We updated our PDS from what the goals of the original product wished to accomplish and become, to what our new and improved product wished to accomplish and become.
Performance
The toy should operate at a medium speed.
It should operate only when the gears are wound up and released.
The system that will move the toy will be a gear system.
The toy should operate repeatedly upon the winding of the toy.
The speed of the wind up toy should be consistent and proportional to the winding of the toy (i.e. the more winding the faster it goes, only to a certain medium-high speed).
Environment
The temperature range of the toy should be standard living conditions.
The pressure range of the toy should be from sea level to mountainous level (i.e. it should operate everywhere in the U.S. above sea level).
Humidity should not affect the operation of the wind-up toy.
Dropping the toy should be avoided but the toy will be able to withstand a minimal number of drops from heights no taller than the average kitchen table.
The toy should be kept as clean as possible to avoid dust and dirt from corrupting the gear system.
The toy will have a corrosion proof coating but should be kept dry whenever possible. Water should be wiped off to prevent rusting of the toy.
Noise levels should not affect the operation of the toy.
Insects should not affect the operation of the toy.
Vibrations should not be applied to the toy to prevent shifting of the internal parts and gears. However, small vibrations (like from small drop heights) should be withstood by the toy.
Children and adults with a passion for windup toys will be handling the toy. The toy is a high quality toy that should be able to take a fair amount of abuse from children.
Service Life
Service life of the toy should not be short. This toy is high quality and making more toys for cheaper would not hit the target market we are going for. While we wish to decrease the cost, it will not be a “cheap” toy.
Service life of the toy should be long. This toy could be an heirloom since it is such a high quality toy. Cost is not spared, but neither is quality.
The service life of the toy should be generations. Assuming the toy is not abused beyond the project abuse level, there is no reason the toy should not be operational in 50 or more years.
Maintenance
Maintenance of the toy will be minimal. The toy is designed with the intention of being maintenance free. However, the toy should be cleaned or repaired if abused beyond normal use (i.e. spills, dropping the toy from large distances, etc).
If the toy is dirty, the maintenance is easy to do (simply wipe off the toy with a paper towel and perhaps some safe cleaner). If the toy is broken, however, maintenance may be tougher and may need to be sent in for repairs.
Adding spare parts would not be beneficial for the company or the consumer. The extra parts would increase cost of production and cost of the toy. The consumer would not benefit from this either since repairs on the toy may be difficult for the average consumer.
Target Cost
We want to make the product for less than $15.
Comparing to other companies that make similar products, this is not impossible, nor is it an under-estimate.
We would decrease assembly cost by using less parts but we would need approximately $24,000 to cover the initial cost of plastic injection mold.
Our target retail cost is less than $30 but more than $20. This is similar to competing products.
Sufficient profit can be made since we are charging approximately 3 times the amount it cost us to manufacture our product.
Competition
After doing a very comprehensive web search, the company's main competition exists from the collection of smaller (and cheaper) wind-up toy companies. There is no large wind-up toy companies which makes our market share more valuable.
The main difference between products is the quality of the toys. Our product is significantly higher quality than most toys on the market. Beyond that, there is not much difference between the competitors products and ours.
Shipping
The products would be assembled and stored in a company warehouse. From there, a big carrier service (UPS, FedEx, etc.) would be hired to deliver orders individually by mail order.
The main mode of transportation for our product would be on land.
The company could deliver overseas but shipping would cost significantly more.
Normal shipping trucks (from the main carrier company would be used).
Product Volume (Quantity)
We are looking to sell approximately 20,000 units of our product. The reason for this is because the amount of money made would be about $500,000 (assuming we sell it for about $25). From this we would make, in profit, about $300,000 on one product.
Packaging
The product will be packaged starting with a plastic bag surrounding the product. This product will then be put inside a durable box, just larger than the product itself.
The plastic bag and box will work together to protect the metal pieces from rusting. Also the box will protect the product from blunt force trauma. These are the main things that had to be considered during the packaging process.
Manufacturing Facilities
Yes we are designing to fill an existing plant.
There will certainly be space in the factories for extra plastic injection molds since the design of the new product will eliminate some of the old machines.
There are no plans for new plants but the only new machine would be plastic injection molds.
Yes the product is constrained to techniques the company is familiar with which makes the filling of existing plants easy.
No we are not creating new plants/factories for the product.
Size (Overall of Key Features)
The maximum size of the product will be 18 cm by 9cm by 9 cm.
The minimum size of the product will be 16 cm by 7 cm by 7cm.
In ideal cases the size of the toy will be 17.5 cm, by 8cm by 8cm. This is the actual size of the product and we feel that the size the product is now works very well. The dimensions remain the same after our modifications, even though we have added a box around the gears.
Weight
The toy before it is packaged weighs about 93 grams.
After the product is packaged and ready for the carrier, it weighs about 103 grams.
It should be noted that our product is fairly light weight making cost of shipping go down.
