Process Temperature Sensitivity

Temperature sensitivity of processes should be considered early in the design before specifying equipment. Frequently, designers specify a single thermal measurement device for ease of use, replacement, and inventory. Not a bad idea if all temperatures are near the same range or the process is not sensitive. K-Type thermocouples are very popular due to their wide range of temperatures (-200˚C to 1250˚C), but when measuring high temps of 1000˚C and water temperatures around 50˚C what is the error associated with them?

Many designers do not realize that an error even exists and even process interfaces and data files will be set up with one or two decimal places. The standard error of a K-Type thermocouple is a minimum of 2.2˚C and at temperatures nearing 1000˚C the error nears 7˚C. So with even a 4.4 degree spread on error, reading temperatures in tenths of a degree is useless, requires more data-storage  space and adds irrelevant

Design for Usability–Computer Design Failure

According to research performed by Deliotte, 2012 will be the year to exceed 1 billion computers produced annually. With 500 million units shipped in 2009 you would think that the computer industry would have things fairly well worked out for design, but do they? Consumer usability is always an issue and frequently overlooked. Take a few new cars for test drives and you are bound to say “I really don’t like where that thing is placed.”

Here is a PC that is just a few years old.

Look at the power switch.

It seems that every time a disc is placed in the lower drive the computer shuts down and needs to be rebooted. Sometimes when the headset cords are plugged in, a wild finger will cause a reboot. It also happens when installing or removing a thumb drive in the USB port. Very frustrating to have your system shut down from attempting normal use.

Yes, the computer

Management of Field Replaceable Units (FRU)

For the inventory controller, manufacturing, and document change control, field replaceable units (FRUs) are evil. Added SKUs, additional space requirements, documentation management, and possible disruptions to normal manufacturing flow are problems. To the field service personnel, the FRU is a time saving, frustration reducing, wonderful thing, when configured properly. When considering equipment that demands high availability, FRUs can effectively reduce

Key Elements of Choosing a Product Development Process

A question that is frequently asked is “What product development process should we follow?” There is no single answer, but to say “It depends.” There are several product development process (PDP) models available: Spiral, Waterfall, StageGate™. Both iterative and linear methods to choose from. Linear methods that do not incorporate concurrent engineering practices are dead. The need for speed to move to the top or maintain your position is required in defining a good PDP.
There are a few things that are elemental to developing and executing a good process. Investors like The Fundable Entrepreneur point out;