IE673

Assignment 2 Re-Submission

I have fixed the CORA spread sheet and Added the analysis, EM Decisions, and Collaboration sections

I have also added the Panoramic Navigation Map Section

Introduction and Objective

The objective of this project is to determine the critical TQM requirements for the new product and processes for the Window Insulation Kits that Singh Inc. will be making in collaboration with Goff’s Enterprises. We will be using the Component Oriented Requirement Analysis (CORA) to determine the critical requirements for the new product and process.

Brief Description of Methodologies Applied

CORA is a Team Oriented Problem Solving (TOPS) method aimed at minimizing customer dissatisfaction and cost associated with inadequate requirements specifications, and poor consumer input.  Customer requirements and needs analysis is one of the most crucial steps in product or process development because if the end user is not satisfied with the product it will not sell. 

 CORA is a generic method that is very useful during the system planning stages of a decision making process, which can be updated on a regular basis to incorporate and document any changes in customer requirements, engineering solutions and/or prototypes that come along during the product development process.

CORA is a matrix-based method developed for user requirement analysis. Three of the key aspects of its generic methodology are:

Define scope, function and purpose: The project team should clearly define the system, sub-system, product or process that needs to be analyzed.

Identify user requirements: The team should collect all realistic and accurate user requirements and enter them in the CORA template.

Prioritize potential requirements: All requirements should be ranked depending on their importance.

The CORA code is integrated into the four modules listed below:

User requirements

Bench-marking

Parameter calculations

Engineering Solutions

The modules mentioned above are then analyzed within the matrix where the values are assigned by the team members. The algorithm then offers the best possible optimization in terms of:

What are the critical actions (processes) critical customer requirements

How do our competitors fulfill the same needs?             

What are the critical parameters?

What are the importance values for each requirement?

What are the actual ranges of values of these parameters?

The correlation values for the CORA matrix are as follows: 1, meaning 'low level correlation', or 3, meaning 'medium', or 9, meaning 'high level correlation'.

Next the Absolute Importance Rating (AIR) values are calculated based on the requirement priority level, and the correlation values. The team should quantify the level of importance, in terms of how an engineering solution responds to each specified customer need.

If the AIR value is high for a particular activity the Team should track it back to the column of the matrix and:

First, at every correlation value of 9 the team should check the customer requirement and make sure that it is satisfied. Since these are the most important customer requirements.

Second, do the same at every correlation value of 3.

The AIR values should be calculated as follows: for each row with a requirement, and for each column where there is a correlation value of 1, 3, or 9. The AIR value is multiplied by the correlation value, then the result is added to the sum of the next row, until there are no more rows left. A sample of a CORA matrix can be seen below taken from the TQM eBook. 

Main Body

Once the analysis of the customer requirements was complete they were ranked in importance 1 to 5, 5 being the most important and 1 being the least.  Then the engineering solutions were taken into consideration based on their importance to the customer requirements by grading them as 1, 3 or 9.

Next, Singh Inc. used all of the information gathered and completed the CORA analysis for developing the new Window Insulation Kits.

From the data obtained we have determined 8 different customer requirements. The requirements were ranked and the ones with the higher ratings will be evaluated first and fore most because those are the most important to the customer and the development of the new product. This is the most critical aspects of this analysis. Singh Inc. will be employing 9 different engineering solutions to fulfill the customer requirements. The engineering solutions can be found below in the CORA spread sheet.

 The CORA analysis not only helps in the development of the product based in the customer requirements it also compiles data on the key competitors and how their product ranks compared to ours. The analysis show us what aspect were really good at and what we need to work on to make the product successful and better than our competitors.

Below you can find the CORA Analysis I completed for the new process.

Analysis of the CORA Results

The following is the list of customer requirements we have analyzed in order to make a GREEN, ECO friendly Window Insulator kit that will blow our competition out of the water.  As you can see from the CORA Spread Sheet our product is far superior than our competitors products in all but one category.

Eco Friendly, non-toxic Raw Materials

Recycled Vinyl will be used to make the climate curtain and insulator kit sleeves

Non Toxic Product

Reduce Carbon Foot Print

Insulation capability

Product safety

Easy to install

Durable

Secure Eco Friendly packaging

Correct Design Dimensions

All parts for installation are included

Good Aesthetics

This CORA analysis and spreadsheet will help us to answer how we can improve the quality of our product even further and especially in the one category where we are lacking behind the completion.  We have to make sure that all the right parts are in every packaged Window Insulator kit going out. This is very critical to our product because it will be reusable unlike the competitor’s product which is one time use only.

