By Cintia A. Lopes Oct, 2010
Cintia Lopes was the first Whirlpool employee to obtain the AVS Certification. She has been working since February 2009 as the Design for Value Lead in Latin America Region (LAR) leading cross‐ functional teams from all product categories in Brazil in the use of the two main Design for Value (DFV) tools. Previous to that she worked in the Product Design of Air Conditioning, Refrigerators, and Cooking products. She earned her Master’s Degree in Product Design from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in 2008 where she specialized in Expert Systems development. She also holds a MBA in Project Management granted by Fundação Getúlio Vargas in 2004. She has graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in 2000.
Abstract
The Split Air Conditioning product has become very popular in Brazil in recent years. The system consists of two units physically separated ‐ the indoor unit contains the evaporator and the outdoor unit contains the condenser. Copper tubes connect both units which transfers the refrigerant fluid from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit. The main benefit of this system over a traditional single unit system is the lower sound level combined with the improved thermal comfort.
The customer concern about purchasing this product is the installation process. It requires a specialist to install it and the cost can reach 30% to 40% of the product’s price. Consumers are dissatisfied with the installation cost and the need to depend on a technical specialist. Most customers wish they could install it by themselves if the product would allow it.
A Value Engineering Workshop was held in February, 2010 with a multi‐ functional team of fourteen people in Joinville, Brazil, to discuss the installation main issues and generate solutions to improve this complex process using the Value Methodology. This Function Analysis approach generated 64 ideas, where at least 27 were considered easy to implement with high saving or increased value. Seven Business Cases were developed by the team requiring $147K in investment with an annual risk weighted estimated $21.5M of savings for the company and consumers. This paper will demonstrate the success of using the Value Engineering approach to improving the design of a product for simpler installation.
Introduction
The Split Air Conditioning product has become very popular in Brazil in recent years. The system consists of two units physically separated ‐ the indoor unit contains the evaporator and the outdoor unit contains the condenser. Copper tubes connect both units which transfers the refrigerant fluid from the indoor to the outdoor unit. The main benefit of this system over a traditional single unit system is the lower sound level combined with the improved thermal comfort. The Figure 1 shows the schematic view of a Split AC installed into a residence. [1]
Figure 1 – Split AC Installation sketch
The customer concern about purchasing this product is the installation process. It requires a specialist to install it and the cost can reach 30% to 40% of the product’s
depend on a technical specialist. Most customers wish they could install it by themselves if the product would allow it.
If the consumer desires a better sound level he can request the outdoor unit to be placed further away from the indoor unit, up to a maximum of 15 meters in distance and 5 meters in height. Most of the installed products are “wall‐to‐wall” which means the two units are extremely close to each other, just separated by the wall between them. This is the most common type of installation since it is simpler, easier and least expensive. Depending on the distance between the two units, the installation process cost varies since more copper tubing is required and sometimes additional refrigerant fluid has to be added.
If the product is not correctly installed, failures start to occur. Most of the quality problems are due to improper installation methods, such as poor evacuation procedures, refrigerant fluid not added for longer tubing distances, improper connections which generate leaks, etc. Since the warranty period is 36 months, any failure within that period, is paid by the manufacturer. In order to optimize the installation process, a Value Methodology study was conducted with a multi‐functional team.
Value Methodology
The first step applied in this Value Methodology study of the Split AC Installation Process was to define the multi‐functional team. The selected team contained Product Engineers, Quality Engineers, a Field Engineer, a Service Engineer, a Laboratory Operations Technician, a Sound Laboratory Technician, Marketing, a Competitive Analysis Engineer and the DFV Facilitator.
A Pre‐Workshop Meeting was held two weeks before the Workshop in order to guarantee commitments and define the materials necessary for the analysis. The Value Methodology follows the Block Diagram on Figure 2
Figure 2 – Value Methodology
At the Information Gathering Phase, in order to understand the issues about the installation process, the participants went to the field to observe an actual installation at a consumer’s house. This activity took four hours to be completed and was captured in photos and notes taken by the participants.
Also in the Information Phase of the Workshop, presentations were made to share the quality index, the marketing strategy, the current product design and several images showing the actual installation process of the product observed during the pre‐ workshop.
During the Function Analysis Phase, the team developed a FAST Diagram of the installation process, as it is shown on Figure 3.
Figure 3 – FAST Diagram of the Split AC Installation Process
The FAST Diagram illustrates the Critical Path of the installation process (in yellow color), the Design Functions and the Sell Functions.
The critical path shows the Basic Function (“Install Product”) and the Secondary Functions which support the Basic Function to occur. All functions in green boxes were chosen to have their costs evaluated in the Cost/Function Worksheet, as shown on Figure 4.
Figure 4 – Cost / Function Worksheet of the Split AC Installation Process
This Cost/Function Worksheet in Figure 4 correlates the Functions to the material cost. The objective of this analysis is to determine which functions are driving the highest cost in preparation for creativity from highest to lowest cost function in the next phase of the workshop, creativity. Figure 5 shows the percentage of the cost for each Function.
During the Creativity Phase of the Workshop, the team was guided by this Function prioritization by cost based upon the FAST Diagram and its cost illustrated by the Cost/Function Worksheet. The team utilized the Brainstorming technique to generate 64 solutions to improving the current functions based upon the FAST diagram developed.
During the ideas selection and Evaluation Phase, the Cost Ranking Matrix per Figure 6 was utilized by the team. This matrix ranks the ideas into easy or hard to implement and higher or lower savings for the customer.
Figure 6 – Matrix for Ideas Selection
Out of the 64 ideas generated, the team ranked 27 ideas as “A” type ideas; 23 as “B” type ideas; 5 as “C” type ideas and 9 as “D” type ideas as shown on Figure 7. Usually, the team will focus on A and C ideas for short term implementation, B ideas are mid to long term implementation, and D ideas are discarded.
Figure 7 – Selection Ideas using the Matrix
Conclusion
During the Development Phase of the Workshop the team deeply analyzed the “A” type ideas and generated preliminary Business Cases with scoped ideas. These studies considered the required investment and the total savings opportunity, which included material savings, quality savings and manufacturing savings.
Seven Business Cases were developed by the team requiring $147K in investment with an annual risk weighted estimated $21.5M of savings for the company and consumers.
In this particular study most of the savings were related to quality issues of the current installation process and also cost avoidance for the consumer, reducing the installation cost for them.
The results helped to guide new projects and new solutions for the organization, reducing cost and improving value through this function analysis methodology.
Bibliography
[1] Self Install Air Conditioning Guide ‐ http://air‐conditioning‐
shop.co.uk/airconditioning/self‐install‐air‐conditioning/
[2] 2008, “Value Methodology – A Pocket Guide to Reduce Cost and Improve Value through Function Analysis” – www.goalqpc.com
