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A structured method for analysing

product specification in product
planning for machine tools
a a a
H. Shinno , H. Yoshioka & S. Marpaung
a
Tokyo Institute of Technology , Japan
Published online: 22 Jan 2007.

To cite this article: H. Shinno , H. Yoshioka & S. Marpaung (2006) A structured method for analysing
product specification in product planning for machine tools, Journal of Engineering Design, 17:4,
347-356, DOI: 10.1080/09544820600647734

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 Journal of Engineering Design
Vol. 17, No. 4, August 2006, 347–356

A structured method for analysing product specification in

product planning for machine tools
Downloaded by [The University of Manchester Library] at 04:21 22 December 2014

H. SHINNO*, H. YOSHIOKA and S. MARPAUNG

Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

In the product planning procedure of a machine tool, mature designers consider various kinds of
customers’ requirements, while simultaneously conducting the necessary information processing, so
as to finally determine the most suitable product specifications. In order to systematize this procedure,
it is necessary and indispensable to clarify the decision-making process as well as knowledge of a
mature designer in detail, and to analyse design information used in the product planning. In this
study, to establish a product development methodology for machine tools, characteristics of design
information related to the product specification have been analysed using a simple mathematical
method. Actual design information used in this analysis is obtained from focused interviews and
questionnaire investigations with mature designers within the leading machine tool manufacturers in
Japan. Furthermore, the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method have been verified using
the results of these investigations.

Keywords: Product planning; Machine tool; Product specification; Product development; Design
methodology; Decision-making

1. Introduction

With increasing diversity and complexity of customers’ requirements in the latest machine tool
industry, establishing a product development methodology to produce a highly value-added
product with global competitiveness has become an important element (Seliger 2001). In
particular, both concept design (Al-Hakim et al. 2000) and product planning, which formulate
a product concept and determine the final product specification, are located at the upper
stream in the overall product development process and play a dominant role in determining the
success or failure of product development (Shinno and Hashizume 2002). However, only few
investigations on the product planning process for a machine tool have been so far performed,
since the process depends on flair and experience of the mature designers and it is therefore
difficult to clarify the decision-making in the process (Ito 1993, McKayma et al. 2001).
In the actual product planning process for a machine tool, mature designers analyse var-
ied customers’ requirements and also implicitly conduct necessary information processing
so as to determine the most suitable product specifications from multiple points of view.
In order to systematize such a complicated design procedure including trial and error, it is

*Corresponding author. Email: shinno@pi.titech.ac.jp

Journal of Engineering Design

ISSN 0954-4828 print/ISSN 1466-1837 online © 2006 Taylor & Francis
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/09544820600647734
 348 H. Shinno et al.

necessary to clarify the decision-making process of mature designers and to analyse various
design information used for product planning in detail. From this point of view, some funda-
mental investigations, which are related to the structural description of the product (Ito and
Shinno 1982, Shinno and Ito 1987), analysis on designers’ thinking patterns (Ito et al. 1989),
decision-making for mature designers (Shinno et al. 1991, 1994) and a market competitiveness
evaluation of machine tools (Lee et al. 1997), have been performed.
In this study, to propose a product development methodology for machine tools, charac-
teristics of design information related to the product specification have been analysed using
a simple mathematical method. The design information used in the characteristic analysis is
obtained from focused interviews and questionnaire investigations with some mature designers
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within three leading machine tool manufacturers in Japan. Furthermore, it has been verified
that the proposed method has high potential to analyse the final product specifications of
machine tools.

2. Product planning for a machine tool

In order to systematize the product planning methodology for machine tools, interviews and
questionnaire investigations on new product development for machine tools have been per-
formed with five mature designers within three leading machine tool manufacturers in Japan.
Based on the results, figure 1 shows a simplified product development process for machine
tools. In the actual product development process, counter-flow exists from the down stream to
the upper stream. Product planning is located at the upper stream in the product development
process, as shown in figure 1. In general, many machine tool manufacturers in Japan con-
duct not only a comparative survey on product specifications of competitors, but also product
planning so as to obtain the suitable machine tool from multiple points of view. In this proce-
dure, the decision-making process and its final results are largely dependent on the flair and
experience of mature designers.
Figure 2 shows a simplified model of the product planning process. In this figure, a certain
product is modified in their dimensional and functional specifications in accordance with the
requirements of customers, and also according to the technical, economic, human, social and

Figure 1. Simplified product development process of machine tools.

 Analysing product specification in product planning for machine tools 349
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Figure 2. Simplified model of the product planning process.

regional factors of each market. Consequently, the final product for a machine tool can be
determined by the mutual relationships among the customers’ requirements. On the other
hand, globalization has a large effect on the product planning. Thus, the product is designed
to be fully compatible with the legal regulation, the organizational culture (Rasmussen and
Rauner 1996), the industrial structure and the racial traits of each region in the world. In
particular, the racial trait includes the cultural climate and the custom in the objective region.
It is therefore necessary for the machine tool manufacturer to consider these various factors in
which the exported product will operate. Relative importance among those factors is largely
dependent on the market size, industrial structure (Hofstede 1991), characteristics and natural
environment of the objective region.

