[Project name here]
[Report name here]
[Team member names]
[List sole report author for Background Report]
[Student 1 name]
[Student 2 name]
[Student 3 name]
2011-12
Project Sponsor:
IE 497/498 or ME 497/498 [as appropriate]
Project Number:
Faculty Advisor:
Sponsor Mentor:
Instructor:
DISCLAIMER
This report was prepared by students as part of a university course requirement. While considerable effort
has been put into the project, it is not the work of licensed engineers and has not undergone the extensive
verification that is common in the profession. The information, data, conclusions, and content of this
report should not be relied on or utilized without thorough, independent testing and verification.
University faculty members may have been associated with this project as advisors, sponsors, or course
instructors, but as such they are not responsible for the accuracy of results or conclusions.
[Use this text exactly, include in all documents.]
i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
[Provide a one-page summary of your project, including description, design, and results.]
[Include in Final Report only.]
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
[Use this page for acknowledging those who have substantially supported or assisted you, such as faculty
and staff members, fellow students, sponsor mentors, etc.]
[Include in Final Report only.]
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Use your word processor to delete the following Table of Contents and insert a new TOC. Include front
matter (except for the cover page), body of the report, and all appendices. The Table should include four
levels of headings, e.g., down to 2.2.1.3, as illustrated below.]
DISCLAIMER .............................................................................................................................................. 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. 4
1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Project Description ....................................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Original System ............................................................................................................................ 1
1.3.1 Original System Structure ................................................................................................ 1
1.3.2 Original System Operation .............................................................................................. 1
1.3.3 Original System Performance .......................................................................................... 1
1.3.4 Original System Deficiencies .......................................................................................... 2
2 REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Customer Requirements (CRs) ..................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Engineering Requirements (ERs) ................................................................................................. 3
2.3 Testing Procedures (TPs) .............................................................................................................. 3
2.4 Design Links (DLs) ...................................................................................................................... 3
2.5 House of Quality (HoQ) ............................................................................................................... 4
3 EXISTING DESIGNS ............................................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Design Research ........................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 System Level................................................................................................................................. 5
3.2.1 Existing Design #1........................................................................................................... 5
3.2.2 Existing Design #2........................................................................................................... 5
3.2.3 Existing Design #3........................................................................................................... 5
3.3 Subsystem Level ........................................................................................................................... 6
3.3.1 Subsystem #1 ................................................................................................................... 6
3.3.1.1 Existing Design #1.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.1.2 Existing Design #2.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.1.3 Existing Design #3.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.2 Subsystem #2 ................................................................................................................... 6
3.3.2.1 Existing Design #1.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.2.2 Existing Design #2.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.2.3 Existing Design #3.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.3 Subsystem #3 ................................................................................................................... 6
3.3.3.1 Existing Design #1.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.3.2 Existing Design #2.............................................................................................. 6
3.3.3.3 Existing Design #3.............................................................................................. 7
4 DESIGNS CONSIDERED ........................................................................................................................ 8
4.1 Design #1 ...................................................................................................................................... 8
4.2 Design #2 ...................................................................................................................................... 8
4.3 Design #3 ...................................................................................................................................... 8
5 DESIGN SELECTED ................................................................................................................................ 9
5.1 Rationale for Design Selection .................................................................................................... 9
5.2 Design Description ....................................................................................................................... 9
6 IMPLEMENTATION............................................................................................................................... 10
iv
7 TESTING ................................................................................................................................................. 11
8 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................ 12
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 13
v
1 BACKGROUND
1.1 Introduction
[Use this section to introduce the reader to your project. Describe what the project is, project objectives,
why it is of interest to the sponsor (project relevance), and how the project benefits the sponsor and other
stakeholders, upon completion.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.
1.2 Project Description
[Provide the sponsor's original project description, as presented at the beginning of fall term. To credit the
source, precede the description with text, such as “Following is the original project description provided
by the sponsor.” Set the Description in a block quote (i.e., indented from the surrounding text). If the
description has been changed, provide an explanation of what has changed and why. All group members’
Background Reports must include the same Project Description.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports]
1.3 Original System
[If your project was a re-engineering project, that is, one to redesign, improve, or add onto an existing
system, use this chapter to describe, in detail, the original system, that is, the system as it existed at the
time your project began.
