Project Report

Thermostat for Taps

Usama Abdullah Reg.no.108
Abdul Rehman Reg.no.003
BEE1A
 Product Planning Process

Table of Contents
Product Planning Process............................................................................................................................2
Opportunity Statement...........................................................................................................................2
Mission Statement...................................................................................................................................2
Identify Customer Needs.............................................................................................................................3
Gather Raw Data.....................................................................................................................................3
Customer 1..........................................................................................................................................3
Customer 2..........................................................................................................................................3
Interpret Raw Data..................................................................................................................................4
Organize Needs in Categories..................................................................................................................4
Prioritization of Needs.............................................................................................................................5
Reflect on Results and Processes.............................................................................................................5
Establishing Target Specifications................................................................................................................5
Prepare a list of metrics...........................................................................................................................5
Identifying Metrics...............................................................................................................................6
List of Metrics......................................................................................................................................6
Metric Matrix.......................................................................................................................................7
Collect Collective Benchmarking.............................................................................................................8
Set Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Values............................................................................................8
Concept Generation....................................................................................................................................9
Clarify the Problem..................................................................................................................................9
Understanding.....................................................................................................................................9
Functional Decomposition...................................................................................................................9
Post Functional Decomposition Steps...................................................................................................10
System Exploration................................................................................................................................10
Concept Classification Tree................................................................................................................10
Concept Combination Table..............................................................................................................12
Reflect on Results and Processes...........................................................................................................12
2
Final Concept.............................................................................................................................................13
Market Comparison for Price Evaluation...................................................................................................13

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Development of Thermostat for Taps

Product Planning Process

Main Idea
Basically, there are two taps, one for hot water and the other for cold water. The main
idea is to get water of desired temperature by adjusting the of hot and cold water taps.

Opportunity Statement
“Development of new controller setup, capable of adjusting desired temperature of
water out of taps including graphical user interface.”

Mission Statement
Mission Statement: Thermostat for Taps
Product Description  An efficient Controller
 Adjustable temperature using keypad
 Temperature display on LCD
 Sense and Control Temperature of water
coming out of hot and cold water tap
according to the User Input
Key Business Goals  An inexpensive product for customer of
every class
 25% Gross Profit Margin
 Serve as a platform for future Thermostats
 Causes no pollution. i.e. Environment
friendly
 An innovative thing to lead market.
Primary Market  Big luxurious hotels
 Barbers shops
 Public Washrooms
Secondary Market  Home usage
Assumptions and Constraints  New Product Platform
 Using 8051 Microcontroller for its ease in
availability
 Inexpensive product
 Monetary Resources to set Assembly Line
Stakeholders  Purchasers and Users
 Manufacturing operations
2  Service operations
 Distributors

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Identify Customer Needs

Gather Raw Data
We collected raw data from two instructors. We asked them a few questions in an
interview and collected data.

Customer 1:
Customer: Dr. Ammar Hasan Interviewer: Abdul Rehman
Contact: ammar.hasan@seecs.edu.pk Date: 26th December, 2012
User Type: Professional Currently uses: Separate cold and hot water and
mixes it.
Question/Prompt Customer Statement
Q1: Have you used Thermostat like product for No, I didn’t.
temperature control in washroom or have you
seen it anywhere?
Q2: Do you think our product beneficial for the Yes, to some extent
user?
Q3: Will you buy our product? May be
Q4: What features you think this product should  Price should be low.
have?  It should be understandable by just
looking at it.
 It should be easy to configure.
 If installed in washroom, it should be
resistant to water.
 The product should respond immediately,
there should be no delay.
Q5: What do you dislike about this product? It seems a bit costly to a normal customer.
Q6: To what extent, you think it will be This product will not attract mediocre people.
beneficial for the user? Since your primary market is public washrooms
and Royal Luxury hotels, you are good to go there.

Customer 2
Customer: Dr. Tauseef Tauqir Interviewer: Usama Abdullah
Contact: tauseef.tauqir@seecs.edu.pk Date: 26th December, 2012
User Type: Professional Currently uses: Stove to heat water and then
mixes it with cold water.
Question/Prompt Customer Statement
Q1: Have you used Thermostat like product for No
2 temperature control of water?
Q2: Do you think our product beneficial for the Yes, Definitely
user?
Q3: Will you buy our product? Yes, Of Course

