Winter 2016 1

• Last Homework assignment

−Complete the FSD. Due Today. Put on website and email a copy to me.

−Work on the Concept Generation portion of the CG&S Document for your Project.

−Email me with ~5 concept fragments for your actual project. We will discuss these in class on Tuesday.

−Read Chapter 7, Concept Selection in Ulrich and Eppinger or notes for lecture 7

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 2

Lecture 7 Concept Selection

ECEn 490

Decision Making 101

Winter 2016 3

Phase 1Concept

Development

Phase 2 Phase 5Phase 4Phase 3System-Level

DesignDetailDesign

Testing andRefinement

ProductionRamp-up

Concept Development Phase

MissionStatement

DevelopmentPlan

Concept DevelopmentExhibit 2 Chapter 3 Ulrich & Eppinger

IdentifyCustomer

Needs

EstablishTargetSpecs

GenerateProduct

Concepts

Select aProductConcept

Test ProductConcept

SetFinalSpecs

Plan DownstreamDevelopment

Perform Economic AnalysisBenchmark Competitive Products

Build and Test Models and Prototypes

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 4

Concept generation

Concept screening

Concept scoring

Concept testing

Iterative Process of Screening and Scoring

Expand our thinking

Filter and decide

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 5

• Every team uses some method of decision making. Common methods include:−External decision; let someone else decide,

customer, client, etc.−Product Champion; an influential team member

chooses the concept.−Intuition; subjective criteria are used to decide. It

just feels better.−Multi-voting; team members vote for their favorite.−Pros and Cons; team list strengths and

weaknesses and choose based on opinions.−Prototype and test; team builds several units and

decision is based on results.−Decision matrices; team rates each concept

against defined selection criteria.ECEn 490

Winter 2016 6

• Benefits of using decision matrices−A customer focused approach; concepts

are evaluated against customer-oriented criteria.

−More competitive designs; concepts are benchmarked against best-in-class designs.

−Reduced development time; using a structured approach develops a common vision and language for the design team.

−Better group decision making; the decision is more likely to be based on objective criteria.

−Documentation of the decision process; the method provides its own documentation.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 7

Caution• Concept Scoring and Screening matrices

are only used on those few (less than 5) design problems that will make a significant difference in the outcome of your project.

• You don’t need the formality of concept scoring and screening for obvious design choices or those that are dictated by the preferred solution.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 8

• The Two Stages of Concept Selection−Concept Screening: give relative score

against a known benchmark design.−fast, approximate evaluation that produces several

viable concepts.−Best used when quantitative comparisons are

difficult.−Usually requires some sort of reference concept for

relative evaluation.−Concept Scoring: weighted ranking of

measurement criteria.−Used when only a few alternatives are being

considered.−Required quantitative comparisons of concepts.−Can still be quite subjective due to choices of weights

and ranks.ECEn 490

Winter 2016 9

• In both cases we use the Six Steps of Concept Selection−1. Prepare the selection matrix—choose

the selection criteria.−2. Rate the concepts.−3. Rank the concepts.−4. Combine and improve concepts.−5. Select one or more concepts.−6. Reflect on the results and the process.

Evaluate against a referenceGive the concept a # score

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 10

Product ConceptsA B C E FSelection Criteria

Criteria 2

Criteria 1

Criteria 3

Sum/Rank

Method 1--Concept Screening

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 11

0

- 0 + --

0 - + ++ 0

0 0 - 0 -

0 -2 0 +3 -3

ConceptsA B C E FCriteria

Criteria 2

Criteria 1

Criteria 3

Sum/Rank

Concept ScreeningConcept Ratings

A= reference

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 12

• Step 1--Preparing the Selection Matrix.−The choice of the selection matrix is key

to the success of both Screening and Scoring.

−Selection criteria should be independent.

−Selection criteria should be chosen to differentiate among the concepts.

−The criteria should be of the same relative worth.

−Don’t get too many criteria.−Use industry comparisons if available.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 13

• Concept Screening matrix−Start with the selection criteria. −Where are you going to get the

selection criteria?

−These are the key attributes or features of the product as determined in the FSD.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 14

• Next develop the list of concepts that you are considering for the solution −This list is the output of the concept

generation exercise. −Prune the list using intuitive methods to a

manageable number of concepts to consider.

−Each concept should be a solution to the same problem.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 15

• Concept Screening−Step 2--Rating Concepts

• Use a relative score, +, 0, - or colored dots• rate against a reference

−Step 3--Rank the Concepts• sum up the scores• rank the concepts by scores, highest to

lowest.−Step 4--Combine and Improve the

Concepts• Look at the results and see if there are

ways to combine concepts• is there one bad feature that is degrading a

good concept?ECEn 490

Winter 2016 16

• Your team is working for “Innovative Directions” • You have been given the assignment to work with

BYU on a special project.• Your team has been assigned this task:

• “Design and build an economical solution which will make it easy for those unfamiliar with the BYU campus to find their way around.”

In-Class Exercise

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 17

Innovative Directions Concept GenerationWhat would be some of the possible solutions for providing campus directions?

