Research Rap: Developing Smart Products (Mechatronics)

A quick peek into some
research from Michelle Boucher at Aberdeen Group on

system design and the development of mechatronic
products. The study shows that leading companies
are taking a systems approach to designing smart products. In turn,
these leading companies are rewarded with the ability to hit the
metrics that drive product profitability (time to market, quality,
cost, sales achievement) on their smart or “mechatronic” products.
Let’s take a look at the findings.

What are Mechatronic
Products?
A quick look at the phone in your pocket or at your car (I hope you
are not driving while you are reading this) should reveal a simple
truth - products are getting smarter. Cars used to be mechanical
products, with enough electrical content to get them started,
ignite the fuel, and run some lights and accessories. But the
mechanical systems (brakes, suspension, steering, etc.) were all
purely mechanical elements. Those were the days when your car was
serviced by a man (or possibly a woman) with a nice set of wrenches
and other mechanical tools. Today, the major systems in your car
are electronically enhanced. And the more your car costs, the more
you this is likely to be true. Anti-lock breaks, traction control,
or even “drive by wire” technology has interjected controls and
computation into the mix. But don’t think this is just for high-end
products, your next toaster might have more computing power than
your first PC.

Why is Mechatronic Design
Different?
In short, mechatronic design is harder because for the product to
work the mechanical elements, controls, electronics, and the
onboard software all need to work in concert. It’s hard enough to
develop a product where the physical parts fit together,
particularly in a world where the design and manufacture of
different parts happens in parallel and dispersed across the globe.
But now, when a mechanical part changes you have to consider the
impact on the rest of the structure as usual, but also on the
electronics and software. When a mechanical designer makes a
decision, it could impact a lot of other designs across
different engineering disciplines. And with shorter development
schedules (the top pressure identified in the study) you don’t have
time for trial and error and “shaking out the bugs” slowly. It
needs to be designed right the first time.

What Makes Mechatronic Product
Development Work?
In short, a systems approach - viewing the entire product as an
inter-related system that encompasses the disparate engineering
disciplines. Finding errors early requires the ability to view not
just the individual elements, but the system as a whole. Some key
findings from the benchmark support this. In fact, one of the key
findings shows that Best-in-Class companies (the top 20% at getting
products to market on time, at cost, on budget, with quality, and
hitting sales targets) are over seven times as likely to digitally
validate systems behavior across mechanical, electrical, and
software components (using simulation technology). Not an easy
thing to accomplish, but it is showing tremendous value. They are
also more likely to have change notification across disciplines and
to allocate requirements across systems, subsystems, and
components. These companies are looking across design elements and
seeing the forest in addition to the trees. 

The most common challenge reported? The ability to find people that
know how to take this systems-level approach. This is a new and
growing discipline. The report has a lot more to say, but I realize
I am turning my blog post into a novel and testing your patience.
Thanks for listening.

So that was a quick peek into some recent
research, I hope you found it interesting. Are you developing
“smart” products. Does the research reflect reality? Do you see it
differently? Let us know what it looks like from your
perspective.