KR100426906B1 - Product design method, product design device, and medium for storing product design program - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a product design method and apparatus for easily and quickly determining an optimal product concept having a high user satisfaction, and quickly providing a market competitive product to a market. In the method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the degree of achievement of the potential benefit for the target product of the user included in the desired information, which is stored in advance in the storage device, is interpreted based on the inputted desired information. One or more to weight the evaluation indicators, which are measures for measuring quantitatively, to select the most weighted one or the plurality of evaluation indicators, and to maximize or minimize the selected evaluation indicators. Determine the design concept of your product.

Description

TECHNICAL DESIGN METHOD, PRODUCT DESIGN DEVICE, AND MEDIUM FOR STORING PRODUCT DESIGN PROGRAM

The present invention relates to a storage medium for storing a product design method, a product design apparatus and a product design program. In particular, in the product planning and design stage in which the design specification of a new product is determined based on various demands of the user's product, the customer satisfaction with high customer satisfaction appropriately reflecting the true demand for the target product included in the user's opinion The present invention relates to a technology for rapidly and easily planning and developing a product or service of a product design concept having a high market competitiveness, and rapidly providing it to a market.

In planning and developing a product or service that embodies a new product design concept, the voice of the customer is generally expressed from a customer or an end user (hereinafter, both simply referred to as a "user") by an interview or questionnaire. Voice of Customer (VOC) listens to product requests. In the conventional product design, the challenge was to develop a product that realized the contents of the VOC, which is a request from these users, as a design concept and design specification of the product as it is, and how quickly it could be provided to the market ahead of other companies. Anything that cannot be realized in the VOC statement needs to be negotiated with the customer, but this point is naturally compared with other companies, and the inferior part is supplemented in terms of price and support. Efforts have been made in the design and development to realize a listened VOC in order to quickly provide a product that the user is satisfied with, but in practice, the user cannot reach the performance mentioned as the VOC. For this reason, the time of product sale is often missed and a hit product cannot be produced.

The design specifications of the product in which efforts are made for realization here are as stated by the user as the VOC. In other words, if the user's opinion is not directly applied to the design specification of the product, the product provided to the market is not adopted by the user, and it is considered that the business opportunity is missed. For this reason, even if the risk of product design and development is high, for example, in order to outperform competitors, the VOC itself heard from the user was designed as a constraint of product design, thereby challenging the technology for realizing this product.

However, the conventional product design had the following problems to be solved.

The user's VOC, which was supposed to be introduced into the design specification of a conventional product, is (1) especially in the case of a manufacturer representative of a parts supplier or a heavy user of a current product, for example, "the performance of the RISC is 20 MHz. There are many comments bound to the current product specification, such as "I want the floating point arithmetic function and the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) interface function." For this reason, the design concept of the new products obtained by these VOCs stays in the product concept on the extension of the current product, and only a product concept in a fixed implementation, that is, a product concept in the frame of the current product specification, can be obtained.

Or (2) In particular, in the case of end users, there are many comments that refer to a very abstract level of VOC that states future abnormalities, such as, for example, "a clean font is good". Could not be efficiently acquired at the level of the design concept of the product attached to the product.

In addition, as described above, when the user listens to the VOC in the form of an interview or a questionnaire by directly meeting the user or inviting the user, the user prepares to respond to the request, and cannot truly derive the true request for the product.

As described above, in the conventional product planning, the product concept cannot be properly obtained without the contents of the user VOCs that have been listened to. In addition, even if the contents of these VOCs are reflected in the product concepts as it is, the user can obtain a product with a truly satisfying specification. Was very difficult. Therefore, the costs associated with the planning and development of new products have risen, and it has been very difficult to quickly provide market-leading hit products with market competitiveness.

This invention is made | formed in order to solve the above-mentioned technical subjects, The objective is (1) The optimum product with high user satisfaction which correctly acquired the request about the target product of a user, and reflected these requirements suitably. The present invention provides a storage medium for storing a product design method, a product design device, and a product design program, which can easily and quickly determine a concept.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to collect, as a VOC, candid opinions and impressions in the use of the target product of the user when the user desires the target product as the V0C.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an evaluation index for quantitatively evaluating each product concept in the plurality of product concept groups as a measure of the user's desired achievement level is introduced, and weighted by the evaluation from the user among the evaluation indexes. Evaluation metrics are used to determine product concepts. That is, the design concept of the product that maximizes or minimizes this weighted evaluation index (hereinafter referred to as the main evaluation index) is selected as the product design concept of the best acceptable to the user, It is characterized by designing and developing products with product specifications. Accordingly, it is possible to select the design concept of the product by compressing the point (range) from the beginning by accurately receiving the user's opinion among the patterns of the many product specifications, and at the same time, having a high degree of freedom that is not bound by the current product specifications. Get product concepts quickly and easily.

According to one aspect of the present invention, in the product design method for designing a product by deriving a design concept of a desired product for the target product from the user's desired information related to the target product,

An analysis step of interpreting the input request information;

Based on the desired information analyzed, weights are assigned to evaluation indicators, which are measures for quantitatively measuring the achievement of potential benefits for the target product of the user included in the request information, and from the plurality of weighted evaluation indicators. Determining the key indicators for selecting those that are considered to be important,

A product design method is provided that includes a product concept evaluation step of determining a design concept of one or a plurality of products that maximizes or minimizes the evaluation indicator selected by the main evaluation indicator determination step.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the product design method for designing a product by deriving a design concept of a desired product for the target product from the user's request information related to the target product,

On the basis of the request information reflecting the user's request, the evaluation index, which is a measure for quantitatively measuring the achievement of the potential benefit for the target product of the user included in the request information, is weighted, and from the plurality of weighted evaluation indicators Determining the key indicators for selecting those that are considered to be important,