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process
Q4: What features you think this product should
have?
Q5: What do you dislike about this product?
Q6: What are your opinions for improving this
product?
Interpret Raw Data
Customer Statement
It should be understandable by just looking at it.
It should be easy to configure.
The product should respond immediately, there
should be no delay.
Its appearance should be pleasing.
It should consumer minimum power.
It should operate during load shedding.
Its maintenance Cost should be zero.
If installed in washroom, it should be resistant
to water.
It should not be too bulky thing.
It should have nice display of temperature etc.
It will add unnecessary volume that will spoil
aesthetics.
Organize Needs in Categories
Sr. Customer Need
No.
1 Thermostat for taps is easy to use.
2 Good Aesthetics.
3 The product is reliable and prune to noises.
4 The product responds immediately.
5 The product consumes minimum power.
6 The product is water resistant.
2 7 The product is compact.
8 The product has an LCD to display.
9 The battery is provided when power is cut off.
10 The product has minimum mass.
Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman
 Inexpensive and competitive with the
already available geysers.
 Its appearance should be pleasing.
 It should consumer minimum power.
 It should operate during load shedding
 Its maintenance Cost should be zero
 It should not be too bulky thing.
It will add unnecessary volume that will spoil
aesthetics.
It would be good to have a battery with your
product. It should have nice display of
temperature etc
Interpreted Need Statement
Thermostat for taps is easy to use.
The product responds immediately.
Good Aesthetics
The product consumes minimum power.
The battery is provided when power is cut off.
The product is reliable and prune to noises.
The product is water resistant.
The product has minimum mass.
The product has an LCD to display.
The product is compact.
Category
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Secondary
Secondary
Secondary
Secondary
Tertiary
Tertiary
 Product Planning Process

Prioritization of Needs
Prioritization of needs is done keeping in mind that the need with highest priority is
given rank 5 and the need with lowest priority is given rank 1.

Sr. Need Statement Importance

No.
1 Thermostat for taps is easy to use. 5
2 Good Aesthetics 5
3 The product is reliable and prune to noises. 4
4 The product responds immediately. 4
5 The product consumes minimum power. 3
6 The product is water resistant. 3
7 The product is compact. 3
8 The product has an LCD to display. 2
9 The battery is provided when power is cut off. 2
10 The product has minimum mass. 1

Reflect on Results and Processes

The following points were ensured in this step.

 Are we able to see beyond the explicitly identified needs to capture the latent needs
of our customers?
 Are there areas of inquiry we should pursue in follow-up interviews or surveys?
 Which of the customers we spoke to would be good participants in our on-going
development efforts?
 What do we know now that we did not know when we started? Are we surprised by
any of the needs?
 How might we improve the process in future efforts?


Establishing Target Specifications

Prepare a list of metrics
We contemplated needs in turn and considered

 Precise, measurable characteristic of the product

 To which degree the product satisfies the user need

For better results in the subsequent steps, we tried to assume one and only one metric for each need.
2

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Identifying Metrics
Sr. Identified Need Metric
No.
1 Thermostat for taps is easy to use. Time taken to understand it.
2 Good Aesthetics Subjective
3 The product is reliable and prune to noises. Kind of Material used.
4 The product responds immediately Processing Speed of the Controller.
5 The product consumes minimum power. Watts consumed per hour.
6 The product is water resistant. Water Resistant Insulation
7 The product is compact. Dimensions
8 The product has an LCD to display. Type of LCD
9 The battery is provided when power is cut off. Rating of Battery
10 The product has minimum mass. Mass

List of Metrics
Sr. Need Metric Importance Units
No. No.
1 1 Time taken in start to understand the control the 5 Minutes
thermostat.
2 3 Kind of Material used. 5 Type
3 4 Processing Speed of the Controller. 4 MHz
4 5 Watts consumed per hour. 3 kW/hr
5 6 Water Resistant Insulation 4 Type
6 7 Dimensions 3 cm x cm x
cm
7 8 Type of LCD 3 Discrete
Number
8 9 Rating of Battery 2 KVA
9 10 Mass 3 Kg

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Metric Matrix

Dimensions

Rating of Battery
Watts Consumed Per Hour

Mass
Time taken in start to understand the control the thermostat.

Kind of Material Used

Water Resistant Insulation

Type of LCD
Processing Speed of the Controller
METRIC

NEED
1 Thermostat for taps is easy to use. •
2 Good Aesthetics •
3 The product is reliable and prune to •
noises.
4 The product responds immediately •
5 The product consumes minimum power. •
6 The product is water resistant. •
7 The product is compact. •
8 The product has an LCD to display. •
9 The battery is provided when power is cut •
off.
10 The product has minimum mass. •

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Collect Collective Benchmarking

Metric. Need. Metric Imp Units Benchmark1 Benchmark2
No. No.
1 1 Time taken in start to 5 Minutes 1 2
understand the control the
thermostat.
2 3 Kind of Material used. 5 Type Plastic Carbon Fiber
3 4 Processing Speed of the 4 MHz 12 1
Controller.
4 5 Watts consumed per hour. 3 kW/hr 0.01 0.05
5 6 Water Resistant Insulation 4 Type Plastic Carbon Fiber
6 7 Dimensions 3 cm x cm x 25 x 50 x 25 10 x 100 x
cm 15
7 8 Type of LCD 3 Discrete 16 x 2 LCDs 7 segment
Number LCD
8 9 Rating of Battery 2 kVA 200 kVA 100 kVA
9 10 Mass 3 kg 0.5 1

