Step 2: Collect Competitive Benchmarking Information
Unless the team expects to enjoy a total monopoly, the relationship of the new product to competitive products is paramount in determining commercial success. While the team will have entered the product development process with some idea of how it wishes to compete in the marketplace, the target specifications are the language the team uses to discuss and agree on the detailed positioning of its product relative to existing products, both its own and competitors ' . Information on competing products must be gathered to support these positioning decisions.
An example of a competitive benchmarking chart is shown in Exhibit 6-6. The columns of the chart correspond to the competitive products and the rows are the metrics established in step I. Note that the competitive benchmarking chart can be constructed as a simple appendage to the spreadsheet containing the list of metrics. (This information is one of the "rooms" in the House of Quality, described by Hauser and Clausing.)
The benchmarking chart is conceptually very simple. For each competitive product, the values of the metrics are simply entered down a column. Gathering these data can be very time consuming, involving (at the least) purchasing, testing, disassembling, and estimating the production costs of the most important competitive products. However, this investment of time i s essential , as no product development team can expect to succeed without having this type of information. A word of warning: Sometimes the data contained in competitors' catalogs and supporting literature are not accurate. Where possible, values of the key metrics should be verified by independent testing or observation.
An alternative competitive benchmarking chart can be constructed with rows corresponding to the customer needs and columns corresponding to the competitive products (see Exhibit 6-7). This chart is used to compare customers' perceptions of the relative degree to which the products satisfy their needs. Constructing this chart requires collecting customer perception data, which can also be very expensive and time consuming. Some techniques for measuring customers' perceptions of satisfaction of needs are contained in a book by Urban and Hauser (1993). Both charts can be useful and any discrepancies between the two are instructive. At a minimum, a chart showing the competitive values of the metrics (Exhibit 6-6) should be created.
Step 3: Set Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Target Values
In this step, the team synthesizes the available information in order to actually set the target values for the metrics. Two types of target value are useful: an ideaLvalue and a marginally acceptable value. The ideal value is the best result the team could hope for. The marginally acceptable value is the value of the metric that would just barely make the product commercially viable. Both of these targets are useful in guiding the subsequent stages of concept generation and concept selection , and for refining the specifications after the product concept has been selected.
There are five ways to express the values of the metrics:
• At least X: These specifications establish targets for the lower bound on a metric, but higher i s still better. For example, the value of the brake mounting stiffness is specified to be at least 325 kilonewtons/ meter.
• At most X: These specifications establish targets for the upper bound on a metric, with smaller values being better. For example, the value for the mass of the suspension fork is set to be at most 1.4 kilograms.
• Between X and Y.• These specifications establish both upper and lower bounds for the val ue of a metric. For example, the value for the spring preload is set to be between 480 and 800 newtons. Any m ore and the suspension is harsh; any less and the suspension is too bouncy.
• Exactly X: These specifications establish a target of a particular value of a metric, with any deviation degrading performance. For example, the ideal value for the rake offset metric is set to 38 millimeters. This type of
specification is to be avoided if possible because such specifications substantially constrain the design. Often , upon recon sideration, the team realizes that what initially appears as an "exactly X" specification can be expressed as a "between X and Y" specification.
• A set of discrete values: Some metrics will have values corresponding to several disc retechoices. For example, the headset diameters are 1 .000, 1. 125, or 1 .250 inches. (Industry practice is to use English units for these and several other critical bicycle dimensions.)
The desira ble range of values for one metric may depend on another. In other words, we may wish to express a target as, for example, "the fork tip lateral stiffness is no more than 20 percent of the lateral stiffness at the brake pivots." In applications where the team feels this level of complexity is warranted, such targets can easily be included, although we recommend that this level of complexity not be introduced until the final phase of the specifications process.
Using these five different types of expressions for values of the metrics, the team sets the target specifications. The team simply proceeds down the list of metrics and assigns both the marginally acceptable and ideal target values for each metric. These decisions are facilitated by the metric-based competitive benchmarking chart shown in
Exhibit 6-6. To set the target values, the team has many considerations, including the capability of competing products available at the time, competitors' future product capabilities (if these are predictable), and the product's mission statement and target market segment. Exhibit 6-8 shows the targets assigned for the suspension fork.
Because most of the values are expressed in terms of bounds (upper or lower or both), the team is establishing the boundaries of the competitively viable product space. The team hopes that the product will meet some of the ideal targets but is confident that a product can be commercially viable even if it exhibits one or more marginally acceptable characteristics. ote that these specifications are preliminary because until a product concept is chosen and some of the design detai Is are worked out, many of the exact trade-offs are uncertain.
