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Establish Target Specifications

Table of Contents 1 Step 1. Prepare the List of Metrics 2 Step 2. Collect Competitive Benchmarking Information 3 Step 3. Set Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Target Values 4 Step 4. Reflect on the Results and the Process

Step 1. Prepare the List of Metrics

The table below presents the metrics, or engineering specifications, that will be used by the team to design against.

This is a preliminary list, and should be reviewed by the team, discussed with the sponsor, and finalized during the first three weeks of SD1.

List of Metrics

Metric No.	Metric	Units	Importance
1	Maximum tilt	degrees
2	Number of pinch points	#
3	Can be locked into vertical position	Y/N
4	Range of heights accommodated	ft
5	Range of weights accomodated	lb
6	Max therapist distance from bike	in
7	Number of settings for max tilt	#
8	Total weight of instability device	lb
9	Footprint of instability device	ft x ft
10	Number of steps to activate	#
11	Percent of patients who can receive feedback from device	%
12	Patient feedback is visible or audible to therapist	Y/N
13	Minimum required maintenance interval	months
14	Number of steps to install	#

The metrics, or engineering specifications, that you created in the preceding list should be directly related to the customer needs. In other words, if you have created an engineering specification, it should have some relationship to a need imposed by the customer or the marketplace. Use the table below to map your customer needs against the metrics (or engineering specifications). In many design and product development circles, the rows along the left is often referred to as the voice of the customer, while the columns across the top are often referred to as the voice of the engineer.

Customer Needs as Related to Engineering Metrics Matrix

Needs and Metrics	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Step 2. Collect Competitive Benchmarking Information

Relatively few Sr. design projects start from a clean sheet of paper. In most cases, there are some baseline solutions or products that could meet the vast majority of the customer's needs.

Write one or two paragraphs about each benchmark solution from the market place. Include a picture of the product, preferably illustrating the product in use or operation.

Benchmark 1

Retractable training wheels - US Patent 6286849

Benchmark 2

Describe the second benchmark solution here.

Benchmark 3

Describe the third benchmark solution here.

Use this table below to compare how pre-existing solutions should compare against the design team's efforts. See the example Table 5-6 on Page 80 of the text by Ulrich and Eppinger.

Competitive Benchmarking Matrix

Metric No.	Need Nos.	Metric	Importance	Units	Benchmark 1 Value	Benchmark 2 Value	Benchmark 3 Value
1	Need 1
2	Need 2
3	Need 3
4	Need 3
5	Need 4
6	etc...

Step 3. Set Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Target Values

Given the customer needs, awareness of the marketplace, and resource limitations of the current project, assign preliminary engineering specifications on each of the metrics. In addition to setting the nominal or target value or each specification, provide guidance to the team on the ideal value or direction that the team should strive for, once the nominal target values have been realized.

List of Metrics

Metric No.	Need Nos.	Metric	Importance	Units	Marginal value	Ideal Value
1	Need 1
2	Need 2
3	Need 3
4	Need 4
5	Need 5
6	etc...

Step 4. Reflect on the Results and the Process

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