A product design method is provided that includes a product concept evaluation step of determining a design concept of one or a plurality of products that maximizes or minimizes the evaluation indicator selected by the main evaluation indicator determination step.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the product design support method for using the computer to acquire the user's desired information related to the target product to support the design of the product,

An input step of prompting a user to input the request information about the product through a request information input / output unit provided in the product or a device mounted thereon;

There is provided a product design support method comprising a transmitting step of transmitting the request information input from a user through the request information input unit to a server.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a product design apparatus for designing a product by deriving a design concept of a desired product for the target product from a user's request information related to the target product using a computer,

An analysis unit for interpreting the input information requested;

On the basis of the desired information analyzed, weights are assigned to evaluation indicators, which are measures that are quantitatively measures the achievement of a potential benefit for the target product of the user, which is stored in the storage device in advance, in the storage device. A main evaluation index deciding unit that selects an evaluation index considered to be major from a plurality of evaluation indexes to which is granted

There is provided a product design apparatus having a product concept evaluation unit for determining a design concept of one or a plurality of products for maximizing or minimizing the evaluation index selected by the evaluation index determination unit.

According to another feature of the present invention, in the product design terminal device for acquiring the user's desired information related to the target product from the user side using a computer,

An input unit for prompting a user to input the request information about the product through a request information input / output unit provided on the product or a product on which the product is mounted;

There is provided a product design terminal device comprising a transmitter for transmitting the request information input from the user through the request information input / output unit to a server.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable storage for storing a program for deriving a design concept of a desired product for a target product from a user's desired information related to the target product and executing a process for designing the product on a computer. In the medium, the product design process,

An analysis process for interpreting the input information requested;

On the basis of the desired information analyzed, weights are assigned to evaluation indicators, which are measures that are quantitatively measures the achievement of a potential benefit for the target product of the user, which is stored in the storage device in advance, in the storage device. A main evaluation index determination process of selecting an evaluation index considered to be major from a plurality of evaluation indexes to which is given

A computer readable storage medium is provided which includes a product concept evaluation process for determining a design concept of one or a plurality of products for maximizing or minimizing the evaluation index selected by the main evaluation index determination process.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute product design terminal processing for acquiring user's desired information relating to a target product from a user side,

An input process for prompting a user to input the request information about the product through a request information input / output unit provided on the target product or a product on which the target product is mounted;

A computer-readable storage medium is provided which includes a transmission process for transmitting the request information input from a user through the request information input / output unit to a server.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the program for deriving a design concept of a desired product for the target product from a user's request information related to the target product and executing a process for designing the product, the product design processing Is,

An analysis process for interpreting the input information requested;

On the basis of the desired information analyzed, weights are assigned to evaluation indicators, which are measures that are quantitatively measures the achievement of a potential benefit for the target product of the user, which is stored in the storage device in advance, in the storage device. A main evaluation index determination process of selecting an evaluation index considered to be major from a plurality of evaluation indexes to which is given

A program is provided comprising a product concept evaluation process for determining a design concept of one or a plurality of products that maximizes or minimizes the evaluation index selected by the main evaluation index determination process.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in a program for causing a computer to execute product design terminal processing for acquiring user's desired information relating to a target product from a user side,

An input process for prompting a user to input the request information about the product through a request information input / output unit provided on the target product or a product on which the target product is mounted;

A program is provided, including a transmission process for transmitting the request information input from the user through the request information input / output unit to a server.

1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a product design apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a product design method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of the VOC collection processing in the VOC collection step S10 of FIG. 2,

4 is a detailed flowchart of the required quality generating process in the required quality generating step S20 of FIG. 2;

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an input / output unit and a transmission function provided in a target product on the user side;

6 is a flowchart showing the details of the main evaluation index determination processing in the main evaluation index determination step S40 of FIG. 2;

7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an input / output screen image at the time of weighting evaluation indexes performed by the main evaluation index determination unit 30;

8 is a functional block diagram of a laser beam printer as a target product.

9 is a detailed flowchart of the product concept evaluation process in the product concept evaluation step S50 of FIG. 2,

10 is a diagram showing a plurality of product concepts evaluated by the present main evaluation indicators;

11 is a functional block diagram of a TV system which is an example of a product including a target product for explaining a product design apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a product design method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

13 is a detailed flowchart of the main evaluation index determination processing performed by the main evaluation index determination unit 40b according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

14 is a diagram illustrating an example of an input / output screen for calculating weights of respective evaluation indices used in the main evaluation index determination process performed by the main evaluation index determination unit 30 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a view for explaining calculation of weights of respective evaluation indices in consideration of benchmarking indices performed by the main evaluation index determination unit 30 according to the second embodiment; FIG.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the details of the product concept evaluation process performed by the product concept evaluation step S40 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of an input / output screen for evaluating each concept in the product concept selection process performed by the product concept selection step S55 shown in FIG. 12;

18 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a product concept selected in the second embodiment;

19 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a product design apparatus and a product design system according to each embodiment of the present invention;

20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network configuration of a product design apparatus and a product design system according to each embodiment of the present invention.

<Brief description of the main parts of the drawing>

10: VOC collector

10a: user information database

10b: VOC database

20: required quality generating unit

20a: Required Quality Generation Rule

20b: Required Quality Database

30: major evaluation index determination unit

30b: evaluation indicator database

40: Product Concept Evaluation Unit

40b: Design Information Database

50: input / output unit

50b, 50c: input / output unit

100: product design device

110: central processing unit

112: system bus

114: random access memory

116: Lead Ounley Memory

118: I / O Adapter

120: hard disk device

122: user interface adapter

124: keyboard

126: mouse

128: speaker

132: microphone

134: Communication Adapter

136: Display Adapter

138: display device

142: external disk driver

144: floppy disk

146: optical disc

148: Memory Card

200: network

202: client

204: server

701: laser engine unit

702: image processing control unit

(1st embodiment)

1 to 10, a computer-readable storage medium storing a product design method, a product design apparatus, and a product design program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

The first embodiment analyzes a VOC whose content is a desire for a target product of a user, extracts a true desire of what the customer feels to be a potential benefit obtained by the target product, and weights the user to this true desire. It also provides the ability to determine product concepts using key indicators that are highly relevant to this weighted true need.