3. Representation of product specification

In a certain product planning process, product specification can be determined so as to obtain

the most suitable for customers’ requirements. In this study, the term of product specification
is defined as a group of design items that is directly and indirectly related to customers’
requirements. It is necessary to consider various design information, which largely influence
the function and structure of a machine tool to be developed. In this study, based on the results
summarized from the catalogue information of machining centres within 10 machine tool
manufacturers, 15 design items could be identified as basic product specifications for machine
tools, as presented in table 1. Eight product evaluation factors could also be identified for
optimizing the product specifications for a machine tool.
The design items in table 1 can be evaluated by the product evaluation factors presented in
table 2, which finally determined the product specification. Relationships among design items
and product evaluation factors are tangled with each other. In order to determine the final
product specification, it is necessary to uniquely represent the mutual relationships among the
design items and the product evaluation factors without duplication and overlooking. In this
study, the complicated mutual relationships are represented using a matrix, as presented in
table 3. The elements of the rows and columns in this matrix are respectively design items and
product evaluation factors. Table 3 shows a directed influence matrix, which indicates the inten-
sity of the direct influence between a pair of design items and production evaluation factors.
 350 H. Shinno et al.

Table 1. Basic product specifications of

machine tools.

Design item

1 Dimensions of machining space

2 Form fenerating function
3 Dimensions of machine
4 Mass of machine
5 Type of spindle main bearing
6 Type of spindle driven component
7 Dimensions of spindle structure
8 Region of spindle speed
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9 Guide way structure of table system

10 Type of table feed drive system
11 Dimensions of table structure
12 Region of table feed rate
13 Cover panel design
14 Control system
15 Capability of tool magazine

Therefore, the components Xij in the direct influence matrix X are as follows:


 8 : in case where large direct influence exists from the ith (row) to j th



 (column) matrix elements,



 4 : in case where midium direct influence exists from the ith to j th matrix





 elements,
Xij = 2 : in case where small direct influence exists from the ith to j th matrix (1)



 elements,



 :

 0 in case where no direct influence exists from the ith to j th matrix



 elements,


(i = 1, 2, . . . , n, j = 1, 2, . . . , n)

The components in the direct influence matrix Xij represent the intensity of causal rela-
tionships among the design items and product evaluation factors. The components Xij were

Table 2. Product evaluation factors.

A Machining capability
B Machining accuracy
C Machining versatility
D System compatibility
E Durability / reliability
F Productivity
G Easy affordability
H Ease of maintenance
I Compactness
J Ease of installation
K Ease of transportation
L Ease of operation
M Safety
N Amenity/customers’ delight
O Reduction of noise & vibration
P Ecology/energy conservation
Q Shipping destination-oriented specification
against regional climate
R Compatibility with regional infrastructure
 Analysing product specification in product planning for machine tools 351

Table 3. Direct influence matrix X = Xij .

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determined based on the results obtained by the focused interview and questionnaire investi-
gations with five mature designers who have been actively engaged in the design of machining
centres at three Japanese machine tool manufacturers.
Direct influence matrix X represents the intensity of direct influence between a pair of
elements in the matrix. D indicates
 an n × n normalized direct influence matrix of X divided
by the maximum value of ni=1 |Xij |.
Therefore, the total influence matrix T, which can be summarized by both direct and indirect
influences, can be written by equation (2), considering Di = 0 in the case that i becomes
infinity.

∞

T= Di = D + D2 + D3 + · · · = D(I − D)−1 (2)
i=1

Hence, I indicates an n × n unit matrix. Table 4 presents the total influence matrix T obtained
by applying equation (2) to the n × n normalized direct influence matrix D.
 352
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Table 4. Total influence matrix T.

1 2 3 4 O P Q R Ai Pj Si Bi

1 0.027005 0 0.126463 1.128033 0.015593 0.003887 0.003223 0.028450 1.421500 0.396237 1.817737 1.025263
2 0.072150 0 0.078540 0.045719 0.015499 0.006809 0.018493 0.022416 1.822803 0 1.822803 1.822803

