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WPI engineering students help Worcester area manufacturers grow

11/30/2015

"Since the recession, manufacturers face a tension between seeing opportunities for growth on the one hand but a lack of resources on the other that would allow these businesses to hire more workers to tackle greater demand," say Marty Jones and Walter Towner in their Worcester Telegram article "As I See It: Innovating growth in Worcester and beyond." The solution? More brainpower. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is now home to one of four manufacturing innovation centers in Massachusetts to provide that brainpower. Selected by MassDevelopment, the state's quasi-public finance and development authority, the WPI Innovation Center helps small- to medium-sized manufacturers grow.

"In February, MassDevelopment selected Algonquin Industries, Boston Engineering Corporation, the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, and WPI to provide such services and expertise to companies that employ 100 or fewer employees and need assistance in product development, prototyping, scaling up, cost reduction and other areas. MassDevelopment pays the lesser of 75 percent or $75,000 of the cost of a contract between a manufacturing company and the Innovation Center of choice.... Since the program’s launch, 60 companies have applied through the four centers and 10 projects are underway so far. Independent Plating was WPI's first project; the school has others in the pipeline. MassDevelopment has committed $1.3 million overall, and once the projects are complete, hopes to better understand the multiplier effect of this work on jobs created."
Jones and Towner

WPI students can help companies create products, develop better processes, and open up new jobs. For example, a team of engineering students created a production line data collection system that improved data accuracy and assessments for a local company. "Innovation Center projects also open a pipeline for new employees, as graduate and undergraduate students can fill positions as the businesses succeed in scaling up and hiring more workers," add Jones and Towner.

Massachusetts has a rich entrepreneurial community:

Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives in Worcester, a lifesciences incubator
Greentown Labs in Somerville
EforAll in Lowell
Cutting-edge companies such as Bose, New Balance and Raytheon.

Worcester County is home to 950+ manufacturers that employ roughly 33,000 workers.

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A four-step guide for developing a new product

11/23/2015

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In its four-part series, Boston's hardware venture capital firm Bolt takes hardware startups, including example hardware startup Dipjar, through four phases of product development:

Bolt's process

Part 1: Ideation
"Ideation starts with clearly defining the scope of the problem and ends with a proof-of-concept prototype," says Bolt founder and partner Ben Einstein.

Problem research. Product design starts with an "a-ha" moment - when you realize your product can fill a need. "Spending more time here will ensure founders lay a strong foundation for the rest of product development," Einstein adds.

Einstein adds that when gathering information for product design by interviewing potential customers, keep an open mind about where the product design may go and work toward building 3+ customer personas.

Proof-of-concept prototype. Next step: testing the concept. At this phase, you'll validate the major assumptions you formulated in your research. You'll build the prototype, use it in its natural setting, and observe to gain more insights.

Part 2: Design
The design phase involves improving user experience and presentation.

Customer development. "Startups that focus on customer feedback are far more likely to succeed than those that sit in a basement and engineer endlessly," says Einstein. "A design mentor of mine once said 'you can only learn how much your design sucks when you watch people use it.'"

Wireframes. Storyboard the full product experience, including:

Packaging
Sales
Unboxing
Setup
First use
Repeated use or special use
Customer support
End-of-life

"By the end of the wireframe process, you should be left with a good conceptual idea of how users will interact with every aspect of your product," adds Einstein.

Looks-like prototypes. A looks-like prototype is non-functional final product. Look at other products and sketch design options. Make the prototypes quickly and cheaply - and out of anything from clay to foam. Continue testing with customers once complete.

Part 3: Engineering
You want your product to function reliably and be cost-effective to produce. Done in tandem with the design phase, the engineering phase involves function.

Specification. Critical at this phase is the engineering specification documentation. Documentation should include information about:

Regulations
Hardware
Electronics
Firmware
Software/web
Durability and packaging
Environment

Einstein recommends a working spec broken down by requirements.

Works-like prototype. "The works-like prototype is built to answer a large number of questions uncovered by developing the engineering requirements: core function, component selection, PCB, mechanics, feel, and assembly," says Einstein. You should select components based on price, durability, and supplier availability/lead time.