1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a product design apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, in this specification, a product is a concept including a non-chain service at the same time as a product which is a fluid.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the product design apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment includes a VOC collecting unit 10, a user information database 10a, a VOC database 10b, and a required quality generating unit ( 20, the required quality generation rule 20a, the required quality database 20b, the main evaluation index determination unit 30, the evaluation index database 30b, the product concept evaluation unit 40, and the design information. The database 40b and the input / output unit 50 are provided.

The VOC collecting unit 10 collects the VOC describing the request for the target product from the user (describes the voice of the customer), receives the required quality generating unit 20, and accumulates it in the VOC database 10b. Further, identification information of the user who inputs the VOC at the time of VOC collection, scene information indicating a situation of using the target product, and the like are stored in the user information database 10a as user attribute information. In addition, this VOC is information stored as a user's speech as voice information, or as language information describing the content of speech.

The required quality generating unit 20 converts the VOC received from the VOC collecting unit 10 into the required quality by applying the required quality generating rule 20a and stores it in the required quality database 20b. This demand quality is a user's target product by applying the required quality generation rule 20a, which is a predetermined rule, described later from various abstractly described user's VOCs, such as describing a simple numerical target and stating desired functions. Information indicating the use state of a desired product for, is interpreted information about a request that is recognized as a real benefit. For example, in the case of using a laser beam printer as a target product, the above-mentioned VOC "The performance of the RISC wants 20OMHz or more", "The floating point arithmetic function and the PCI interface function" are required. ) Can be drawn ”.

The main evaluation index determination unit 30 determines a correlation between each of the evaluation index groups stored in the evaluation index database 30b for each target product or target product in advance and the required quality generated by the demand quality generation unit 20. Based on the calculated points, weights are given to each evaluation index, and the evaluation index that the user places the most importance as a measure of product evaluation in the target product is determined. The evaluation index herein is a measure that can quantitatively measure the achievement of a potential benefit for a user's target product, and is preferably an indicator that can be quantitatively evaluated by a numerical value. For example, in the case of a laser beam printer, "Dot / Sec" which shows the dot drawing speed of a font per second is an example of a main evaluation index. In addition, the required quality which should distribute | correlate each evaluation index and a correlation may be used for calculating a score after weighting it by letting a user evaluate by a questionnaire etc. beforehand.

The product concept evaluation unit 40 refers to the past design information (product concept group and product design specification group corresponding thereto) stored in the design information database 40b, and is executed by the main evaluation index determination unit 30. Choose product concepts that maximize or minimize the key metrics determined.

The input / output unit 50 provides an input screen to the designer when evaluating a correlation between the required quality group and the evaluation index group through various input / output devices, for example, and inputs the input information into the main evaluation index determination unit 30. Hand) On the other hand, the input / output unit 50b or 50c of FIG. 5 prompts the user to input the VOC, transmits the input VOC to the product design apparatus 100, and sends the user's evaluation point to the product design apparatus (if necessary). In 100).

Next, the processing procedure of the product design method which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

2 is a flowchart showing a schematic processing algorithm of the product design method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, in the VOC collecting unit 10, it is determined who is the most suitable user for collecting the VOC, and collects the VOC from a user in a determined range such as a customer or an end user (step S10).

In the demand quality generating unit 20, the collected VOCs are analyzed to reflect the user's desires to determine what the user's true needs are contained in the VOC and what the user feels to be profitable from the target product. The information is extracted as the required quality (step S20).

In the required quality generation unit 20 or the main evaluation index determination unit 30, after the required quality of a plurality of, for example, about 10 to 15 items can be extracted from the VOC, these required quality are, for example, By the questionnaire technique through the input / output unit 50, the user is graded and inputted as to the importance of which required quality is high and which required quality is low (step S30).

In the main evaluation index determination unit 30, the evaluation index, which is a measure for quantitatively measuring the product concept, is evaluated, and any evaluation index is targeted from the intensity of correlation (related) with the required quality weighted in step S30. Whether the product is important or not is evaluated using, for example, a matrix table using QFD (Quality Function Deployment) technique. The evaluation index considered important here becomes a main evaluation index (step S40).

In the concept determination of the product design in the first embodiment, the point is how to pursue (ie, maximize or minimize) this main evaluation index. The product concept evaluator 40 generates a plurality of product concepts to be measured by the main evaluation indexes reflecting the VOC and the required quality, and evaluates the plurality of product concepts by the main evaluation indexes (step S50). The product concept generated here is analyzed by, for example, price, technical level, development period and other factors to determine a design specification to be commercialized (step S60).

The specific design proceeds based on the product concept selected here. By designing and developing the product by the process of steps S10 to S60, even if the product design specification is not necessarily according to the VOC stated by the user, the degree of freedom is high at a lower cost, which reflects the user's true desire in the user's VOC. In addition, a product concept with high user satisfaction can be generated by quantitative evaluation using key evaluation indicators.

3 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing procedure of the VOC collection processing performed by the VOC collection unit 10.