H. Shinno et al.
3 0.111190 0 0.015155 0.122128 0.036070 0.000421 0.000349 0.123782 1.223575 0.647446 1.871021 0.576129
4 0 0 0 0 0.054054 0 0 0.108108 0.547518 0.424123 0.971641 0.123395
5 0.000098 0 0.000895 0.000108 0.060952 0.054724 0.034633 0.040229 1.023370 0.138486 1.161856 0.884884
6 0.000175 0 0.001594 0.000192 0.006786 0.000657 0.033765 0.007280 0.796312 0.169254 0.965566 0.627058
7 0.003008 0 0.027464 0.003304 0.002636 0.000173 0.001671 0.004376 0.406389 0.166332 0.572721 0.240057
O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.222218 0.438726 0.660944 −0.216510
P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.108108 0.146822 0.140091 0.286913 0.006731
Q 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.108108 0.227903 0.333199 0.561102 −0.105300
R 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.108108 0.869128 0.977236 −0.761020
 Analysing product specification in product planning for machine tools 353

4. Characteristic analysis of product specification

4.1 Definition of characteristic parameters

The total influence matrix T represents the evaluated results regarding mutual relationships
between a pair of elements in the direct influence matrix D. The components of the total
influence matrix, Tij , represent the direct and indirect influence from the ith (row) to the jth
(column) element. In order to quantitatively evaluate characteristics of the design information
using the total influence matrix, the following characteristic parameters were defined.
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• Active influence, Ai , indicates the summation of components in the ith row of the total
influence matrix T:
n
Ai = Tij (3)
j =1

• Passive influence, Pj , indicates the summation of components in the jth column of the total
influence matrix T:
n
Pj = Tij (4)
i=1

• Total influence, Si , indicates the summation of components of the active influence Ai and
the passive influence Pi :
Si = Ai + Pi (5)
• Balance of influence, Bi , can be defined by the following equation:

B i = Ai − P i (6)

4.2 Analysed characteristics and considerations

By applying these defined characteristic parameters to a total influence matrix, characteristics

of design items in product specification can be quantitatively clarified from the various points
of view.
Figure 3 shows the relationships between total influence and balance of influence based on
the total influence matrix presented in table 4. The rate of contributions for each design item
to the overall product specification can be quantitatively estimated by the evaluated results
based on table 4, as shown in figure 3. The design items with higher total influence are the
cause factors in causal relationship, such as 3 (dimensions of machine), 2 (form generating
function), 1 (dimensions of machining space) and 11 (dimensions of table structure), which
play a dominant role in overall product specification, as shown in figure 3.
Determining the design parameters from the design items with higher priority order is
also possible. As clearly understood from the evaluated results in figure 3, it is available
to systematically determine a product specification from the design item with higher total
influence and higher balance of influence in order.
Figure 4 shows the identified priority order of design items for realizing higher machining
capability. Here, the priority order of the design item could be obtained from the components
of total influence matrix. In this figure, it is understood that the design items 10, 9, 12, 5
and 6 are important to realize higher machining capability (production evaluation factor A).
Concerning the machining accuracy (product evaluation factor B), the design items 2, 10, 9,
5, 7 and 14 play dominant roles in the improvement, as shown in figure 5. The design items
 354 H. Shinno et al.
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Figure 3. Relationship between total influence and balance of influence.

12, 10, 6 and 8 play dominant roles in improvement of the productivity (product evaluation
factor F), as shown in figure 6.
Figure 7 shows the causal network of total influences in the case of Tij larger than 0.12.
From this figure, it is clearly understood that design items 1, 2, 3 and 11 play an important
role in determining product specification, and that product evaluation factors A, B, C and F
are important measures for evaluating a product specification.
It is therefore possible to quantitatively analyse a complicated product specification using
the proposed characteristic analysis model. Furthermore, a complicated procedure for deter-
mining a product specification in product planning can also be formulated using the proposed
procedure.

Figure 4. Contribution of design items to machining capability.

 Analysing product specification in product planning for machine tools 355
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Figure 5. Contribution of design items to machining accuracy.

Figure 6. Contribution of design items to productivity.

Figure 7. Dominant causal network in product planning.

 356 H. Shinno et al.

5. Conclusions

In this study, a product planning process was formulated to establish a product development
methodology for machine tools, and a characteristic analysis method for determining the
product specification was proposed using simple mathematical procedures. Furthermore, the
validity and effectiveness of the proposed method were ascertained. As a result, the following
conclusions could be drawn.
1. A simplified model of the product planning process for a machine tool was formulated,
and then the input and output information related to the product specification in the prod-
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uct planning could be identified based on the results from the focused interviews and
questionnaire investigations with mature designers within the machine tool manufacturers.
2. Complicated mutual relationships among product specifications and product evaluation
factors can be represented using a direct influence matrix. The proposed method is available
for analysing the product specification for a machine tool.
3. The total influence matrix, which indicated mutual relationships among design information
related to product specification, can be systematically obtained by simple mathematical
procedures. Using the components in the matrix, characteristics of product specification
can be analysed.
4. Characteristic parameters that are available for analysing product specifications could be
defined using the components of a total influence matrix. Using these parameters, it is
possible to quantitatively analyse the characteristics of product specifications from the
multiple points of view.

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank the members of the Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association for
participating in this study.

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