Degree in Audiovisual Engineering

Degree in Audiovisual Systems Engineering

Receive training with a University Degree and become a qualified Engineer in Audio visual Engineering, specialised in Audio and Image

New Products Development

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Description
Course Contents: New product and service development is concerned with the essential process in all companies and organisations of continuously developing new product and/or service offers. NPD starts from a new market/business opportunity identified in the company: it is the process of `transformation of a market opportunity into a product/service available for sale´ (V.Krishnan, T. Ulrich). Considering evolution of technology and markets the NPD theories have gone through different stages and have added important factors for the process of NPD in companies, however the basic process aims to conduct the organisation through an effective and efficient product/service development. This course handles the main aspects of the NPD and its direct environment in and outside the company, offering different insights, methodologies, and techniques, but also at the same its application in a real NPD project. The course will be directly related to Innovation and Creativity classes with which the practical project will be shared. Those students who follow this other course will work on creating a brief that will be the input and starting point for the NPD course. The `handover´ of the brief from the Innovation and creativity class should simulate the real live situation where an innovation team hands over an abstract product concept and identified opportunity to a design and engineers team that have to convert this into a concrete product/service/solution. Therefore the NPD course will be focused on how to convert an abstract opportunity identified in a concrete physical product and/or experience. A short circle of defining the concrete product/experience idea, the creation of a simple prototype, testing of the prototype, redefining, new prototyping and testing will be a main focus for the NPD course. Point of departure is the need for prototyping and testing in order to keep up with the fast product development cycles and to teach the students to be able to develop in a short term and a flexible manner new products and/or experiences. (`Lean product development´).
Type Subject
Optativa
Semester
Second
Credits
4.00
Previous Knowledge
Objectives

OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to give the students a clear inside on the NPD process, methodologies, tools and environments, with a special focus on practical application.
Apart from theory, the course aims to make the students work on their own New product. They should develop and test a prototype of a product and/or service and learn throughout the process the challenges of NP development.
An important aspect of this process will be optimal teamwork.

Contents

1. Introduction to NPD: Course schedule and planning. Why of NPD
2. Introduction to NPD - 2: What is NPD? Evolution of NPD, organisation, challenges
3. NPD Strategies, NPD Processes , Design Thinking
4. Group forming and group work planning
5. Examples NPD, 3D printing, on demand manufacturing (Case Builder and others), product development challenge: build a nut cracker
6. Nut cracker
7. Group work on building Nut Cracker - document your work
8. Present your nut crackers and process
9. Feedback on the Nut crackers: process, critical points
10. MVP and techniques of prototyping (exercises)
11. Critical desk research for NPD: benchmarks, patent search, legislations
12. FAST technique: Needs, specification, functions and product solutions: the tea pot case
13. FAST exercises with an object that each group brings
14. Presentation of the FAST analysis of the objects
15. Understanding the BRIEF - define critical specs and functions - Analogies/function benchmark
16. Work on analogies and references for functions - prototype plan
17. Make a prototype
18. GUEST LECTURE ON USER TESTS OF PROTOTYPES - IDENTIFY USER REQUIREMENTS
19. Test plan for prototype
20. Testing prototype
21. Report prototype testing - proposal improvements
22. New specs and new prototype plan - concept selection techniques
23. Second prototype development
24. 2nd PROTOTYPE TESTING
25. RESULTS P. TESTS + PREPARE PRES. PRODUCT CONCEPTS

Methodology

Methodology:

The course will have a mayor weight in practical group work. The students will be split up in different work groups, each to develop a new product. Real companies will present their product briefs and the work groups will have to choose one product brief to be developed. They will be guided through the process and will have to present their final (and tested) prototype to the companies that initially presented their product briefs.

The students will be guided through the process of NPD, developing their own product concept. Lectures will explain necessary theory, templates and guides. These will be applied in group work in order to deliver a hand in that should be presented. The groups will then receive feedback on their work to be able to go to the next step in the NPD process.
At the end of the course the groups will present their final concept design of a new product, and a (non functional) prototype to the companies that initially presented the product briefs.
During the working sessions the professors will be present to provide the students with guidance and further support for their new product/service development project. Furthermore the students can make appointments to have tutoring sessions with the professors outside normal class time. This is to give students additional support to develop their products. Though not obligatory, these tutoring sessions are highly recommended to the students.
A mayor part of the grading of the course will be based on the group work and presentations.
Therefore group work and self organization will be important for a successful evaluation of the course.

Evaluation

EVALUATION:

The Course grade will be based on the following point breakdown:

15% - Group work (peer reviews).
70% - Group work Deliverables and Presentations
15% - Class attendance

Prerequisite to pass this course is to meet the minimum of 40%

RETAKE POLICY:

Since this course is driven by a practical group project, there is no retake for this course. Failed students will have to take the course again.

Evaluation Criteria

- Comply with deliverables and presentations.

Big part of the coursework consists of preparation and presentation of deliverables as indicated further on in the course schedule.

The deliverables and presentations should be done according to guidelines and templates you will receive during the course.

The deliverables and presentations will form 70% of the course grade and are therefore very important for you final grade.

- Communication and hand in of deliverables.
All the presentations and other deliverables should be handed in on E-study in the deposits that are created in the course structure. Also our feedback, course slides, articles and other necessary course material will be delivered through E-study.
We will be available for questions and support during the group work classes, through an e-mail you can previously do a request for an appointment slot during the work group classes.
Contact details of the team of professors can be found in the course contract.

Basic Bibliography

Readings
As well as the main textbook, additional readings will be posted on the estudy intranet or handed out in class. Most of these readings will consist of articles, internet blogs and other interesting links.

Recommended Textbooks
Karl Ulrich, Steven Eppinger, `Product design and development´, Mac GrawHill, 2007 fourth edition

Additional Material

Other sources:
http://www.jnd.org/
http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/
http://www.ulrich-eppinger.net/