• Physical map

• Downloadable map

• New signs on campus

• New building signs

• Color coded strips on the sidewalks

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 18

Criteria• Cost of the solution• Ease of use• Portability• Accuracy of data• Cost of development• Availability of solution

Innovative Directions Concept Screening exampleWhat would some good screening criteria for choosing the best alternative for the Innovative Directions example?

What would be a good benchmark concept?

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 19

Concepts

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Criteria

Availability of information

Ease ofUse

Cost

Sum/Rank

Concept Screening

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 20

• Concept Screening continued−Step 5--Select One or More Concepts

• Look for patterns and groupings of concepts.

• Look for natural breakpoints among concepts.

−Step 6--Reflect on the Results• try to get consensus among the team on

the results.• Ask if the criteria reflects the critical

customer needs.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 21

• Method 2--Concept Scoring−Step 1--Preparing the selection matrix.−In addition to the requirements for

screening:• each criteria must be assigned a weight in

relationship to its importance.• A good way of assigning weights is to

allocate 100 percentage points across all criteria.

• Or, importance values can be assigned, 1-9.

• There are empirical methods of assigning weights, but more often they are determined by team consent.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 22

• Concept Scoring Matrix

Concepts

Criteria Weight Rating WeightedScore Rating Weighted

Score Rating WeightedScore Rating Weighted

Score

Concept AConcept B Concept C Concept D

100%Totals

Criteria 1Criteria 2Criteria 3

X%Y%Z%

139

1X3Y9Z

Sum

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 23

• Concept scoring, continued−Step 2--Rate the Concepts

• assign a numerical value to each concept with respect to the criteria.

• Use a wide scale to help differentiate among concepts. I.e. 1,3,9

−Step 3--Rank the Concepts• ranking is done by multiplying the concept

scores by the criteria weights.• Add up all the scores for each concept.• List the concepts by descending order.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 24

Methods of PDA<->Computer Communication (Hardware)

0 = Terrible 2 = Decent 4 = Good 6 = Awesome

Cost (Weighted x 3)

Communication Distance (Weighted x 2)

Reliability (Weighted x 1)

Ease of communication programming (Weighted x 1)

Customization of PDA necessary? (Weighted x 1)

Power consumption (Weighted x 1)

TOTALS

Serial Radio Link (One on each side)4x3=12

6x2=12

4x1=4

4x1=4

2x1=2

4x1=4 38

Wireless LAN (802.11)0x3=0

4x2=8

6x1=6

6x1=6

6x1=6

4x1=4 30

IrDA6x3=18

0x2=0

2x1=2

4x1=4

6x1=6

4x1=4 34

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 25

• Concept Scoring continued−Step 4--Combining and improving is

similar to concept screening.−Step 5--Select one or more concepts

• choose the highest ranking concepts• look for individuals scores where one criteria

was significant to the total.• Decide whether the scoring was quantitative

enough to make a decision.−Step 6--Reflect on the Results

• this is again similar to screening, does the answer make sense.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 26

• In class exercise−Develop a scoring matrix for the criteria

that you developed in Exercise #1. −Give relative weights to the criteria and

design a scoring definition for the ranking.

−How does this help with the evaluation of the criteria?

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 27

Concept Scoring

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Ease of use 0Availability of information 0Cost 0Sum/Rank 0 0 0 0 0 0

In class exercise

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 28

• Potential problems−Concept criteria are not independent

• a set of criteria reflects a common need, resulting in too heavy a weighting.

• For example, if you had three criteria relating to quality, and only one relating to cost, the sum of the quality scores would be spread over three criteria, while cost is concentrated in one criteria.

−Criteria are too subjective. How do you deal with subjective criteria?

−Cost must always be included in some form, because of the importance to the customer.

ECEn 490

Winter 2016 29

• Summary• All teams use some form of selection, often it is

implicit and unstructured.• Structured concept selection provides a level of

objective measurement that can help differentiate between competing solutions.

• Concept screening is useful for eliminating alternatives when you have a large number to consider.

• Concept scoring is used to refine the selection when you have only a few choices.

• Screening and scoring are not exact sciences.ECEn 490

Winter 2016 30

• Homework

−Complete the Concept Generation and Scoring Document. Due at design review next week.

−Be sure to cover all 5 of areas of the decision Matrix to insure that the reader will understand your thought process, and especially the assumptions that you are using. (see the document description on the ECEn 490 business website.)

ECEn 490

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Ease of use 40 5 5 6 4 6

Availability of information 40 5 7 4 4 5Cost 20 5 7 3 2 3Sum/Rank 100 500 620 460 360 500

Critical parts of the body of the CG&S document. You need a written section with Scoring (means using numbers!!) for each of the following;

1. Description of the alternatives considered2. Discussion of the decision criteria; why were they chosen? why they are important?

These should come directly from the customer needs/FSD.3. The thought process that resulted in the weighting factors. This should be heavily

driven by the FSD prioritized needs. Include the values.4. An analysis of the process of scoring. Why did you choose the various scores?

Include the scores!5. Review your results.

Winter 2016 31ECEn 490