8.3 Determining the viability of Design Solutions

8.3a Assess design solutions viability

1. The design solutions impact on user lifestyles: Designers aim to prove the viability of new products and show that they will have a positive impact on user lifestyles.
2. For example, mobile phones have had a large impact on user lifestyles as they have become lighter and able to complete more computational tasks.
3. These solutions could also have negative impacts on user lifestyles, using the mobile phone example again, fewer people are communicating face-to-face and getting out.

How well the product performs

1. Feasibility studies confirming that a product will meet performance standards are vital if the product is to be viable.
2. Companies want the user to perceive the need for a product and will spend a lot of time and money trying to research user needs and wants through many different forms, such as questionnaires.

Technical difficulty of manufacture

1. A major deciding factor in the production of a product is the costs associated with the difficulty of its manufacture.
2. Designers and manufacturers aim to reduce the costs of manufacturing by adapting and simplifying products to make them easier to produce.

Stock availability of materials and components

1. The availability of stock or ease of obtaining materials can have a large impact on the viability of some products.
2. Studies will need to take place to ensure materials and components are easily available prior to manufacture. the following problems can occur if this is not done.
   1. a material is not available in sufficient quantities or availability is unreliable.
   2. it will cost a significant sum to buy in
   3. there is a long lead time
   4. there is strong competition for the materials or parts.
   5. the materials have an impact on sustainability.

Sustainability

1. Products can be designed so that parts which commonly fail can be easily replaced. Such parts might include batteries or touchscreens.
2. The use of standard parts helps achieve this, as does making the spare parts readily available on the open market.
3. Providing a service/maintenance schedule so that the product is regularly maintained and kept working to a high standard.
4. Servicing can spot problems early on and correct these cheaply before the problem develops into a full product failure
5. Providing freely available service manuals so that independent repairers can tackle the problem and not just franchised dealers.
6. Designing the product so that standard tools and diagnostic equipment can be used to trace faults and fix them.
7. Using higher quality components which are less likely to failure prematurely, and designing the product so that the components are working well within their rating and not being stressed.
8. Offering products on a leasing basis where the product continues to be owned by the manufacturer therefore there is an interest to design the product differently.
9. Providing facility for regular software updates to fix known issues and to keep the product in line with the features available on the latest models. The same applies to hardware updates, e.g. new cases, better cameras etc.
10. By adopting economic models for profit based on usage rather than one-off sale, manufacturers will focus their efforts on customers keeping and using the product, rather than replacing it, e.g. monthly subscription charges which include servicing and upgrades.

Costs and profit

1. The need for companies to generate profit means that feasibility studies to carefully plan cost implications and the ability for a product to make a profit.
2. Types of costs to consider are:
   1. Factory rent/mortgage (fixed)
   2. Power (mixed cost)
   3. Insurance (Fixed)
   4. Wages (Variable costs)
   5. Miscellaneous expenses (variable costs)
   6. Machinery (fixed)
   7. Materials (variable cost)
   8. Tooling (variable cost)

Timescales involved

1. The timescales involved in bringing a product to market are vitally important.
2. A product brought too late to the market where a competitor has a large market share can mean real problems in gaining sales and could mean a product and all its related investments will not longer be commercially viable.
3. Another timescale must be factored into a feasibility study is obtaining protection of design ideas through intellectual property rights to ensure ideas can not be stolen.

Promotion, brand awareness and advertising potential

1. Marketing often dictates the success of a product and its associated commercial viability.
2. If consumers are unaware that a product exists, they are unlikely to buy it.
3. Companies often use brand awareness and brand identity to cross sell products. As a consumer, you are more likely to buy another product from the same company if you have had a positive experience.

Balancing supply and demand

1. Keeping demand and supply in balance is a constant struggle. The consequences of poor customer service, high inventories, cash flow difficulties, and failure to meet planned business goals lead companies in search of a process to better manage the delicate balance of demand and supply.

Market analysis of similar products

1. During the product development and after its launch, companies often perform a range of feasibility studies looking at other competitor products, sales trends, marketing promotions and opportunities in new markets.
2. During development stages, market analysis is primarily focused on similar products already available to consumers.
3. Analysis simply looks at sales trends to show the popularity of a certain product range within a market to determine demand.
4. Key terms:
   1. Brand awareness
   2. Brand identity
   3. Electronic point of sale (EPOS)
   4. Feasibility study.
   5. Fixed costs.
   6. Variable costs.

Practice Question (14 marks)

• The Snake WEC described on pages 4 and 5 of the Resource Booklet is a prototype product in the renewable energy generator market. This prototype product should create interest among entrepreneurs who are looking to venture into the renewable energy generation industry. The stakeholders of The Snake are concerned about its commercial viability and have asked for feasibility studies to be carried out on the following factors:
  • how well the product performs
  • technical difficulty of manufacture and materials selection
  • costs and profit
  • timescales involved
  • balancing supply and demand.
• Choose any three factors from the list above. Critically evaluate the ways in which they influence the commercial viability of The Snake. Use information on pages 4, 5 and 7 of the Resource Booklet.
• Source:2021 Paper 2, Q5

Practice Question Solution

• Within their response, candidates may refer to both the design engineer and the manufacturers of the product. Reference to The Snake WEC should be made within their response using information from the resource booklet and their own knowledge. Examples of other products may be used to highlight their discussion.
• Candidates should refer to three of the factors given within the question. Their responses could include but are not limited to:

Product Performance

• Recognition of the product's key aim (to convert wave energy into electricity).
• Acknowledge the fact that the product has to operate for a long period in a harsh environment.
• Requirement for planned obsolescence of the product to be designed in.
• Use of research tools to canvas the intended market to assess performance during usage.

Manufacturing & Materials

• Reference to the costs of production. (tooling costs, labour etc).
• Reference to a DFM being done on the product with an aim to reduce manufacture costs and improve the viability.
• Simplification of complex parts.
• Use of standard components.
• Scale of production, with reference to the intended market group. This will dictate the amount of automation that could be present in the process.
• Availability of materials and lead times of sourced components.
• Materials selected with the correct properties for the application.
• Some consideration to the product life cycle, esp. the planned obsolescence of the product.

Costs and Profits

• Should have considered all expected costs.
• Allows the manufacturer to meet level of demand.
• Candidate should have acknowledged fixed (e.g. rent, insurance) and variable costs (e.g. raw materials, labour, electricity) throughout.
• Consideration of initial outlays and long-term recoup of profit
• Manufacturing/shipping/storage costs

Timescales

• Made reference to timescales for product launch.
• Referencing getting the product to the market as soon as possible, or timed to coincide with other relevant events.
• Time until start of manufacture
• Time until first batch available for sale
• Response time for manufacturer to implement changes for 2nd batch
• Shipping delays

Balancing supply and demand

• Research to predict initial demand and initial batch size
• Prediction of product rate of growth.
• Storage of products awaiting sale.
• Distribution to local suppliers.
• Lag time for further batch deliveries
• Risk of unsold stock
• Risk of obsolete stock
• Arrival of new technologies leaving the product outdated
• Spare part availability for servicing

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