If your project was a new-design project, that is, one to design a completely new system, include the
following text, replacing “<system>” with the name of your system ...
This project involved the design of a completely new <system>. There was no original system
when this project began.”
… and omit the following sections.
In either case, include this chapter in the Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
1.3.1 Original System Structure
[Use this section to describe the physical structure of the original system, including parts, features,
equipment, material, facilities, and personnel, as appropriate. Include a text description and, as
appropriate, supporting figures, engineering, drawings, system hierarchy diagrams, bills of materials, and
layout drawings. Cite sources of information where they are not your own.]
1.3.2 Original System Operation
[Use this section to describe how the original system, existing at the time your project began, operated or
functioned. Obtain or collect operational data and describe operations in writing and include, as
appropriate, supporting functional capabilities, functional models, process maps, process flows, value
stream maps, IDEF0 models, task analyses, and other functional descriptions.]
1.3.3 Original System Performance
[Use this section to describe the performance of the system at the time your project began. Obtain or
collect data and compute and present statistics on weight, volume, speed, accuracy, power requirements,
efficiency and other system performance parameters. Include sample calculations as appropriate but place
extensive calculations in an Appendix. Clearly document and justify your approach to collecting and
summarizing performance data. This section should clearly present a baseline against which the
performance of your re-engineered system may be compared.]
1
1.3.4 Original System Deficiencies
[In this section, explain, with reference to its performance and other characteristics, why the original
system did not meet current Customer (and, optionally, Engineering) Requirements.
2
2 REQUIREMENTS
[Use this section (2) to describe to the reader what is required from the project.]
[Sections 2.1 and 2.5 are required for the Background Report]
[Sections 2.1, 2.2, and 2.5 for the Preliminary Proposal]
[All sections for the Final Proposal and Final Report.]
2.1 Customer Requirements (CRs)
[List and discuss all Customer Requirements and weightings. Customer Requirements must fully
incorporate all the project requirements provided by the sponsor. Additionally, the Customer
Requirements should fully specify and clarify the overall project objectives. All group members’
background reports must have the same CRs and weightings.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
2.2 Engineering Requirements (ERs)
[Use this section to list and discuss the Engineering Requirements that have been developed. ER’s must
be verifiable, that is, specify objectively measurable parameters or conditions. Each ER must have a
target, or design-to, value with tolerance along with justification/rationale for the selected value and
tolerance]
[Include in Preliminary Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
2.3 Testing Procedures (TPs)
[Use this section to discuss the testing procedure developed by the team for each Engineering
Requirement. Number each testing procedure for reference in House of Quality]
[Include in Final Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
2.4 Design Links (DLs)
[Use this section to describe how your design meets each ER. Provide a meaningful description, but limit
the amount of text to one paragraph per engineering requirement. Number each DL for reference in the
HoQ]
[Include in Final Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
3
2.5 House of Quality (HoQ)
[Summarize project requirements in a House of Quality using the template provided on the course
website. Print your HoQ on 11” high by 17” wide paper and replace this page with your HoQ, folded to
11” high by 8.5” wide. If your HoQ takes more than one 11”x17” page, insert extra, “dummy” pages” in
this document to preserve proper page numbering.]
For the Background Report include only CRs, Weightings, and approvals: signatures on the HoQ or
attached e-mail(s) clearly affirming approval.
For the Preliminary Proposal include only CRs, Weightings, ERs, Target Values (with tolerances), and
approvals.
For the Final Proposal and Final Report include all HoQ elements and approvals]
4
3 EXISTING DESIGNS
[Use this chapter to describe alternative approaches to designing your new or re-engineered system.
Sources for this information include existing product descriptions, catalogs, engineering textbooks, the
engineering literature, and the internet. Another very important source for some projects, especially (but
not exclusively) for process re-engineering projects, is benchmarking..]
3.1 Design Research
[Use this section to describe how existing designs were researched. This could have been done by
examining similar systems, literature review, or web searches. If benchmarking was used, describe the
plans (in the Background Report) or the completed process (in the Preliminary Proposal) here.