Aesthetics
We have a small range of colors for the body of the products. It can be blue, white, green, and yellow. The toy is in the shape of an insect and the texture of it is smooth (with the exception of the feet since friction is needed). It should be noted that the product is symmetrical which adds to the “good” aesthetics of the toy. With the new design, the gears are completely covered by a closed box, which improves the overall look of the toy by making it seem more compact. Additionally, the legs are now more uniform, with the same texture material and color over the whole mechanism.
Materials
After the modification there are only 3 materials used in the product since the legs mechanism is now made just in one piece. These materials are steel, steel alloy and nylon. None of these materials constitute “special materials”. What should be noted is that nylon is a great material since it is self lubricating making it ideal for the gears.
None of our materials are hazardous or toxic and do not need to warned about.
Product Life Span
The life span of the product should be about 100 years. Wind up toys have been around for years and there is no indication that they will leave the market anytime soon. Even with the rise of technology, parents and collectors continue to by mechanical toys like this one. BETTER LEGS
Standards, Specifications, and Legal Aspects
While it is unknown to us whether or not our product is designed to current international standards, it can be assumed that they are. This product is currently sold internationally which is a good indication that that are designed to current international standards.
This toy does not have many liabilities seeing as it is nearly impossible for a user to injure themselves using our product.
Ergonomics
The main man-machine interference is the twisting of the knob to wind the toy up. The toy is able to be used by a small child and a grown man which makes it pretty ergonomic. The only struggle a small child could have is turning the wind up if it is stiff. With the new design, the toy is easier to grip and handle thanks to the box covering the main body parts. This ensures a more ergonomic experience when enjoying our product.
Customer
This product can be viewed by customers as a collector’s item. Customers generally like the quality of this product, but the price tag of the product is a concern to some customers. Some customers may also view this toy as “old-fashioned”. It is also kid friendly, specially after the modifications which make it easier and safer to handle.
Quality and Reliability
While the exact DPU (defects per unit) is unknown to us, we can assume that the number is very low. The product is high quality and not mass produced on scales like other “cheaper” products are so it is a good assumption that the DPUs are low.
Shelf Life
The shelf life of this product is very long. The service life of this product is generations (50+ years) and the shelf life is slightly less than that. As long as the product is kept in normal conditions (not exposed to high moisture or submerged in water) the product will not rust or deteriorate. Maintenance when not in use is very minimal which makes the shelf life that much longer. With the addition of the new parts, shelf life does not change.
Manufacturing Processes
The toy will be manufactured using 5 manufacturing methods. These methods are are molding, CNC machining, sheet metal bending, metal forging, and wire curling/bending.
There are no special processes that need to be considered. Because of this, costs do not increase.
Timescales
Concept and detail design time for us was not a long process seeing as we were just improving a design. This took approximately 2 weeks. From our best estimates, we are predicting that prototyping our product will take 1 week. To manufacture a single unit, it would take about 30 minutes. It should be noted that this comes out in batches and it does not take 30 minutes to manufacture one and only one unit.
Since our company does not have any large scale competitors, there is no need to have a set time to create this new product. In other words, the window-of-opportunity is very large.
Testing
To test our product, a testing office should be added to the existing plants/factories to ensure the quality of our product. To test the product, we will check for defects in our products by looking at batches at random. Calculating the defects and finding the DPU for each piece.
Safety
Our design is very safe. There are no sharp edges or hazardous materials being used. With the new legs being a single piece, children cannot swallow any small pieces which makes our product that much safer. We also decrease the amount of metal used so in the case of a break, it is less likely to puncture a wound. In addition, without access to the gears, friction burns would be impossible.
Our product will pass all standard testing and follow legislation in place to ensure that our product is safe for all.
The only safety label that should be considered is recommending to parents to supervise their children while at play with our toy.
Company Constraints
Our company is constrained by company practices. Many of the manufacturing processes use for this product is also used for other products. This makes costs go down while still being able to create new and exciting products.
The main image that the company has to keep is that we are a high quality wind-up toy producer. Beyond this toy we also manufacture other versions of wind up toys. Because of this, we must continue to create high quality wind up toys.
We do have adequate in house facilities and personnel for this product. All facilities and personnel that was on the original product will be used for the new and improved product.
Market Constraints
The market for our product has made it clear that we have an image for high quality products. Because of this, low quality products will not be acceptable.
Patents, Literature, and Product Data
All of our patents are pending or we own the intellectual property already. The intellectual property of the new legs should be investigated further though.
Political and Social Implications
Our product has no implications on politics or social structures. The only social aspect of our product that could be considered is the “old” toys versus the new technological age toys.
Disposal
We will attempt to use the reuse the waste product from our machines to ensure that the least amount of material is wasted at the end of the day. We will also ask that customers recycle our product if they decide to throw it away. This task will be easier for them with the new design, since the box is really easy to remove and the legs are now a much simpler component. The plastics used in both the case and the legs is also recyclable so disposal will be environmentally friendly. There’s also less pieces to consider when deciding on the recycling method.
Our packaging will be made out of biodegradable materials so that when it is thrown away, it is not as harmful to the environment.