As shown in Fig. 3, in the VOC collection step S10, first, an entry point of the VOC is output to the user side (step S101). This entry point is an input means for collecting the VOC of the user provided in the target product. The point in the process up to the specification decision is how to collect the true needs of the user's target product as a VOC and how to conduct an effective questionnaire survey. In the first embodiment, when a user uses a device product equipped with a target product, which is a target product or a part, that is, when the user has an opinion on the product product, an entry point is provided that allows this opinion to be entered as a VOC.

Specifically, an entry point (i.e., an entry point) into which a VOC is to be placed is provided on the target product on the user's side or a device on which the target product is mounted, and the opinion that the user had while using the product at the right place, The user inputs to the user from the entry point of the target product or the device in proximity (step S103).

For example, if a user is a customer who is developing a product using a semiconductor component used in a home appliance (for example, a developer in charge of a maker providing a home appliance assembled with a supplied component), a personal computer is usually used. The design is in progress. For this reason, in a scene using a semiconductor component, the design personal computer is near, so that the homepage provided by the semiconductor component manufacturer can be directly accessed. In this case, as shown in (50b) of FIG. 5, the entrance of the VOC is provided on the maker homepage so that input can be made on the spot when the request for the semiconductor component generated in the development stage is considered.

Or, if the target product is the final product, and if the electronic product or the portable information terminal device having the Internet access function, as shown in 50 (c) of FIG. 5, the entrance of the VOC is provided to these electronic products, for example, a television or a telephone. It is also possible to input the comments felt when using these electronic products on the spot.

These input VOCs are transmitted to the server side held by the product provider or the like using the transmission function in the target product, and accumulated in the VOC database 10b.

At the same time, information for uniquely identifying a user who has registered a VOC, information indicating a category of the user (for example, age group, family composition, etc.) (hereinafter referred to as "user identification information"), or corresponding input VOC Information indicating the type of product to be used and the scene using the product (hereinafter referred to as "scene information") is collected from the user's own input or pre-registered information (step S105). These collected user identification information, scene information, and the like are transmitted to the server side held by the product provider and the like and stored in the user information database 10a. This stored user identification information and scene information are stored in association with the VOCs stored in the VOC database 100b.

On the other hand, the manufacturer registers the user identification information of the user who executed the VOC input as described above, and when the product is released later using the VOC or when the user adopts the released product, By returning some benefits, it is possible to motivate the input of the VOCs and at the same time facilitate the expansion of the product. As information for this profit reduction, on the basis of the demands of the user's products disclosed in these collected VOCs, when the products are adopted and supplied to the market by adopting these demands, the user who inputs the VOCs associated with the commercialization You may add the score according to the association in user identification information (step S107). In addition, when this user employ | adopts the released product, you may add a score to these scores further.

Depending on the score added to each user, special advantages may be given to the user, for example, to provide a commercialized product at a free or discounted price. By providing these advantages, it is possible to provide a motivation for the customer's VOC input and to recognize that VOC is reflected to the user.

In addition, the VOC collection technique of the user described with reference to FIG. 3 is a product concept determination unit (1) which indicates how important the user perceives to each of the required qualities described below, and how satisfied each person is with each product. The product concept group determined in 40) can be easily applied to a questionnaire survey on the degree of acceptance of the user and the like.

VOCs can be input to the user who is using the product on the spot, so a response closer to a true VOC can be obtained than in a special place such as a conventional interview or a questionnaire reply.

Also, for example, a parts supply manufacturer usually does not collect VOCs from end users, and therefore listens to VOCs from a set manufacturer (end product maker) that is a customer, but according to the above technique, Collect VOCs in real time.

4 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing procedure of the required quality generation process performed by the required quality generation unit 20.

The VOC accumulated in the VOC database 10b is input to the required quality generation unit 20 (step S2O1). Although the scene information when the above-mentioned product is used is already associated with the VOC as part of the user attribute information, the scene information may be associated with the VOC at this time (step S203).

Next, the required quality generation rule 20a is applied to the VOC to convert it (step S205). As described above, in most cases, since the VOC is bound to the specification of the phenomenon of the target product, it is often impossible to sufficiently grasp what the user really profits from the target product. . For this reason, by applying the required quality generation rule to this VOC, an item finally felt by the user as a benefit to the target product is extracted.

This required quality generation rule consists of the following rules, for example.

a. Write the sentence in a concise manner, not an explanation.

b. Do not include more than one request in a sentence.

c. Each phrase in the VOC is independent and does not depend on each other.

d. The abstract representation is concretely expressed at the same level of detail.

e. Whenever possible, express the true needs in user terms.

f. Describe it in a positive way.

g. It describes the benefits to the customer, not the specifications or solutions.

h. Express state rather than hopeful expression (for example, express it in "ida", not "what do you want to do").

i. Clarify the subject.

l. Promote the consensus of the team.

k. Nouns + Formulas + Verbs

In addition, as these required quality generation rules, for example, "Principle of QFD (Quality Function Dep1oyment) Guidebook Quality Function Deployment and Its Application" (Writing of Daito, Konodo, Nippon, Japan, Japan Standards Association) The required quality guidelines described in can be used.

In the conversion process from the VOC to the required quality, the scene information provided in step S203 is applied to the VOC that is the conversion source (source), so that the user is VOC depending on the scene where the user actually uses the target product. Infer whether a particular function described by N is needed. Based on this reasoning, the required quality, which is the real demand of the user, is obtained.

For example, in the case of the chip used in the laser beam printer as described above, if the user inputs a VOC saying "I want the maximum operating frequency of the RISC to be 200MHz," why does the user need a RISC of 200MHz? It is inferred whether the user uses this RISC according to the scene (for example, printing a large quantity of documents), and the quality (required by the user who draws the font at high speed) is truly required for the target product (requirement Quality)

The required quality obtained by converting the VOC in this way is stored in the required quality database 20b for each target product (step S207).

6 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing procedure of the main evaluation index determination processing performed by the main evaluation index determination unit 30.

