Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing
2012
Re-engineering of Products and ProcessesHow to Achieve Global Success in the Changing MarketplaceAuthors:

• Federico Rotini,
• Yuri Borgianni,
• Gaetano Cascini
• …show all 3hide
  

ISBN: 978-1-4471-4016-0 (Print) 978-1-4471-4017-7  (Online)



How to Achieve Global Success in the Changing Marketplace

Series: Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing

Rotini, Federico, Borgianni, Yuri, Cascini, Gaetano

2012, XI, 163p. 47 illus..

ISBN 978-1-4471-4017-7

  Immediately available per PDF-download (no DRM, watermarked)

About this book

• Describes applications of the method to several case studies in different industrial sectors
•                                         Offers a systematic guide to defining innovative product profiles
•                                         Uses illustrations, tables and diagrams to make clear how the method works
  

Whilst previous methods for business process re-engineering have focused on time and cost reduction policies to preserve competitive services and products, Re-engineering of Products and Processes: How to Achieve Global Success in the Changing Marketplace presents a new approach which aims to include aspects that impact the customer perceived value. This method supports business re-engineering initiatives by identifying process bottlenecks as well as new products and services available to overcome market competition.
This original approach is described step-by-step, explaining the theory through examples of performable tasks and the selection of relevant tools according to the nature of the problem. Supported by illustrations, tables and diagrams, Re-engineering of Products and Processes: How to Achieve Global Success in the Changing Marketplace clearly explains a method which is then applied to several case studies across different industrial sectors.
Re-engineering of Products and Processes: How to Achieve Global Success in the Changing Marketplace provides a scientific reference for researchers and PhD students working in several fields of Industrial Engineering: mechanical, electric, electronic sectors and, more generally, all areas of industry where there are needs to design innovative products. The step-by-step description on how to employ the proposed method and its application to practical examples make the book a key resource for industry consultants and manager looking to increase the value of their products and services for new and existing customers.

Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Generalities of the Reengineering Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Redesigning Business Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Rethinking Products and Business Models . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Classes of Reengineering Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Class of Problems #1: Organize a New Process
to Overcome Market Boundaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.2 Class of Problems #2: Individuate the Bottlenecks
that Generate the Loss of Competitiveness . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.3 Class of Problems #3: Build the Value Profiles
of Innovative Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Brief Review of Tools and Methods Available in Literature . . . . 9
1.3.1 Process Reengineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.2 Product Reengineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3.3 Summary of the Open Issues Within Product
and Process Reengineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4 Purpose of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2 IPPR Methodological Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2 The Logic and the Structure of IPPR: Steps, Activities
and Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.1 Performing Information Gathering for IPPR . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.2.2 Process to Problem Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.3 Problem to Ideal Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.2.4 Ideal Solution to Physical Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3 Summary of IPPR Flow of Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ix
3 IPPR Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.2 Implementation of the ‘‘Process to Problem’’ Phase. . . . . . . . . . 47
3.2.1 Multi-Domain Process Modeling Technique
for Classes of Problems #1 and #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.2.2 Tools for Product Information Elicitation. . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.2.3 Product Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.3 Implementation of the ‘‘Problem to Ideal Solution’’ Phase . . . . . 70
3.3.1 Performing the Identification of What Should
be Changed in the Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.3.2 Performing the Identification of What Should
be Changed in the Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.4 Implementation of the ‘‘Ideal Solution to Physical
Solution’’ Phase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.4.1 Guidelines for the Selection of the Process
Redesign Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.4.2 Guidelines for the Selection of Product
Redesign Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4 Application of IPPR to the Reengineering Problems of Class 1 . . . 87
4.1 Introduction: The Italian Industry of Woody Bio-Fuel . . . . . . . . 87
4.2 General Overview of the Business Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.3 Application of IPPR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.3.1 Process to Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.3.2 Problem to Ideal Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.3.3 Ideal Solution to Physical Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.4 Discussion of the Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5 Application of IPPR to the Reengineering Problems of Class 2 . . . 107
5.1 Introduction: The Italian Accessible Fashion
Footwear Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.2 General Overview of the Business Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.3 Application of IPPR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
5.3.1 Process to Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
5.3.2 Problem to Ideal Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5.3.3 Ideal Solution to Physical Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.4 Discussion of the Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
6 Application of IPPR to the Reengineering Problems of Class 3 . . . 129
6.1 Introduction: Overview of the Hairstyling Sector. . . . . . . . . . . . 129
6.2 Main Features of the Professional Blow Dryers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
x Contents
6.3 Creating New Value Profiles Through IPPR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
6.3.1 Product Information Elicitation and Modeling
for a Professional Blow Dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
6.3.2 Building a New Profile and a Preliminary Conceptual
Idea for a Professional Blow Dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
6.4 Survey and Discussion of the Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
7 Discussion and Concluding Remarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.2 IPPR: Achievements and Open Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.3 Reliability of IPPR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
7.4 Final Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Appendix A: The IDEF0 Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Appendix B: The EMS Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Appendix C: The Model of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) . . . . . . . 155
Appendix D: The System Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Appendix E: The Kano Model of Customer Satisfaction . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

• Authors & Editors
  

Federico Rotini took a PhD in Machine Design at the Florence University in 2011. He works as Assistant Professor at the Florence University, Faculty of Engineering. His main topics of research deal with the development of tools and methods for Business Process Re-engineering activities, New Product Development initiatives, Product and Process Innovation. Other research interests concern the development of Computer-Aided techniques to support the Concept and Embodiment design phases. He is author of more than 30 papers published in authoritative Journals and presented in International Conferences and 2 patents. He collaborates as reviewer for the Proceedings of Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Computers in Industry and other scientific Journals and Conferences. He is involved in many national and international research projects.
He holds the courses of “Product Development and Engineering” and “Methods and Tools for Innovation” at the Florence University for the Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Yuri Borgianni took the master degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Florence University in 2005. He is a PhD student (since 2011) and a Research Assistant (since 2006) at the Faculty of Engineering in Florence.
His main fields of research deal with Methods and Techniques for Product and Process Innovation, New Product Development, Customer Perceived Value. Additional areas of interest regard engineering design, creative problem solving, CAD applications, Decision Support Systems, Intellectual Property. He is member of the Referee Committee of the Journal of Engineering Design. He is author of a dozen of paper published in international journals and proceedings of authoritative peer-reviewed conferences.
He is involved in several research projects having national and international interest. He currently cooperates for the University courses “Methods and Tools for Innovation” and “Product Development and Engineering”.

Gaetano Cascini took a PhD in Machine Design at the Università di Firenze in 2000. He has been Assistant Professor at the University of Florence from 1999 to 2008 and currently is Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Faculty of Industrial Engineering. He is chair of the “Computer-Aided Innovation” workgroup and Publication & Events Officer of the TC-5 Committee (Computer Applications in Technology) of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) and board member of ETRIA (European TRIZ Association), after being its President from 2006 to 2009. His research topics deal with Methods and tools for inventive design and Computer-Aided support to the innovation pipeline, published on more than 90 papers presented at international conferences and in authoritative Journals and in 10 patents.
He holds the following courses at Politecnico di Milano:

1. Methods for Technical Representation (Ind. Eng.) 2. Design Laboratory on Computer-Aided Engineering (Ind. Eng.)
3. Product Virtual Modeling (Ind. Des.) 4. Methods and Tools for Systematic Innovation: Part A: Problem Solving and Inventive Design; Part B: Innovation and Intellectual Property Management - (MSc Mech. Eng.) 5. Design Methods (Alta Scuola Politecnica, course within the MSc special program in Engineering, Architecture and Design)