Each of the seven industrially-viable alternatives must be developed to ensure a clear understanding. This should be done before judging them against the agreed evaluation criteria. There is some debate among 3P practitioners regarding the decision to develop every one of the functional step alternatives this way, or to first cull the less probable options and only further develop the ones with the greatest potential. A seasoned group is more likely to cull first in order to devote more valuable time to the more promising alternatives. Use caution when making this decision. Every group has some bias toward eliminating the less-familiar technology options.
Be sure that the concept has been researched and is understood well enough to make a good decision to drop an alternative, eliminating further consideration.
This is another key juncture for evaluating the product–process relation-ship. Some process alternatives will only provide advantages if a specific product feature is incorporated. As you consider the process options, review the product design once again to see if there are additional synergies resid-ing in the optimal selection of process alternatives. Ask yourselves, “if the product was designed this way, could we go with a particular alternative that has these benefits?”
Right now the goal is to develop the ideas more fully and to gain under-standing of each alternative so that a selection of the best three ideas can be identified and progressed to the next phase of the 3P process. This step should be done quickly with the goal of understanding enough to elimi-nate the least probable alternatives without compromising innovation and creativity.
For each value-adding function you now have six or seven different industrial alternatives. A template for this simple variation of Process at a
Glance is found in the.Appendix. Across the top of the first sheet state the title of what that value-adding function is. On the left-hand side list the fol-lowing, leaving space for a matrix to be developed:
1. Material (process step) 2. Sketch of the Method 3. Gauge
4. Tool
5. Fixture or Jig 6. Machine
The.Title will state 7 Process Options for . We use an example:
Attach circuit board to housing. The function is “attach” but should also make clear what parts are involved and the specific action being taken in this step.
Material describes the process alternative. Continuing the example of
“attach,” the first alternative might be “adhesive” and a second might be
“apply screws.”
Method includes the sketch of each alternative across the top row of the table. In the example there might be a sketch of the housing with the circuit board set in place and some sort of adhesive being applied to the edges. In the second case there might be a picture of an automatic screw gun screwing the board down.
Gauge refers to a process check to verify that the step was performed cor-rectly. In this example, perhaps there is a torque measure to verify that circuit board is firmly attached by the adhesive. There might be a sen-sor to ensure that all of the screws were set in place or a torque sensen-sor in the screw applicator.
Tool.describes any devices required to perform the work. If this step is per-formed manually the tool might be the screw gun or adhesive applicator.
Perhaps there is a tool to determine removal torque that will be used.
Fixture or Jig focuses on how parts are held accurately in place. The step might require a pinning system or a nest to hold a housing in place. A guide could be needed to ensure the circuit board is positioned in the exact location required.
Machine describes attributes of the equipment used in this process step. It defines if it is simple or highly complex or automated. It might describe guarding needs or attributes needed to maintain it. For the example, the
adhesive might use ultraviolet light to cure and require a shield to pro-tect personnel exposure. Similarly if a robot is used to apply the screws a physical barrier or light curtain would be needed for protection. There might be lubrication points desired to maintain the machine easily.
Going through these steps for each alternative and for every value-adding function can be a very tedious process. This is why experienced 3P teams will typically eliminate the clearly inferior alternatives before wasting time to develop them further.
After the three top alternatives have been selected, the teams will con-tinue developing and documenting information on the functional process attributes using a Process at a Glance.chart. This will be further developed for each of the three prototypes in the next phase of the 3P process.
Example.Developing.the.Seven.Alternatives—Baked.Apple.Project Kathryn’s Finest’s 3P event was now in full swing. They had come up with good industrial applications for six of the seven alternatives and developed their knowledged of those functions, documenting the infor-mation on the Process at a Glance chart.
They did not have all of the information to fill in every box, but the facili-tator reminded them that this was okay. The goal here was to better under-stand the alternatives and consider underlying benefits or complexities that might help differentiate the better three from the rest.
When they looked at the first alternative, using a type of arc welder to electrically cook the apples, they recognized that protecting people would be a big issue. One of the electrical engineers also noted that they would need to have a special nonconductive basket or holder for the apples to contain the electricity where it needed to be. Several of the other technolo-gies also required protection for people. The concept of using a deep fryer for heating the apples in warm butter and sugar would need a tool of some sort, perhaps a basket, to drop the apples in and then retrieve them when they were cooked.
As the group was researching and discussing the attributes of the seven alternatives, they were developing charts for each value-adding process step. The example shown in Figure 9.7 is one they developed for the heat function.
Now they were ready to learn how to apply the criteria and select the better three alternatives.
◾ Section Summary
☑ Develop a Modified Process at a Glance for Each Function
Figure 9.8 shows the Kathryn’s Finest team reviewing the seven Alternatives for “Heat Process at a Glance Chart.”