First, the evaluation index is read from the evaluation index database 30b (step S401). An evaluation index here is an index for evaluating the degree of achievement of individual required quality, and is an index which can be objectively measured.

This evaluation index is preferably a measure capable of quantitative measurement. Specifically, objective ratings, such as five-step evaluation, are preferable rather than subjective ratings, such as a taste and a style, for example, It is more preferable that it is an indicator by specific numerical values, such as an average response time.

These evaluation indices are generated in advance for each product or product family based on the following criteria and stored in the evaluation index database 401.

a. Measurable.

b. Controllable from the product provider.

C. It is predictable in which direction the change of the characteristic value will improve the customer satisfaction (smaller value is better or bigger is better).

d. Be able to respond in advance.

e. Irrelevant to the specific solution.

f. It should be a realistic measure.

Next, a score indicating a correlation between the read evaluation index and the required quality generated by the required quality generation unit 20 is input (step S403). This point input may be input to the designer through the input / output unit 50. The required quality for evaluating this correlation is preferably weighted by ranking by the user or the like (step S30 in Fig. 2). This point input can be performed through the input / output unit 50, for example, using a tool running on a computer on which the QFD technique described in "Principle of QFD Guidebook Quality Function Deployment and Its Application" is used.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen in the case where a scoring input of each evaluation index for each weighted request quality is performed by the QFD tool when the RISC chip for the laser beam printer is the target product.

As shown in Fig. 7, for example, the required quality extracted in each row (for example, "soft development is easy", "image processing at high speed", etc.) is described one by one, In addition, each of these required qualities is outputted with the importance of the corresponding required qualities evaluated by the user. Each column describes an evaluation index (e.g., the number of hyperformant scores, initial failure rate, etc.) regarding the target product. The score for the correlation is input to each of the matrix of the weighted demand quality and the evaluation index by a brainstorming technique.

After the scoring is input, the total score for each evaluation index is calculated (step S405). The score (scoring point) in FIG. 7 shows this total score, and the numerical value of a relative weight shows the weight of each evaluation index. An evaluation index with a high numerical value of the indicated weight is determined as the main evaluation index (step S407).

More specifically, as described above, when the RISC chip for the laser beam printer is the target product, for example, if the user's VOC says "I want a 64-bit RISC microcomputer operating at 200 MHz," the required quality generation process is performed. In this example, it is assumed that the main evaluation index "Dot / Sec" is derived from the required quality "image processing can be performed at high speed" by applying the above required quality generation rule 20a and inferring using scene information. (Because the score of "Dot / Sec" in FIG. 7 shows the maximum 107, this "Dot / Sec" becomes a main evaluation index.) "Dot / Sec" shows the speed at which the image processing control part in a RISC microcomputer sends the positional information of a dot to a laser engine part.

It is common to have a plurality of product design concepts for realizing a desired quality, and some proposals can also be envisaged for a product concept that increases the quality of the required quality of font drawing. For example, (1) raise the operating frequency of the RISC to 200 MHz according to the specifications stated in VOC, (2) use a 16-bit RISC microcomputer with an operating frequency of about 40 MHz as the core, and perform font drawing on dedicated hardware. There are a plurality of product concepts. When the above-mentioned main evaluation index "Dot / Sec" is used as a measure when evaluating these multiple product concepts, when calculating "Dot / Sec" using arbitrary simulation tools, the product concept side of the latter (2) This chip size is also reduced, and a higher value of "Dot / Sec" can be realized. Therefore, it is good to employ | adopt the product concept which maximizes this main evaluation index "Dot / Sec" as mentioned later.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating the association of functions related to font drawing processing of a laser beam printer.

One of the required qualities of end users of laser beam printers is that the printing speed is high. The evaluation index for evaluating this required quality is usually PPM (Page Per Minute). For this reason, a laser beam printer maker aims to develop the product which raised this PPM. Blocks affecting this PPM are the laser engine unit 701 and the image processing control unit 702 of FIG.

For a manufacturer who manufactures an RlSC chip, a request for improving the performance of the image processing control unit 702 according to the RlSC chip is received as the required quality. That is, required quality is given such as "the font drawing process can be processed at high speed" and "the image data can be processed at high speed".

In the case of using this printer maker as a customer, as shown in Fig. 7, the main evaluation index having the strongest positive correlation with the user's required quality becomes the above-mentioned "Dot / Sec". This "Dot / Sec" is a speed at which the image processing control unit 702 sends the position information of the dot to the laser engine unit 701. RISC is used in the image processing control unit 702 and is closely related to the performance expressed by the main evaluation index "Dot / Sec". Because of this. It can be seen that a product concept that maximizes this "Dot / Sec" can be realized. For example, when the main evaluation index is set to the "initial defective rate", the realization of the product concept which minimizes this "initial defective rate" is desired.

9 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing procedure of the product concept evaluation process performed by the product concept evaluation unit 40.

First, the matter which becomes a bottleneck for achieving the main evaluation index determined by the main evaluation index determination part 30 is recognized (step S501). For example, in the case where it is considered to improve the above-mentioned main evaluation index "Dot / Sec", if the current product performs the font drawing process by software, if the operating frequency of RISC is raised, "Dot / Sec" will raise to some extent. . However, at some frequency, the speed of the data bus begins to become bottlenecks.

Means for eliminating this bottle neck are extracted (step S503). For example, when the data traffic in a data bus becomes a bottleneck, the following solution means can be considered.

a. Improve the operating frequency

b. Expand the data bus width.

c. Improve the data transfer rate.

Create product concepts that can achieve these solutions.

At the same time, the achievement of the above-mentioned main evaluation index "Dot / Sec" is not only solved by software such as the current product, but also by assuming various levels of the method of taking the weight of both software and hardware, and assuming a different level. Multiple product concepts can be created.

