functions, characteristics
Specifications, competitors, economic
justifications
Architecture
STAGE 2: Decomposition
PRODUCT SYSTEM into systems and
DESIGN subsystems
Assembly
diagrams
(specifications and
flow diagram)
Complete specifications,
materials, and tolerances
STAGE 3:
DETAILED DESIGN Parts to be purchased
Process plan, tools,
equipment, and work
cycles
Building
STAGE 4:
TESTING AND
REFINEMENT
Same physical and
Prototype geometric
characteristics. The
evaluation process may differ.
Phase 5:
PRODUCTION
RAMP-UP
Ex. platform: Macintosh, Polaroid film, Walkman tape. Lower risk — already proven, easier to
develop. Significant investments to be amortized. Offered in markets that would not justify ad
hoc technologies.
High intensity: mass consumption, large volumes. The process may constrain the product,
since they are designed together.
Tailor-made: changes in size and materials.
High risk: periodic reviews and multiple development paths.
Quick build: parts divided into high, medium, and low priority.
Complex systems: integration teams manage the architecture of the entire system. Testing
involves verification and certification. Concurrent engineering is used.
CONCURRENT ENGINEERING
Concurrent engineering can be defined as the
simultaneous activity of the various functions
involved in developing a project, through open
and interactive communication among all team
members.
Its goal is to reduce time-to-market, lower
costs, and improve quality and reliability.
IS THE ECONOMIC
ANALYSIS RELIABLE
AND USEFUL?
Timeframe and cost estimates for
the CI-700 photo printer
Sensitivity analysis on CI-700
printer development costs
Sensitivity analysis can be based on variations in both
timing and financial estimates.
??
NPV?
Design for customers
House of Quality
(HOQ)
Ideal
Quality Function product for Value Analysis /
Deployment (QFD) Value Engineering
the
customer
A business approach
useful for identifying
the product features
QFD (quality
most relevant to
function
deployment) customers and for
assessing one’s own
product in relation to
competitors.
To align and coordinate an organization’s
capabilities in order to design products
that meet customer expectations
Improve the
definition of
customer
requirements
QFD
Enhance the
translation of these
requirements into
product features
Facilitate cross-
functional project
communication
Increase customer satisfaction by
aligning product design with customer
needs.
QFD: Improve product quality by avoiding
Expected distortions caused by indirect
interpretations.
Benefits
Enhance the performance of the
product development process by
focusing attention on the analysis and
planning stages of product design.
A matrix that enables
HOQ the design team to
translate customer
(house of needs into
quality) operational or design
specifications.
marketing
A schematic
representation
showing the competence
HOQ relationships
among various technologies
types of
information:
costs
HOQ
CLIENT NEEDS
TECHNICAL FEATURES
CORRELATION MATRIX
HOUSE OF
QUALITY
It is used to simplify
products and
VA (value processes in order to
analysis)/
VE (value
achieve better or
engineering) equivalent
performance at lower
costs.
Value analysis / Value engineering
Achieve better or equivalent performance at lower costs while meeting all
the functional requirements expressed by customers.
• Does the item have any non-essential design
features?
• Is it possible to combine two or more
components?
• How can the weight be reduced?
• Are there any non-standard components that
could be eliminated?
DFMA – Design For Manifacturing and Assembly
• When the product is in operation, does the component move relative to all
the others already assembled?
• Does the component need to be made of a different material or isolated from
the other assembled parts?
• Does the component need to be separated from the others for disassembly?
MISURARE LA PERFORMANCE
Direct customer involvement
in the delivery process:
Greater variability:
SERVICE ✓ in the time required to deliver
the service
DESIGN ✓ in the level of knowledge
required of the staff
Important in the development of a
new service or in the modification
of an existing one…
...SERVICE FIT
1. User experience: in harmony with the customer’s
experience of use
2. Operational: need for operational support to make
it feasible in practice (e.g., home delivery)
3. Financial impact: consider and justify not only the
costs but also the impact on existing customers
COMPLEXITY: number of stages that make up a service and the actions in
each stage
DIVERGENCE: number of ways in which the client/provider interaction may
vary in each stage, depending on individual needs and abilities
Greater or lesser degree depending on the stages → consequently determine
skills, layouts, and controls.