In 2013 fall, I was asked to work with mechanical engineering team to simplify the mechanism of the early functional prototype of the Dancing Penguin to hit the target cost. The toy's play concept and appearance were already defined at this stage. The key for this project to stay profitable is keeping the same functionality by using less parts and less labor on assembly.
The new mechanism I proposed almost cut the cost in half and got very close to target cost, which is only $0.352 more. The team approved the new mechanism concept and released the PI(project initiation) form to production engineering team.
The Dancing penguin is now available online and in store.
http://www.hasbro.com/en-us/product/furreal-friends-happy-to-see-me-pets-piper-my-dancing-penguin-pet:3394D546-5056-9047-F5CC-9B052413C1D1
Early functional prototype
Mechanism concept 1, not approved because the middle linkage may bind.
Final mechanism concept proposed
