İbrahim İLGÜZ 030040113 (6th week)

Concept Selection
Concept selection is the process of evaluating and comparing alternative concepts with respect to the customer/marlcet needs and design specifications, leading to the selection of the most suitable one or a set of concepts for further investigation and/or development. Concept selection can be performed according to the following guidelines:
• Select Solution Principles
Suitable solution principles that can satisfy the needs are selected individually or in combination with other solutions. Selected solutions should be able to perform the required function effectively and efficiently.
• Combine Solution Principles into Complete Design Concepts
The selected principles in the previous step are arranged into a complete conceptual design that corresponds to the overall function, that is, concepts that correspond to sub-functions are arranged together to form a larger concept that can accomplish the overall function.
• Evaluate Concepts Technically
Concepts are now evaluated with respect to the degree to which they meet the design specifications; concepts that do not meet the specification are eliminated at this point.
• Evaluate Concepts Economically
Concepts are evaluated with respect to their cost, that is, concepts are investigated for their economic feasibility. Non-feasible concepts with unjustified high costs are eliminated.
• Select Final Concept
A final decision must be made among technically and economically feasible concepts by utilizing a scoring technique that can incorporate needs and customer satisfaction.
(Computer-Based Design and Manufacturing, Emad Abouel Nasr, Ph.D. Ali K. Kamrani, Ph.D., p15)
Acquiring Information
Different types of information are needed to recognize a need or market opportunity. This information includes all the necessary information about similar products (competitive products) obtained from published reference books, handbooks, and manufacturers catalogs. It is essential to obtain information about registered designs, trademarks, patents, and copyrights. This information will be analyzed to establish a competition analysis through a benchmarking study.
(Computer-Based Design and Manufacturing, Emad Abouel Nasr, Ph.D. Ali K. Kamrani, Ph.D., p 8-9)

Information Analysis
At this stage all the information collected should be analyzed to gain greater insight about the proposed product or opportunity. The result of this analysis will be the preparation of a "needs" list that represents a comprehensive statement structured to state just what should be designed to satisfy the user need. Three main techniques for information analysis can be used'''^: parametric analysis, needs analysis, and matrix analysis.
(Computer-Based Design and Manufacturing, Emad Abouel Nasr, Ph.D. Ali K. Kamrani, Ph.D., p9)
Parametric Analysis
Parametric analysis is a form of desk research that can be used as a tool for both marketing and engineering. It is used to perform a competition analysis by determining the product place in the market relative to the competition. Also, parametric analysis is used to gain insight into the structure and interrelationship between parameters inherent in the product under consideration by identifying the relationships between parameters for the particular product area under consideration. This is done by crossplotting such parameters to see if a relationship exists between them.
(Computer-Based Design and Manufacturing, Emad Abouel Nasr, Ph.D. Ali K. Kamrani, Ph.D., p9)