Step 2: Collect Competitive Benchmarking InformationUnless the team expects to enjoy a total monopoly, the relationship of the new product to competitive products is paramount in determining commercial success. While the team will have entered the product development process with some idea of how it wishes to compete in the marketplace, the target specifications are the language the team uses to discuss and agree on the detailed positioning of its product relative to existing products, both its own and competitors ' . Information on competing products must be gathered to support these positioning decisions.An example of a competitive benchmarking chart is shown in Exhibit 6-6. The columns of the chart correspond to the competitive products and the rows are the metrics established in step I. Note that the competitive benchmarking chart can be constructed as a simple appendage to the spreadsheet containing the list of metrics. (This information is one of the "rooms" in the House of Quality, described by Hauser and Clausing.)The benchmarking chart is conceptually very simple. For each competitive product, the values of the metrics are simply entered down a column. Gathering these data can be very time consuming, involving (at the least) purchasing, testing, disassembling, and estimating the production costs of the most important competitive products. However, this investment of time i s essential , as no product development team can expect to succeed without having this type of information. A word of warning: Sometimes the data contained in competitors' catalogs and supporting literature are not accurate. Where possible, values of the key metrics should be verified by independent testing or observation.An alternative competitive benchmarking chart can be constructed with rows corresponding to the customer needs and columns corresponding to the competitive products (see Exhibit 6-7). This chart is used to compare customers' perceptions of the relative degree to which the products satisfy their needs. Constructing this chart requires collecting customer perception data, which can also be very expensive and time consuming. Some techniques for measuring customers' perceptions of satisfaction of needs are contained in a book by Urban and Hauser (1993). Both charts can be useful and any discrepancies between the two are instructive. At a minimum, a chart showing the competitive values of the metrics (Exhibit 6-6) should be created.Step 3: Set Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Target ValuesIn this step, the team synthesizes the available information in order to actually set the target values for the metrics. Two types of target value are useful: an ideaLvalue and a marginally acceptable value. The ideal value is the best result the team could hope for. The marginally acceptable value is the value of the metric that would just barely make the product commercially viable. Both of these targets are useful in guiding the subsequent stages of concept generation and concept selection , and for refining the specifications after the product concept has been selected.There are five ways to express the values of the metrics:• At least X: These specifications establish targets for the lower bound on a metric, but higher i s still better. For example, the value of the brake mounting stiffness is specified to be at least 325 kilonewtons/ meter.• At most X: These specifications establish targets for the upper bound on a metric, with smaller values being better. For example, the value for the mass of the suspension fork is set to be at most 1.4 kilograms.• Between X and Y.• These specifications establish both upper and lower bounds for the val ue of a metric. For example, the value for the spring preload is set to be between 480 and 800 newtons. Any m ore and the suspension is harsh; any less and the suspension is too bouncy.• Exactly X: These specifications establish a target of a particular value of a metric, with any deviation degrading performance. For example, the ideal value for the rake offset metric is set to 38 millimeters. This type of specification is to be avoided if possible because such specifications substantially constrain the design. Often , upon recon sideration, the team realizes that what initially appears as an "exactly X" specification can be expressed as a "between X and Y" specification.• A set of discrete values: Some metrics will have values corresponding to several disc retechoices. For example, the headset diameters are 1 .000, 1. 125, or 1 .250 inches. (Industry practice is to use English units for these and several other critical bicycle dimensions.) The desira ble range of values for one metric may depend on another. In other words, we may wish to express a target as, for example, "the fork tip lateral stiffness is no more than 20 percent of the lateral stiffness at the brake pivots." In applications where the team feels this level of complexity is warranted, such targets can easily be included, although we recommend that this level of complexity not be introduced until the final phase of the specifications process.Using these five different types of expressions for values of the metrics, the team sets the target specifications. The team simply proceeds down the list of metrics and assigns both the marginally acceptable and ideal target values for each metric. These decisions are facilitated by the metric-based competitive benchmarking chart shown in Exhibit 6-6. To set the target values, the team has many considerations, including the capability of competing products available at the time, competitors' future product capabilities (if these are predictable), and the product's mission statement and target market segment. Exhibit 6-8 shows the targets assigned for the suspension fork.Because most of the values are expressed in terms of bounds (upper or lower or both), the team is establishing the boundaries of the competitively viable product space. The team hopes that the product will meet some of the ideal targets but is confident that a product can be commercially viable even if it exhibits one or more marginally acceptable characteristics. ote that these specifications are preliminary because until a product concept is chosen and some of the design detai Is are worked out, many of the exact trade-offs are uncertain.
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