The product concept capable of eliminating the extracted bottleneck is additionally stored in the design information database 40b as a new design matter (step S505). The product concept accumulated and shared in this product database 40b may be referred to the following product concept generation, and may be partially changed as necessary and stored again.

Next, a plurality of generated product concepts are evaluated from the viewpoint of improving the main evaluation index "Dot / Sec" (step S507).

For example, in the above step S505, for example, (1) the data bus width is expanded (FIG. 10B), and (2) the font processing is made into dedicated hardware, and the burden of RISC is reduced. The proposal that the traffic of the bus is also lowered (Fig. 10C) is evaluated. In fact, font processing executed by software accounts for about 70% of RISC's work. Except for this font processing, the RISC burden is considerably reduced. In this case, instead of the high-end 200-MHz 64-bit RISC, the low-end 40-MHz 16-bit RISC is sufficient.

In comparing these two concepts, since the eye 1 widens the bus width, there is a drawback that the chip size becomes large. On the other hand, the proposal (2) requires the acquisition of new hardware and a change in the design idea of the laser beam printer from the laser beam printer manufacturer, which is a customer, but the chip size becomes small. If the component supplier maker providing the RISC chip already has the technology of the hardware for font processing, the product concept in the above (2) can be realized by the application of the existing technology.

The product concept of proposed item (2) is verified by using techniques such as cost worse analysis, which is generally known, so that the cost balance of the deterioration can be greatly improved, and the overall cost can be reduced. Can be.

In the case of planning a long-term product of the target product, a product concept to be adopted as the next product and a product concept to be adopted as the next-generation strategic product (long-term strategy product) are determined, respectively, among the plurality of concepts generated above. good.

According to the first embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

As the main evaluation index as a quantitative measure for evaluating the product concept, the index that satisfies the quality of the user's requirements is selected. For this purpose, the design concept of the product can be used as a concept that maximizes this evaluation index, and the user can select the design concept of the product by compressing points (range) from the beginning by accurately taking the user's opinion among the patterns of the product specifications. At the same time, a high degree of freedom product concept, which is not bound by the specifications of the current product, is obtained quickly and easily.

Since this product design concept is the product design concept that best meets the needs of the user, it is possible to bring a highly competitive product to the market early and inexpensively.

In addition, since the VOC for the user's target product is collected at the location where the user is using the target product, the user's true desire for the target product can be collected more accurately and in real time. .

(2nd embodiment)

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 11-20, the computer readable storage medium which stored the product design method, product design apparatus, and product design program which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention differs only from a 1st embodiment in detail. Explain. In addition, the structure of the product design apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment is the same as that of the structure of 1st Embodiment shown in FIG. In the following description, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the element similar to 1st Embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

According to the second embodiment, in the product design technique according to the first embodiment, in particular, in the case of a target product having a mature market and already having a somewhat high market share, an evaluation index for differentiating from competitors is provided. In addition, this differentiated evaluation indicators are used to obtain a differentiated product concept.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a relationship between an LSI for a television (television), which is an example of a target product having a mature market and already having a certain level of market share, and a TV system in which the LSI is assembled. As a mature market, product prices are inherently cheap, and there is a limit to overcoming competitors due to price competition.

In the case of this target product, the parts supply maker needs to supply products of different specifications for each customer (TV maker), but many of these specifications need to be integrated into the underlying LSI and the derivatives must be kept to a minimum. In FIG. 11, the case of product concept determination of the product which put two chips (signal processing LSI and a microcomputer) enclosed by the broken line in one package is demonstrated below. Since the two chips to be packaged (signal processing LSIs and microcomputers) each have a large number of varieties, it is understood that this combination is of vast number. For this reason, in this target product, how to compress and grasp the product concept becomes an important problem while reflecting the user's VOC.

It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the product design process which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Since each processing of VOC collection (step S10), required quality generation (step S20), and ranking for required quality (step S30) is the same as in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

The main evaluation index is determined from the evaluation index previously stored in the evaluation index database 30b based on the correlation value with the demanded quality weighted using the questionnaire result to the user or the like (step S40b).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the main evaluation index determination processing in the second embodiment in step 40b.

First, the evaluation index is read from the evaluation index database 30b (step S401b). For each of the read evaluation indices, a score indicating a correlation with the required quality weighted in step S30 is inputted into a matrix table or the like using the QFD tool displayed through the input / output unit 50 (step S403b). This score is summed for each evaluation index to calculate the first score (step S405b). Next, the user inputs and outputs 50b and 50c to the user to input a relative score of satisfaction with the company and the company, and calculates the difference between the company and the company using the relative score (step S407b). This difference is applied to the first score to calculate a second score (step S409b). An evaluation index of which the second score is maximum is determined as the main evaluation index (step S411b).

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an output screen in the case of obtaining a main evaluation index output through the input / output unit 50 using the QFD tool described above. The weight of each evaluation indicator is calculated by evaluating each correlation between the weighted user's required quality and the evaluation indicator. However, especially in the case of mature products, if we simply remove the association from the required quality to each evaluation index, the weight of each evaluation index is calculated to be an approximation, and thus the main evaluation index for quantitatively evaluating the product concept is obtained. It becomes difficult to compress.

It is a figure which shows the example of the procedure of main evaluation index calculation in 2nd Embodiment. In 2nd Embodiment, the user's evaluation about each major maker is input with respect to each request | requirement quality or each evaluation index | index. For example, in the case of the required quality, the evaluation of the company A is 2 and the evaluation of the company B is 3 in the first required quality (sound quality). On the other hand, in the required quality (image quality) of the second aspect, both A's evaluation and B's evaluation are four. The comparison with other companies (benchmarking) may be input to the user through the input / output units 50b and 50c in the same procedure as the VOC collection processing in the first embodiment.

