The Lane Report -- Manufacturing January 2002


	INDUSTRY - January 2002 by Dr. Arlie Hall Some Assembly Required Customers are now involved in the manufacturing process As I reflected on Christmas morning 2001, I realized I had spent most of the morning with two of my little grandsons trying to get the right batteries, the correct assembly orientations, and the jumble of plastic parts assembled together, in order to prove that the various toys really worked! By the time we had unwrapped and assembled about a dozen different toys, I realized my grandsons had already lost interest in the gadget’s possibilities. The “Some assembly required” mentality is not just limited to children’s toys. It applies to many household products and commercial products as well. This all started in the early 1970s when plastics began to be used as a basic material and injection molding of parts became technically feasible. When I was still employed with IBM’s Lexington typewriter manufacturing facility in the 1970s, about 80 percent of our products were made of metal. By the time I left IBM in 1991, about 80 percent of all of our typewriter and printer parts were being manufactured using plastics. This is common practice for most printer manufacturers today. With the movement toward plastics as basic materials was the movement toward “Some assembly required” by the consumer. I remember when we at IBM required our customer engineers to deliver a typewriter to the customer, unpack, assemble, and plug-in the unit to prove that it would work before leaving the customer’s office. This practice was replaced by a direct shipment to the customer beginning in the mid-1970s. Various “off-shore” competitors pushed IBM to direct shipments of low end products like printers, PCs, and the like. As I again reflect on Christmas 2001, I am sure thousands of children were very disappointed when they could not get their favorite toys assembled properly. They probably found broken parts, parts that jammed or broke when force was applied, missing parts, and the like. They were also probably confronted with assembly instructions written on a level beyond their cognitive ability. The following are some considerations that will facilitate customer assembly, whether it is a child or an adult. Always design a product, if possible, for one direction of assembly, preferably with a top-down approach. Lego building blocks allow one direction, top-down assembly. Provide a common base as a receiver for all other parts if at all possible. Provide for chamfers to facilitate part mating. (Again, Lego building blocks have this feature.) Provide picture illustrations with directional arrows and flow lines. Do not use long paragraph narrations to describe how the parts mate. Children use pictures and not words. I am a child when it comes to home assembly. Use snap fittings to the maximum extent that do not require tools. Keep tools to a regular flat screwdriver if needed. If you have to use screws make them of one common type. Don’t use a half-dozen different screws in a toy, a printer, or a toaster oven. Design symmetry into parts where possible. This will facilitate ease of orientation, particularly for children. Avoid designs that tangle easily like springs, clips, and brackets. Do not put these items in a product if they can be avoided. We do have a new culture and some assembly will be required by each of us as end customers in the future. Given that Christmas 2002 will be similar to that of 2001, we need to make sure our children and grandchildren remember the event as one that was enhanced by a toy – not one that did not work. Dr. Arlie Hall is an adjunct professor for the Center for Robotics and Manufacturing at the University of Kentucky's College of Engineering. editorial@lanereport.com Back to Industry Index Back to January Issue

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