1. Virtual reality-based simulation allows businesses to test new products and services as well as visualize and plan the process that will produce them.

In an attempt to prototype and create the final design in your organization, explain how you would introduce virtual reality-based simulation and the benefit to Mercedes Benz..

2. DESIGN PRINCIPLES AT BRAUN AG AND THE NEW BRAUN MULTI MIX

Braun, the leading European manufacturer of small appliances, is renowned for the innovative and functional designs of its products (over 60 per cent of the company’s sales are of products which were launched within the last five years). The company has 150 of its products in the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris and has 40 products on exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art. But Braun’s design principles go beyond the aesthetic. Its designers follow their ‘Ten Principles of Good Design. We will describe the design of the Braun Multimix, the design brief of which was ‘to combine three specialist kitchen appliances (blender, food processor, kitchen machine) in such a way that the new single product performs at least as well in each of the applications as the best equivalent specialized product.

Braun’s 10 industrial design principles applied to the Multimix

USEFULNESS: The functionality of a product is the central reason for its existence. It was decided to align the motor, gearing and attachments in a single vertical direction (competitive products have horizontal motor and vertical attachments, requiring a complete gearbox). The ‘form’ of the product then follows its ‘function’.

QUALITY: Braun designers emphasize four aspects of quality. First, its versatility provides a full range of tasks required in cooking, mixing, blending, kneading and chopping. Second, the high mechanical efficiency of the appliance and the seven-speed settings provide high performance across the range of tasks. Third, many unique safety features have been included to prevent contact with moving parts and to prevent accidents. Fourth, the application of advanced process technology has enabled many integrated elements to be incorporated in a single moulding. A complex production moulding tool was developed to produce two housings in one injection moulding step.

EASE OF USE: Great emphasis was put on ‘human engineering to ensure that the Multimix is convenient, comfortable to use and easy to clean.

SIMPLICITY: Braun engineers believe in achieving maximum results with minimum means: What is relevant is stressed, and What is superfluous is omitted.

CLARITY: Particular emphasis is put on eliminating the need for complex instructions.

ORDER: All details of a product should have a logical, meaningful place with nothing arbitrary or coincidental.

NATURALNESS: Braun designers strive to avoid any forced, contrived or artificial decorative elements. Braun refers to a principle of ‘understatement and modesty.

AESTHETIC: Although aesthetic quality is not a primary objective of the Braun’s designers during the development process, it is achieved through attention to detail and the quest for order and naturalness.

INNOVATION: Braun is committed to achieving long-lasting appeal in its designs so innovations are carefully developed and brought together for new appliance such as the Multimix.

TRUTHFULNESS: A principle followed by Braun is that ‘only honest design can be good design’ so any attempt to play on people’s emotions and weaknesses is avoided.

Answer all the Questions below:

Critically discuss Braun’s ten industrial design principles applied to the Multimix. (10)

‘Design processes involve a number of stages that move an innovation from a concept to a fully specified state’. You are required to take the case study through the stages of design from concept generation to a final product and service design

3.1 Assume that a restaurant processes a Pizza and the average number of customers in the process is limited to around 12 and the maximum time a customer is in the process should be on average five minutes

3.2. Calculate the Cycle Time

3.3. If the time to process and assemble a Pizza is reduced to 3 minutes, how many waiters should be serving?

3.4.If throughput time is restricted to 5 minutes, calculate the Throughput efficiency

3.5. If the work content is reduced from 3 minutes to 2 minutes (only those tasks that literally add value to what is being processed), calculate the Value-added throughput efficiency