The comparison with other companies is used to evaluate the degree to which the user's true needs are satisfied by the difference with other companies. Specifically, this difference is substituted with a numerical value, and this numerical value is multiplied by the weight of each required quality (Customer Weight) to again calculate the weight of each evaluation index as a new weight. For example, in the first required quality (sound quality), the difference between A and B companies is added to make the coefficient 2, so that the new weight of the evaluation index (S / N ratio) reflects this coefficient and is more weighted. (0.14) By reflecting the valuation difference with other companies, there is a difference in the importance of each valuation index. In general, since the user has several options (multiple third-party products), the demand for the target product is likely to appear relative to the competitive situation, not absolute. By using the evaluation index thus calculated, it is possible to obtain a product concept that is superior to competitors in terms of user's true needs.

12, the product concept is evaluated using the main evaluation index determined in step S40b (step S50).

In 2nd Embodiment, a product concept is selected at the time of evaluation of this product concept, or following this (step S55).

There are several technical possibilities in the product concept which are means of achieving the evaluation index. In particular, in the case of combining two chips into one LSI, there are many technical options (sub-concepts) in the schematic product design concept. In general, these product concepts often form a trade-off relationship that improves some key metrics while lowers others. The product concept evaluation unit 40 according to the second embodiment selects a technical concept that improves the main evaluation index determined in step S40b as a whole.

16 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing of the product concept selection processing (step S55) according to the second embodiment.

First, the main evaluation index determined in step S50 is read from the evaluation index database 30b (step S551).

The increase or decrease of the score of each evaluation index is input to the product concept group that can be adopted in consideration of the technical viewpoint or the time constraint in the target product (step S553).

Fig. 17 describes these read key evaluation indices in each row, through the input / output section 50 of a tool running on a computer using a matrix table describing the concept based on each row and the concept of technical choice. An example of an input / output screen is shown.

For each evaluation index, the concept determined by the evaluation in step S50 is used as the base concept, and the technical options for the base concept are arranged in each column as a sub-concept that can be employed.

In the case where each sub-concept is adopted using this matrix, a value that is quantitatively evaluated (in step 5 in Fig. 18) is inputted in which each evaluation index is improved or decreased. This input score is added to each concept, and the total score of each concept is calculated (step S555). In the case of the matrix of FIG. 17, it can be seen that the sub-concept in the thick line frame having the highest total point of 144 is the optimal product concept. The highest concept of the sum score is selected as the product concept (step S557).

Returning to FIG. 13, the product specification is determined based on the product concept selected in step S557 (step S60).

FIG. 18 shows an example of the result of the product concept selection process of step S55 of FIG. 12. It is a product (two in one product) that mounts two chips (Fig. 18A) of a microcomputer and a signal processing LSI in one package, and has the highest user satisfaction. A product (FIG. 18B) is designed with specifications that minimize manufacturing costs to include.

19 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a product design apparatus and a product design system according to each embodiment of the present invention.

The product design apparatus 100 which concerns on each embodiment of this invention has the structure shown in FIG. 19, for example. That is, the product design apparatus 100 which concerns on each embodiment of this invention is comprised by embedding each element of the product design process in one or several computer systems.

As shown in FIG. 19, a computer system consists of a central processing unit 110, such as a microprocessor, and many other units interconnected via a system bus 112. As shown in FIG. The computer system 100 includes an I / O adapter 118 that connects a random access memory 114, a ROM 116, a peripheral device such as a hard disk device 120, and the like to the system bus 112, Communication with a user interface adapter 122 that connects a user interface device such as a keyboard 124, a mouse 126, a speaker 128, a microphone 132, or a touch screen (not shown) to the system bus 112; A communication adapter 134 for connecting this computer system to the network, a display adapter 136 for connecting the display device 138 to the system bus 112, a floppy disk 144, an optical disk 146, and various memories. An external disk driver 142 for driving the cards 148, respectively.

The product design program for executing each function of the product design process of this invention is stored in various computer-readable storage media represented by these floppy disk 144, the optical disk 146, various memory cards 148, etc. By performing a predetermined read operation from these storage media via an external disk driver, a product design program for executing each function of the product design process of the present invention stored in these storage media can be installed in the computer system. By loading these programs into the random access memory 114 and executing them in the central processing unit 110, the product design process of the present invention is realized.

20 shows an example of an embodiment of the present invention mounted in a network such as the Internet. The product design system according to the present invention includes a plurality of clients 202 connected to the server 204 via the network 200. If the product design apparatus 100 is arranged in the server 204, the input / output units 50b and 50c are arranged in the client 202, and the product design system according to the present invention is mounted on the network, the present invention is implemented in a large scale. can do.

According to 2nd Embodiment, the following effects are acquired in addition to the effect which 1st Embodiment brings.

In particular, in the case of a target product having a mature market and already having a certain level of market share, the difference of each manufacturer's evaluation inputted from the user is used to calculate the score of the weighted evaluation index. To this end, evaluation indicators for differentiating competitors can be obtained, and differentiated product concepts can be obtained using these different evaluation indicators.

In addition, with respect to the sub-concepts, which are a plurality of specific technical options corresponding to the face concept determined by using the main evaluation indexes, the increase and decrease of each evaluation index is evaluated and aggregated to select an optimal sub-concept. For this reason, especially when there are many sub-concepts which implement | achieve the determined face concept like the said 2 person 1 product, it is possible to develop the product of the sub concept which can obtain the highest user satisfaction quantitatively.

Each embodiment described above of the present invention does not limit the gist of the present invention, and the present invention includes various embodiments in addition to the embodiments described above.

