This is a project applied lean product development (LPD) method to improve the customer satisfaction of a budget hair dryer product. Different from my other works, my teammate and I focused more on the R&D process and market evaluation in this project. In the research process, we have applied some knowledge about both engineering and management, and we have tried to think in a more practical way to make this project closer to the real commercial world.
- This project was used as a demonstration project in 2018 Lean Enterprise China Global Summit in Shanghai
- Our product was patented in 2019: TW-M580903 and TW-D200289
- Our product is now being produced by KEYARROW Company and will soon be launched on the market
- Our product was patented in 2019: TW-M580903 and TW-D200289
- Our product is now being produced by KEYARROW Company and will soon be launched on the market
Lean Product Development
Lean product development (LPD) is a lean approach to meet the challenges of product development, aiming to reduce long development cycle times and costs. The concept of LPD was first developed by Toyota, which started its lean product development journey at Toyota Loom Works.
Maximizing customer value is a core principle in LPD, but the value definitions used tend to be based on logical reasoning rather than real life observations. Feedback on the decision to design a certain feature will not be received until the product is in the hands of the customer. This means that decisions are made on short-cycle experimentation, prototyping, set-based design, and emergent practice.
In this project, we have applied a LPD progress presented by Inagaki Kimio, a Japanese LPD leading expert, to develop a more efficient budget hair dryer.
Step 1: Identifying Customer Value
We conducted two progress to identify the customer value of a budget hair dryer: thinking aloud test and interview.
ANALYZING THE OUTCOME
Those outcomes marked as “important but not satisfied” are obviously the point we need to improve (arranged in priority order):
1. air smell
2. form aesthetic
3. air volume
4. hair care and styling
5. air temp. adjustment
6. easily-taking-up cable
7. comfortable handle
8. noise
2. form aesthetic
3. air volume
4. hair care and styling
5. air temp. adjustment
6. easily-taking-up cable
7. comfortable handle
8. noise
Step 2: Competitor Analysis
We choose several product of similar prices and wattage as our competitors. Comparing their features below.
We can see that most of the firms generally claim that their products have large wind volume and adjustable temperature. Those two features are the main competitive strategy on the market.
On the other hand, we can also mark the customer values that most products on the market cannot satisfy.
Notably: wind smell, wind volume, taking-up cable, form aesthetic, and noise.
Notably: wind smell, wind volume, taking-up cable, form aesthetic, and noise.
OUR STRATEGY
- Product Position: Budget price and lower performance
- Market Position: Medium to low income / Lower requirements (Students / housewives / elderly)
- Product Position: Budget price and lower performance
- Market Position: Medium to low income / Lower requirements (Students / housewives / elderly)
Comparing the customer values and the competitor analysis, we can define the values which customers think important but not satisfied by most products on the market, including wind smell, wind volume, taking-up cable, form aethetic and noise.
Our goal is to improve these parts to make our product become more competitive on the market.
Step 3: Finding Trade-off Point And Finalizing On Design Strategy
CAUSAL MAPPING
We made a causal map to visualize the links between different design parameters of a hair dryer. By the causal map, we can clearly understand the trade-off relationship between parameters and what obstacle we are facing.
TRADE-OFF POINT
The obstacles we face are the parameters which are bounded by each other. That is the trade-off point of the design parameters. We have two choice to deal with the problem: to choose which side we should be or to try to break the trade-off relationship.
STEP 4: Idea Generating / Finding Technical Solution
ANALOGICAL THINKING
According to the opportunity value analysis, the point we need to improve first is the wind volume. As a result, we tried to use analogical thinking method to develop technical solutions. After we did some research in fluid mechanics and consulted with some expert for the airflow problem, we learned a simple effect that can influence the flow of fluid - Coanda effect.
COANDA EFFECT
The Coanda effect is the tendency of a fluid jet to stay attached to a convex surface. As described by the eponymous Henri Coand in different patents: "the tendency of a jet of fluid emerging from an orifice to follow an adjacent flat or curved surface and to entrain fluid from the surroundings so that a region of lower pressure develops." The pressure effect, which is usually not indicated, is fundamental for the comprehension of the Coand effect. (Wikipedia)
The Coanda effect has many kinds of applications, and the most common one is the wing of aircraft that extra lift coefficient can be caused by the Coanda effect.
Step 5: Prototyping / Short-cycle Experiment
SHORT-CYCLE EXPERIMENTATION
In LPD, a core principle is that decisions are always made on short-cycle experimentation, prototyping, set-based design, and emergent practice. It is to ensure that designers can verify their hypothesis before the product is in the hands of the customer. As a result, we have conducted a simple and low-cost experimentation to verify that Coanda surface can work on a hair dryer to enlarge wind volume.
COANDA SURFACE TEST
As we have known that applying a Coanda surface to the wind outlet may suck the surrounding air to the flow and make the wind volume larger, we conducted an easy experiment to test if the idea can surely work and which kind of coanda surface we should apply.
TEST METHOD
Use a hair dryer applied with each simulated wind outlet (5 types: A-D and none) to dry a piece of tissue and calculate the time spent each time.
Because only the lower half of tissue is wet, we stop timing when the color of the lower half is the same as the dry upper half.
TEST RESULT
We can see that except for D, other module are obviously faster than the original one.
Notably, B and C even save up to 20% time than the original one.
Design Outcome
PUSHING OUR PRODUCT INTO MARKET:
2018 LEAN ENTERPRISE CHINA GLOBAL SUMMIT IN SHANGHAI
2018 LEAN ENTERPRISE CHINA GLOBAL SUMMIT IN SHANGHAI
LEC Global Summit is a grand annual meeting of the lean enterprise community in China. The participants includes executives of some enterprises including WAHL, BOSCH, STIHL, Giant, etc.
Through the recommendation of Mr. Inagaki Kimio, a Japanese LPD leading expert, My teammate and I brought our work to the LEC Global Summit in Shanghai with our professor to share our lean product developing process with the participants. Our project was used as a demonstration project in the summit and listed in the LEC yearbook 2018.
Our hair dryer has found a business partner in the summit that it is currently in a mass production schedule by Keyarrow (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. and will soon be in the market.
