NAME: TIMBAL, ZAIRA V. COURSE/YR. AND SEC.

: BSHM 4 – 1D

LESSON 3
Guide Questions

1. What do you mean by product design?

Product design is the process of deciding on the unique characteristics and features
of the company’s product. It is also the process of defining all of the product’s
characteristics. Product design defines a product’s characteristics, such as its
appearance, the materials it is made of, its dimensions and tolerances, and its
performance standards.

2. Discuss the steps in product design process and be able to give concrete
example.

Idea Development – Product idea developed; sources can be customers,

competitors, or suppliers.
Example: Brainstorming is a great way for a company to come up with ideas for a
product and its design. Brainstorming exercises with a team of people means that it
is more of a collaborative process and individual ideas can be joined with others to
create even better ideas.

Product Screening Product – idea evaluated; need to consider operations,

marketing, and financial requirements.
Example: In the product design process, the best place to begin planning is with the
sketch, drawing or 3D rendering of the final product. This should be as detailed as
possible, with ideas for the type of materials you want to use, size ideas and even
thoughts about colours and patterns if necessary.

Preliminary Design and Testing – product prototypes built, tested, and refined
Example: With each stage of the prototype you should be able to test it thoroughly
by showing an early version of the product to customers and getting their feedback.
Running focus groups with people from the target audience and ask them questions
about the product. Conduct questionnaires about the product through your website
and social media pages – you are trying to get as much feedback as possible from a
wide enough sample

Final Design – Final product specifications completed

Example: Creation of a list of specifications is, in fact, the process of the above-
mentioned requirement specification’s elaboration. It allows reviewing all the
requirements for the finished product and possible solutions in maximum detail.

3. Elucidate the product life cycle. Give ways how to prevent the decline stage.
 Product Life Cycle – A series of stages that products pass through in their lifetime,
characterized by changing product demands over time.

Ways How to Prevent Decline Stage

The first thing companies can do in order to ensure that they avoid the decline phase
for as long as possible, is ensure that they are constantly going back to the
expansion cycle. After mature operation is achieved in one vertical or with one
market, it’s time to go back and ‘shake things up again.’ By continually seeking new
verticals and offering new products or services, a company continually grows,
staying as far away from death as possible.

At this stage, your options are to:

 maintain the product in the hope that your other competitors will withdraw their
versions before you, which may create an increase in demand again
 reduce your costs and find another use for the product - entering into another
niche area could increase profits
 reduce marketing support, 'harvest' the product, coast along until profits dry up
and then discontinue the product
 discontinue the product when your profit disappears, or when you unveil a
successor product

4. Differentiate the 3 product design strategies (make to stock, assemble to

order, and make to order) and be able to give examples to support your
answer.

Make-to-stock Strategy – Produces standard products and services for immediate

sale or delivery. To makes the stocks ahead of time to ensure that they are always
available upon demand.
Example: An example of a make-to-stock business approach is a large video game
company like PlayStation or Xbox. The success of previous consoles that they have
created gives the two companies confidence in future products.

Assemble-to-order Strategy – Produces standard components that can be

combined to customer specifications. A standard product prepared ahead of time but
are assembled based on specific customer requests.
Example: Consider a manufacturer of personal computers. It might have all of the
essential parts of a computer—motherboards, graphic cards, processors, monitors,
keyboards—in stock and already manufactured. The company depends on various
suppliers for these components.

Make-to-order Strategy – Produces products to customer specifications after an

order has been received.
Example: One example of a make-to-order company is German luxury car
manufacturer BMW. The carmaker allows customers to buy a car that it has already
made. However, they can customize their vehicle according to their requirements.
BMW lets customers design the interior and exterior, the engine, as well as other
features.