Set Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Values

Metric. Need. Metric Imp Units Ideal values Marginal
No. No. Values
1 1 Time taken in start to 5 Seconds 1 approx. 1-1.5
understand the control the
thermostat.
2 3 Kind of Material used. 5 Type Carbon Fiber Carbon Fiber
Or Plastic or Plastic
3 4 Processing Speed of the 4 MHz 11-12 10-12
Controller.
4 5 Watts consumed per hour. 3 kW/hr 0.001 – 0.01 0.01
5 6 Water Resistant Insulation 4 Type Plastic or Carbon Fiber
Carbon Fiber or Plastic
6 7 Dimensions 3 cm x cm x (25 x 50 x 10 x 100 x
cm 25) – (20 x 15
60 x 25)
7 8 Type of LCD 3 Discrete 16 x 2 LCDs 16 x 2 LCDs
Number to 7 to 7
Segment Segment
LCDs Any LCDs Any
8 9 Rating of Battery 2 kVA 150-200 kVA 100-150 kVA
9 10 Mass 3 kg 0.4-0.5 0.5

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Concept Generation
Clarify the Problem
Understanding
Team has made certain assumptions.

 The product will take 30sec until the desired temperature is adjusted at the
output.
 There will be an ON/OFF button for the start of product.
 The product is not portable. It is fixed onto the taps for good.
 The total mass of product is less than 0.5 kg.

These assumptions have kept in mind while identifying customer needs and subsequent steps.

Functional Decomposition
First, a Black Box is created.

Next in the functional decomposition is to divide the black box into sub-functions to create a
more specific description of what the elements of the product might do in order to implement the
overall function of the product.

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Post Functional Decomposition Steps

After functional decomposition, now we had done External and Internal Search. In the
external search all the five sources were being explored.

Then, doing internal search, the idea was discussed extensively among the group
members. All the ideas were gathered using classical brainstorming.

System Exploration
Several Ideas were developed in the previous steps. So, Now, for managing complexity,
we needed:

 Concept Classification Tree

 Concept Combination Tree

Concept Classification Tree

The main idea was to divide the entire solution space in distinct classes.

Advantages
 Pruning of Less Promising Ideas
 Identification of independent approaches to problem
 Exposure of inappropriate emphasis on certain branches
 Refinement of problem decomposition for a branch

2 In the following table, we identified the ways of input energy to Thermostat for taps.

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Store or
Accept Energy

Chemical Electrical Nuclear Hydraulic

Fuel Air
Main Supply
System

Explosive
Battery
System

Similarly in the following table, the concept classification tree for micro-controllers is depicted. Our
primary focus in this case, is the price of our Micro Controller.

Micro
controller

2
AVR PIC 8051 ARM

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

The concept classification tree was made for every sub-part i.e. LCDs, Keypad, and Temperature
Sensor etc.

Concept Combination Table

The systematic way of considering combinations of solution fragments
systematically.

Microcontroller Keypad LCD Energy Storage Casing Temperature

Sensors
AVR 3x3 keypad 16x2 LiPo Battery Carbon Fiber Contact
Alphanumeric Temp.
LCD Sensors
PIC 4x4 keypad 7 Segment Li-ion Battery Plastic Non-Contact
LCD Temp.
Sensors
8051
ARM

Reflect on Results and Processes

Owing to the fact that there can be numerous combinations for a particular Sub-
Problem, it is imperative that the exploration process is managed properly. Concept Exploration
tools like Concept Trees and Concept Combination Tables can lose usefulness if managed
haphazardly and without due application of mind. They are only viable when they generate a
constructive thinking process within the team members. The exploration step of concept
generation usually acts more as a guide for further thinking than as a final step in the process.

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman

 Product Planning Process

Final Concept
The Product has designed after reflecting on each and every step, because in this way our team
has gained confidence and we have discussed almost every alternative function diagrams.

8051
μController

Contact
4x4
Temp.
Sensor Keypad

Final
Concept
Plastic 16x2
Casing LCD
LiPo
Battery

Market Comparison for Price Evaluation

Our product is completely a novel idea, and we basically want to launch our product and file a
patent of our idea. The target price which we have assessed after combining every possible component’s
price is Rs. 3000 and we want to have a gross margin of 30% in the start. Thus, the price on which we’ll
be selling it to our customers will be:

Target Price = Customer Price (1 – Gross Profit Margin)

3000 = Customer Price (1-0.3)

This implies that Customer Price = Rs. 4300

Usama Abdullah | Abdul Rehman