7.1 Determining new tool overall rating
This step assessed the performance of the new tool against the current best performing tools
identified in Chapter 5. This analysis follows the same structure as that outlined and used in
Chapter 5 to assess and determine an overall rating for the tools. To recount, the number of each
guidance component was counted. The overall rating scale, shown in Table 4 (p. 54), was used
to rate the individual component frequency giving five ratings from 0 – 4. These ratings were
then summed to give a overall rating for the tool.
The study found that the new tool, Inspire Ideas, shown in Table 22 scored very well with an overall rating of 16 out of 16. This places it alongside the previously best-rated tool, Info / Insp.
The new tool scored a maximum rating of four for the demonstration of strategy, advice, case
studies and for the presence of eco-resources. Although the demonstration of strategy was
slightly less in the new tool than that in Info / Insp, and the eco-resource rating was the same,
Table 22 – Inspire Ideas guidance component frequency against only the two previously best performing tools, SortED and Info / Insp.
Tool Strategy Rating 1 (0-4) Advice Rating 2 (0-4) Case study Rating 3 (0-4) Eco- resource Rating 4 (0-4) Overall rating SortED 6 2 103 3 44 3 Yes 4 12 Info / Insp 35 4 165 4 143 4 Yes 4 16 Inspire Ideas 28 4 393 4 4103 4 Yes 4 16
7.2 Overview of findings
This section gives an explanation as to why the new tool was awarded the ratings that it did using the overall rating scale, illustrated in Table 4. It will discuss each section individually and explain the rating given.
7.2.1 Strategy
The frequency of the guidance component ‘strategy’ demonstrated by the tool is a quantitative figure derived by counting the number of elements present in the tool, described in Chapter 5. With Inspire Ideas, the strategic guidance is contained in the strategy inspired section as discussed in Chapter 6. The strategic guidance is broken down into four categories corresponding to the relevant life cycle stages, as shown in Table 23.
Table 23 - Frequency of strategy-based guidance broken down by life cycle. Life Cycle Stage Frequency
Manufacturing 11 Transport 3 Use 5 End-of-life 9 Total 28
7.2.2 Advice
The advice component was not as simple to assess as the strategy component. This was because of the necessarily broad definition of ‘advice’, as defined in Chapter 5. Elements that fall under the definition of advice are given in many locations throughout the ‘Guidance Matrix’. All three sections, strategy, function and TRIZ inspired, give advice to the user, as depicted in Table 24. The TRIZ inspired gives advice in the form of case studies, therefore it is difficult to separate and quantify. The function inspired section presents advice through internal and external eco- resources and is also therefore hard to separate. The strategy inspired section, however, has a definitive resource of structured advice organised relative to a corresponding life cycle stage and a user chosen strategy.
Table 24 - Frequency of advice broken down by life cycle.
Life Cycle Stage Sub-category Frequency
Manufacturing All 99 Plastic 12 Metal 8 Glass 5 Hazardous 5 PCB 2 Transport All 40 Use All 43 PCB 10 Element 19 Motor 17 Consumables 29 End-of-life All 104 Total 393
7.2.3 Case study
The case studies presented by this tool in Table 25 are in two forms, internal and external. The internal case studies are embedded in the coding for the tool and therefore they are static, i.e. they will not change. Of this type there are 32. The external ones, however, are sourced from the
MoreInspiration online database that returns a dynamic result based on key search terms. As this database is constantly being expanded the total number of relevant case studies is unknown, however, at date of tool testing [July 2012] the site boasted 4071 examples. This ability to search through such a large number of examples increases the probability of finding relevant case studies that fit the users requirements. This is a significant benefit over previous best-rated tool.
Table 25 - Frequency and type of case study components.
Case study location Nature Frequency Internal, i.e. embedded in tool Static 32 External, i.e. sourced from MoreInspiration Dynamic 4071
7.2.4 Eco-resource
Defined as “any additional information that is supplied by a tool to aid the users’ understanding of strategic guidance and advice” it was clear that there were sufficient eco-resources present in the tool. Though much of this is found in the external features that the tool makes use of, i.e. the Creax Function database and the MoreInspiration database, there was a definite presence throughout the guidance matrix as well. The resources found in the external resources are accessed via a link from the tool to the relevant website.
7.3 Discussions of step 1 findings
These findings suggest that the new framework in the Inspire Ideas tool has the capacity to accommodate sufficient guidance and delivery components to ensure its performance is competitive with current best performing tools. These findings confirm theoretically that the new framework is as good as the current best. The added capacity of this framework to expand and make use of external resources has the potential to further improve its performance, paving the way for the next generation of tools with improved performance.
It is necessary to note that this new tool has many limitations resulting from its immature status as a prototype tool. This prototype is intended to assess the potential benefits of the new framework developed during this research. As such there are many issues, which arose during feedback gathering that would not have been present if the tool was more mature and in later
There was no additional instructional material available with the tool, only that embedded in the tool. A common complaint regarding existing DfE tools was the time consuming manuals and instructions that often accompanied them. The intention with this tool was to make it self- explanatory, and to include any instructional material in the contents of the tool to facilitate fluidity, and keep completion time to a minimum.