Product design specification is a listing of critical parameters, specifications and requirements of a not-yet designed product. It is a detailed statement of what the product will do and its significance and is one of the key elements of product cycle management. it is created very early in the design process during the definition of the problem.
Product Design Specification Overview
A good product design Specification or PDS is not something that is born out of the blue, it is something that calls for a lot of pre-planning. One of the first key elements of a good PDS would be diagrams. If your PDS are more than a thousand words in length then you should definitely add in diagrams whenever possible. Another important thing to consider is th consistent style and uniformity. For instance, you should make the headers, style and font size the same all throughout the product design Specification.
Key Considerations in Product Design Specification
The criteria for writing a good product design Specification is not static but rather fluid. Despite the document evolving constantly, there are a number of indispensable elements that designers must put into consideration when writing PDS. The following are key components to consider when writing product design specification.
- Performance: performance consideration of a product accesses the intended use of a product expected quality standards, expected aesthetics, reliability, safety requirements, and the rate of loading.
- Safety: These include potential sources of product liability litigation, potential operator hazards, and potential for abuse and misuse.
- Economy: if the expected performance can be realized in a reasonable, practical and economic way. the target production cost should be analysed. This include analyzing the cost of materials, the manufacturing process. and down-time.
- Quantity: the quantity that should be produced should be determined. This is because it could affect the production cost. Consequently, alternative manufacturing processes could be adopted.
- Product life span: the product life span estimates how long the product is expected to circulate in the market.
- Customer needs: the customer needs have a lot of influence in writing PDS. In this regard, the use of questionnaires and Focused group discussions may be used to identify specific customer demands.
- Environmental factors: environmental factors determine the use of a product This include issues of wear and tear, dust, insects, noise, and corrosive fluids.
- Design time: the design time ensures that there is adequate time that is set aside for the design phase of the product development process.
Collaboration with Other Function Department
When writing PDS, it is advisable to be as brief as possible while at the same time striking a good balance between brevity and capturing the most important details. It is not worth wasting time in long and painstaking documents and details that no one is going to read. Another important thing to consider is to collaborate with other function departments to make sure that some of the concepts and ideas are feasible and practical. During the drafting stage, the product design team may have meetings with other team to get their feedback and opinion.