The solutions employed and discussed to fulfill the needs are listed below.

Good Eco Friendly Designs – Using smart energy saving and Green Designs

High Quality Installation Manual – A quality focused manual that makes it easy for anybody to install the Kits with basic tools

Market Feedback – Research into existing similar products and new customer requirements and demands to stay competitive

ISO 9000:2008 – Following these guidelines we can ensure we are making a product that is of high quality and eco friendly

Automated Manufacturing Process – The automated manufacturing process will make a high quality consistent product and save energy and labor cost

TQM and TQC – Following TQM and TQC principals to ensure a good quality product

Sustainable and Green Focus – The employee are empowered and challenged by the management to make the products and process as green as possible in order to satisfy customer needs

Automated Continuous Quality Testing – Employing several methods including Variable control charts and attributes control charts to maintain quality and GREEN standards

Source Energy from Wind, Solar and Hydro Power Generation – In order to minimize our carbon foot print and do our part to keep the Earth GREEN

Durable Mounting Hardware – To insure that the product functions to the best of its ability and allowing it to be reused for years to come

Good Customer Service – In order to insure the highest level of service, quality and customer focus

The CORA template has also provided us with the AIR values which correspond to each of the engineered solutions we have employed to satisfy the customer requirements. The CORA tool takes both the customer requirements its importance and how well the engineered solution is fulfilling the requirements and assigns the AIR value.  This helped us identify the top 3 most important solutions that help fulfill the most customer needs. The top three AIR Values are listed below.

The top 3 Air values are:

TQM and TQC – 489

Good ECO Friendly Designs – 468

Automated Manufacturing Process – 423

These are the top three solutions we need to focus on to ensure that all our customers’ needs are met and to ensure a high quality product. These three solutions get the highest priority in our process to make Window Insulator Kits. The engineering manager will be focusing on these three solutions with the highest priority and relaying these to all employees in order to make sure these solutions are implemented properly because these solutions will ensure a high quality, GREEN product. The kind of product our customers are looking for.

TQM and TQC will be utilized in every part of the process of making the Window Insulator Kits. these principals will enable us to make a high quality product that will sell and generate revenue for the company.

Good Eco Friendly Designs are very important to us and our customers. The Engineering manager will make sure that the designers are following all the guidelines of TQM, TQC and ISO 9000 to insure high quality designs that are a designed to maximize the usage of recycled materials. Anytime a new design is constructed for the product the designers will first focus on the quality and GREEN aspects and not cost.

The Automation process will go along way into insure we make a high quality product at a fast pace in order to minimize cost which will improve profits and minimize waste. As the engineering manager I will make sure that the automation process utilizes energy efficient equipment for the automated production lines. We will use Lenze’s energy efficient motion control devices to lower our energy usage and our carbon footprint.  The more efficient we are the more profitable we are.

Decisions as the Engineering Manager

“The more ECO Friendly and Efficient we are, the more profitable we are.”

The slogan above will be our company’s motto.

Every employee in the company will be required to focus on that slogan anytime they are working. It doesn’t matter what they are doing this will be key to helping our company improve for the future.

The designers will be required to focus on Efficient ECO friendly designs utilizing as much recycled and sustainable materials as possible to achieve their designs. Innovation is the key to success. Anybody in the organization can submit ideas for improvement.

We as an organization will be focusing on the results of the CORA analysis to improve our products and to make sure we stay miles ahead of the competition. The CORA analysis has given us our top solutions that we need to focus in order to ensure a high quality GREEN product. CORA will be a process we will use continuously and update continuously as more customer requirements are determined thorough market research in order to insure our product is keeping up with new demands in the market place. This will help insure our company’s future.

Collaboration

Goff's Enterprises - We are collaborating with them on a joint venture to produce insulation for the Window Insulator kits in house from 100% Recycled materials.

Lenze - We are using there smart energy efficient space saving motors gear drives to fully automate the production process.

Interlake - We will be using there fully automated warehousing solutions to maximize warehousing space and eliminate unnecessary labor costs. Since the entire process from warehousing to shipping will be automated using robotic lift trucks it will be much safer free from human error.

Datex - We will be using the 3PL supply chain software and hardware to make the ordering, selling, and shipping process streamlined. They supply chain software will also enable us to utilize the JIT manufacturing process to eliminate unnecessary inventory and maximize profits.

IE-673-852 DL