As Plato reflected, “Excellence is not a goal, it is a habit.” The basic concepts in designing for product excellence exemplifies this as it must start with the end in mind and reflect excellence at every phase of the design, material, and manufacturing process. To remain competitive in today’s global marketplace is to not just make the best product possible but to also build it faster, with less environment impact and greater economic efficiency than the competition can. In other words; better, faster and cheaper is the blueprint for success.. This sounds simple, but it is not an easy thing to do. This must start at the design level so that the finished product is ready to be manufactured under real world conditions and not only in a design studio where skilled technicians are available to fine tune a prototype.
Customer requirements need to be met, as well as manufacturing standards and marketing considerations. All these responsibilities must be taken on by the design team before any further advances can be made towards the final production design can be finalized. .
In particular the product design effects the manufacturability and reflects the ultimate environmental responsibility of the company that produces the product. It is no longer sufficient for a business to produce a good, or even an excellent product at an inexpensive price. .
Consumers want to know that the manufacturing process is fair and equitable for the workers, the country that houses the factory, and that the materials used and the manufacturing process is environmentally sound. These are practices that the advertising department uses when releasing and promoting the product in the global marketplace. Products that do not have these concerns built in from the start turn into a scandal, not a success story. .
References
Evens, L. (n.d.). Manging for Quality and Performance Excellence (8th Edition ed.). Cengage Learning.