Firmware/software. Since accompanying software depends on the hardware, software development generally follows hardware development. You should consider:

Hardware test
Commands
Functions
Library
Manager
API/web

Part 4: Validation
In this phase, prepare your product for mass production by joining the design and engineering phases:

Engineering prototype. In this first phase in merging design and engineering, create one prototype. "Often this is the best time to raise money from investors," adds Einstein.

Engineering validation. This phase answers “does my product cover the functional requirements of my specification?” Create a minimum of 20 products to test the product engineering.

Design validation. This phase answers "“does the product meet all possible requirements including cosmetic and environmental?” In this phase, focus on the production process. Create a minimum of 50 products, then test.

Production validation. This phase is your first official production run. Create a minimum of 500 products. You may need to create jigs and fixtures in the production process.

Mass production. This phase is the first full production run. Create a minimum of 5,000 products.

Along the way, continuously improve. Once you complete these phases, it's time for marketing and distribution. Oh and that other important thing you may not have had time for: sleep.

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How to prevent loss

11/16/2015

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The next phase in our LEAN journey brings us to Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). It's a fancy term for maintenance for preventing downtime, defects, and slow running time. The goal here is for operators to proactively prevent these three types of loss by using maintenance, inspection, and cleaning checklists.

The process
Under TPM, operators:

Monitor equipment.
Document key data on areas requiring maintenance.
Prioritize preventative steps and improvements, including replacement times for press components based on collected data.
Create and follow maintenance checklists and schedules.
Continuously improve.

Down the road
Ultimately, managers can predict when a machine will break down using two metrics:

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) shows how well equipment performs compared to its capacity.
Total Effective Equipment Performance (TEEP) "measures OEE against calendar hours."

Source: "What Is Total Productive Maintenance?"

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Introducing imprinted stainless steel sheave gauges

11/12/2015

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Donahue Industries introduces imprinted stainless steel sheave gauges. Available in both Imperial (fractional) and metric options, our imprinted stainless steel sheave gauges help our customers promote their brand at a price competitive with less durable plastic sheave gauges.

Our options range in:

(We're expanding our metric set options. Help us create what you're looking for by taking our quick survey.)

Begin the ordering process

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How we're doing more in less time

11/10/2015

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We're hard at work making our processes more efficient so we can bring you the best prices in the market and faster delivery times. Recently, we reorganized our raw material area to more easily access our most popular sizes, freeing up time to make more parts for you.

Finding what we need in less time is part of 5S in LEAN manufacturing, a model used to continuously improve business processes. The Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP) guided our team through the basics of the LEAN system.

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Boston is becoming the center for hardware tech thanks to Bolt

11/2/2015

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In his BostInno article "How Ben Einstein and Bolt are making Boston the center of hardware tech," writer Dylan Martin says that Boston-based VC firm for early-stage hardware startups Bolt has invested in 26 companies and raised around $40 million. Bolt provides:

Seed funding
Engineering and product design support through a staff of engineers, designers, marketers, and operations staff
Office space, conference rooms, and a prototyping lab with 3D printers, a laser cutter, a CNC machine, and an environmental test chamber.

Hardware startups are getting more and more profitable
Bolt managing partner and co-founder Ben Einstein predicts that the latest hardware companies, such as FitBit and GoPro, can be more profitable than software companies. The success of these companies may encourage more investment in hardware startups. Last year alone, the amount of funding into their hardware startups "increased from under $500 million to nearly $3.5 billion."

"The average investor doesn't understand that hardware startups are a thing and can be profitable."
- Ben Einstein, Bolt managing partner and co-founder

Why the increase?

Companies use contract manufacturers instead of building their own plants.
Smartphones have caused components costs to decrease over the years.
The physicality of products also makes investing money easier.
Hardware startups build in recurring revenue models. such as coffee pods, monthly fees, or ebooks.

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WPI engineering students help Worcester area manufacturers grow

A four-step guide for developing a new product

How to prevent loss

Introducing imprinted stainless steel sheave gauges

How we're doing more in less time

Boston is becoming the center for hardware tech thanks to Bolt

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