This stage helps to think through the problem identify potential problems and areas for improvement. It’s an analytical process that allows for thorough understanding of a problem and where potential failures or problems may occur, and so, be considered in the design (Dieter and Schmidt 2009: 141). For example; how do you make a cup of tea?
If you answered “Put water, a teabag and milk into a cup and stir it”; have you actually said how to make a cup of tea? Table 1 may seem complex, but explains further exactly what happens when you make a cup of tea.
| Processes | |
| 1 | Water is boiled in kettle. |
| 2 | Teabag is sourced. |
| 3 | Boiled water and teabag is placed in suitable cup. |
| 4 | Teabag is allowed to brewed for a short period of time. |
| 5 | Teabag is removed and disposed. |
| 6 | Milk is added to desired taste. |
| 7 | Sugar (if required is added ). |
| 8 | Stir mixture until sugar is dissolved. |
| 9 | Deliver to recipient. |
| 10 | Advise time allowance to cool before consuming. |
Table 1 – Process involved in making a cup of tea.
This maybe developed further considering material and power requirements as in Table 2.
| Processes | Materials and Power | |
| 1 | Water is boiled in kettle. | Clean, cold water sourced from tap. Electricity sourced from plug. |
| 2 | Teabag is sourced. | Teabag is sourced from storage. |
| 3 | Boiled water and teabag is placed in suitable cup. | Cup are sourced from storage. |
| 4 | Teabag is allowed to brewed for a short period of time. | Delay while tea is brewed. |
| 5 | Teabag is removed and disposed. | Suitable waste disposal required. Teaspoon sourced for handling. |
| 6 | Milk is added to desired taste. | Fresh, cold milk sourced from storage. |
| 7 | Sugar (if required is added ). | Sugar sourced from stores. |
| 8 | Stir mixture until sugar is dissolved. | Manual or automatic motion required for operation. |
| 9 | Deliver to recipient. | Handle on mug required to transport hot cup and liquid. |
| 10 | Advise time allowance to cool before consuming. | Delay while tea cools. |
Table 2 – Processes involved in making a cup of tea considering materials and power.
Each process may require inputs which are not always obvious. Additionally, Step 1 could expand to consider HOW electricity is produced and HOW water is sourced. This would need to be measured in reference to the Scope (See Clarify task and define Scope). Table 3 develops further still; when designing a product, it’s usually for a customer requirement. Potential failures or problems are not always obvious, these MUST be fully understood and considered.
| Processes | Materials and Power | Potential Failures/Problems | |
| 1 | Water is boiled in kettle. | Clean, cold water sourced from tap. Electricity sourced from plug. | Water is not clean and water unavailable. Or grid experiences power cut. |
| 2 | Teabag is sourced. | Teabag is sourced from storage. | Teabags out of date or stock unavailable. |
| 3 | Boiled water and teabag is placed in suitable cup. | Cup are sourced from storage. | Cups are not clean. |
| 4 | Teabag is allowed to brewed for a short period of time. | Delay while tea is brewed. | Brewing time unclear and undefined. |
| 5 | Teabag is removed and disposed. | Suitable waste disposal required. Teaspoon sourced for handling. | Teaspoon not clean. |
| 6 | Milk is added to desired taste. | Fresh, cold milk sourced from storage. | Milk past sell-by date and un-useable. |
| 7 | Sugar (if required is added ). | Sugar sourced from stores. | Sugar past sell-by date and un-useable. |
Table 3 – Processes involved in making a cup of tea considering materials and power and potential failures/problems.
You may wish to add symbols to the steps. Flowcharting is well documented process and standard symbols may be researched on the following website. <http://www.breezetree.com/articles/flow-chart-symbols.htm>. Table 4 contains the basic symbols and Table 5 applies them to the process.
| Symbol | Meaning |
 |
Delay |
 |
Operation |
 |
Movement |
 |
Storage of raw materials |
 |
Measurement/Test |
Table 4 – Flowchart Symbols
| Processes | Materials and Power | Potential Failures/Problems | ||
| 1 | Water is boiled in kettle. | Clean, cold water sourced from tap. Electricity sourced from plug. | Water is not clean and water unavailable. Or grid experiences power cut. | |
| 2 | Teabag is sourced. | Teabag is sourced from storage. | Teabags out of date or stock unavailable. | |
| 3 | Boiled water and teabag is placed in suitable cup. | Cup are sourced from storage. | Cups are not clean. | |
| 4 | Teabag is allowed to brewed for a short period of time. | Delay while tea is brewed. | Brewing time unclear and undefined. | |
| 5 | Teabag is removed and disposed. | Suitable waste disposal required. Teaspoon sourced for handling. | Teaspoon not clean. | |
| 6 | Milk is added to desired taste. | Fresh, cold milk sourced from storage. | Milk past sell-by date and un-useable. | |
| 7 | Sugar (if required is added ). | Sugar sourced from stores. | Sugar past sell-by date and un-useable. | |
| 8 | Stir mixture until sugar is dissolved. | Manual or automatic motion required for operation. | Operation undefined. | |
| 9 | Deliver to recipient. | Handle on mug required to transport hot cup and liquid. | Handle on mug frequently breaks. | |
| 10 | Advise time allowance to cool before consuming. | Delay while tea cools. | Delay time unclear and undefined. | |
Table 5 – Process chart with Flowchart symbols applied.
By breaking entire process into sub-processes you identify areas for improvement, for instance can steps 2 and 3 be combined, with the teabag already in the cup when it comes from stores? The numbers in the symbols order the separate processes; ie there are six operations, two movements and one test.
This a simple example; imagine if this was a car jack, or a jig for a tensile test or a holding device for two wires on a PCB. Clarifying processes helps to thoroughly understand the steps involved. Figure 1 (Cross 2008: 98) uses a 2D plan of the factory floor considering the movement of sacks, the aim is to recognise where movement can be reduced. In addition to clarifying the processes involved, by drawing the layout a designer can quickly see how the sacks move round the floor and where savings could be made. For instance can the ‘Scale’ that tests the weight of the bag on sStep 5 be combined into the gravity feed ‘Mixing Bin’ in Step 3; instantly removing the movement between them and reducing time? This however, would require a financial cost to upgrade the ‘Mixing bin’ to perform additional function.
| 1 | Stacked sacks await filling. |  |
| 2 | Operator A lifts empty sack from stack and places it under spout for filling. |  |
| 3 | Operator A fills the 50kg sack by gravity feed, manually controlling the rate of flow. |  |
| 4 | Operator A hands the sack to Operator B |  |
| 5 | Operator B checks the weight and adds or removes material when necessary to adjust the weight to approximately 50kg. |  |
| 6 | Operator B hands the sack to Operator C. |  |
| 7 | Operator C folds and stitches the top of the sack. |  |
| 8 | Operator D takes the bag and loads it on wagon. |  |
| 9 | Loaded wagon is pushed to warehouse. |  |
| 10 | Sacks are stacked by Operator E and F. |  |
| 11 | Sacks are stored awaiting sale. |  |
| 12 | Sacks are loaded on waiting truck, two or three at a time by handtruck, then delivered to customer. |  |
Figure 1 – Flow for Grain Feed (Cross 2008: 98)
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