According to the embodiment according to the present invention, by quantitative evaluation of a design concept of a product having a high degree of freedom, which accurately captures the opinion of the user among a plurality of product specification patterns, compresses the range from the beginning, and is not bound to the specification of the current product. It can be obtained quickly and easily. Thus, a product with high market competitiveness can be provided to the market early and at low cost.

Claims (32)

In the product design method, the product design apparatus derives a design concept of a desired product for the target product from the user's request information related to the target product, and designs the product. The product design apparatus includes a required quality generation unit, a main evaluation index determination unit, and a product concept evaluation unit, A request quality generating step of converting, by the request quality generating unit, the requested request information into request quality information representing a potential benefit desired by the user by applying a conversion rule previously stored in the storage device; The main evaluation index determination unit is a measure for quantitatively measuring the degree of achievement of the potential benefit by using the required quality information, and weights a plurality of weighted evaluation indicators previously stored in the storage device. Determining the main evaluation indicators to select the evaluation indicators considered to be important from the evaluation indicators, A product concept evaluation step of determining, by the product concept evaluation unit, a design concept of one or a plurality of products maximizing or minimizing the evaluation indicator selected by the main evaluation indicator determination step Product design method comprising a. delete delete The method of claim 1, And wherein said request quality generating step converts said request quality into said required quality information by applying scene information indicating a situation when using a target product to said request information. The method of claim 1, In the determining of the main evaluation index, weighting of the evaluation index is performed by calculating, for each evaluation index, a distribution point indicating a correlation between the converted required quality information and the evaluation index. The method of claim 5, wherein The method further comprises: a score input step of displaying a matrix table formed by the required quality information and the evaluation information and waiting for a user's score input to the matrix table. The method of claim 1, The method further comprises the step of inputting the request information to the user to input the request information. The method of claim 7, wherein The request information input step may include prompting a user to input the request information about the product through a request information input / output unit provided in the product or a product on which the product is mounted. And transmitting the request information input from the user through the request information input / output unit to a server. The method of claim 7, wherein The request information input step, Storing identification information identifying the user who has input the request information in association with the request information; And based on the identification information, adding a score to be fed back to the user with respect to the input source user of the desired information productized. The method of claim 1, The method further includes a weighting step of weighting the required quality information converted by the required quality generating step, The determining of the main evaluation index is a product design method, characterized in that the weighting of the evaluation index by using the weighted request quality information. The method of claim 10, And the weighting step performs weighting by counting user input votes made on the converted required quality information. The method of claim 1, The evaluation indicator is a product design method, characterized in that the quantitative measurement and the product provider side controllable indicator. The method of claim 1, The said method calculates the increase and decrease of the score of the said evaluation index at the time of employ | adopting each product design concept from the design concept group which concerns on the design concept of the product determined by the said product concept evaluation step, The product design with the highest total score A product design method further comprising the step of selecting a product concept for selecting a concept. The method of claim 1, The main evaluation index determination step, Calculating a first score obtained by adding correlation values between the converted required quality information and the previously stored evaluation indicators to each evaluation indicator; Calculating, for each evaluation index, a difference in the satisfaction level of the user with the other product provider regarding the product provider and the equivalent product, input by the user; And calculating a weighted second score based on the numerical value representing the calculated difference in satisfaction. The method of claim 1, The product concept evaluation step, Determining an inhibitory factor that inhibits the achievement of the selected evaluation indicator by the main evaluation indicator determining step; Obtaining a means for eliminating the deterrent by referring to a design information database that accumulates past product design concepts; And preserving the means for eliminating the inhibitory factor as a design concept of the target product. delete A product design apparatus for designing a product by deriving a design concept of a desired product for the target product from a user's request information related to the target product using a computer, A request quality generating unit for converting the inputted request information into request quality information representing a potential benefit desired by the user by applying a conversion rule previously stored in the storage device; It is a measure for quantitatively measuring the degree of achievement of the potential benefit by using the required quality information, and weights the evaluation index previously stored in the storage device, and is considered to be major from a plurality of weighted evaluation indicators. A main evaluation index determination unit for selecting the evaluation index; Product concept evaluation unit for determining the design concept of one or a plurality of products to maximize or minimize the evaluation indicator selected by the evaluation indicator determination unit Product design device comprising a. delete The method of claim 17, And the main evaluation index determining unit performs weighting of the evaluation index by calculating a distribution point indicating the correlation between the converted required quality information and the evaluation index for each evaluation index. The method of claim 19, The apparatus further includes an input / output unit which displays a matrix table formed by the required quality information and the evaluation information and waits for a user's point input to the matrix table. The method of claim 17, The device further comprises a request information collection unit for inputting the request information to the user. delete delete A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a product design process for deriving a design concept of a desired product for the target product from user's desired information related to the target product. The product design process, A request quality generation process of converting the input desired information into request quality information indicating a potential benefit desired by the user by applying a conversion rule previously stored in the storage device; It is a measure for quantitatively measuring the degree of achievement of the potential benefit by using the required quality information, and weights the evaluation index previously stored in the storage device, and is considered to be major from a plurality of weighted evaluation indicators. The main evaluation index determination processing for selecting the evaluation index, A product concept evaluation process of determining a design concept of one or a plurality of products maximizing or minimizing the evaluation index selected by the main evaluation index determination process And a computer readable storage medium. delete The method of claim 24, The main evaluation index determination processing performs weighting of the evaluation index by calculating a distribution point indicating the correlation between the converted required quality information and the evaluation index for each evaluation index. The method of claim 26, The product design process, And a score input process for displaying a matrix table formed by the required quality information and the evaluation information and waiting for a user's score input to the matrix table. The method of claim 24, The product design process, And requesting information input processing for causing the user to input the requesting information. delete delete delete delete