Benchmarking involves on-site visits to organizations, observation, and interviews with employees to see
how others have approached this type of design problem. You may determine that your project would
benefit from a Benchmarking Study and your instructor or your faculty advisor may require a
Benchmarking Study. If one is used, based on your completed Original System analysis and the Project
Description, identify relevant problems / issues / opportunities that would benefit from the Benchmarking
Study. More than one area of the project should be identified for benchmarking. Identify the appropriate
type(s) of Benchmarking Study to conduct (internal, functional, competitive, or generic). Working with
your sponsor and MIME advisor, identify partners to participate in the Benchmarking Study. Determine
the type of metrics and/or best practices to be included in the Benchmarking Study. Develop appropriate
benchmarking instruments. Include a copy of all benchmarking instruments in an appendix. Include the
findings of the Benchmarking Study in the remaining sections of this chapter]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
3.2 System Level
[Use this section to discuss existing designs (besides, for re-engineering projects, the original system
when the project began) that address requirements relevant to your project at the system level. For
example, if you were designing a race car, one would use this section to describe entire race cars meeting
similar or related requirements. If you were re-engineering an inventory management system, you would
give an overall description of each of several inventory management systems. List at least three systemlevel designs and add more as necessary. Cite the sources from which the designs were identified,
including your own benchmarking results, if appropriate. Use this section to describe the rationale for
your selection of the systems described in the following subsections.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
3.2.1 Existing Design #1
[Describe this system-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
3.2.2 Existing Design #2
[Describe this system-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
3.2.3 Existing Design #3
[Describe this system-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
5
3.3 Subsystem Level
[Use this section to (i) describe a functional decomposition or system/process hierarchy of your system
and (ii) discuss existing designs that address requirements relevant to your project at the subsystem level.
Describe your functional decomposition in this section. List each subsystem in your functional
decomposition with appropriate headings in the following subsections. Under each subsystem heading,
list existing designs meeting similar or related requirements. Your functional decomposition must contain
at least three subsystems and there must be at least three existing designs described under each
component. For example, if you were designing a race car, your functional decomposition would include
braking, steering, and suspension subsystems (among others). The content of this section would then
include a discussion of existing designs for (i) braking, (ii) steering, (iii) suspension, etc. If you were reengineering an inventory management system, your functional decomposition might include item
identification (e.g., barcode), inventory tracking, and re-ordering subsystems.]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
3.3.1 Subsystem #1
[Describe this subsystem from your functional decomposition]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
3.3.1.1 Existing Design #1
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
3.3.1.2 Existing Design #2
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
3.3.1.3 Existing Design #3
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
3.3.2 Subsystem #2
[Describe this subsystem from your functional decomposition]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent documents]
3.3.2.1 Existing Design #1
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
3.3.2.2 Existing Design #2
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
3.3.2.3 Existing Design #3
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
3.3.3 Subsystem #3
[Describe this subsystem from your functional decomposition]
[Include in Background Report and all subsequent reports.]
3.3.3.1 Existing Design #1
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
3.3.3.2 Existing Design #2
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
6
3.3.3.3 Existing Design #3
[Describe this subsystem-level existing design and explain how it relates to your requirements.]
[Note: Copy & paste additional headings as necessary. Be sure to update your Table of Contents.]
7
4 DESIGNS CONSIDERED
[Using the information and data collected as a result Current System analyses and benchmarking (if used),
the design team should complete a group brainstorming session of how to solve the design problem(s).
Provide at least three complete possible designs for your system. Each possible design must include
all subsystems in your functional decomposition. List advantages and disadvantages of each using
brief but compelling technical analysis.]
[Do not confuse Designs Considered with Existing Designs. Designs Considered are new concepts you
generate. Existing Designs are entities that currently exist.]
[Include in Preliminary Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
4.1 Design #1
[Describe in detail a design solution you have considered. Include a list of Pros and Cons.]
[Include in Preliminary Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
4.2 Design #2
[Describe in detail a design solution you have considered. Include a list of Pros and Cons.]
[Include in Preliminary Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
4.3 Design #3
[Describe in detail a design solution you have considered. Include a list of Pros and Cons.]
[Include in Preliminary Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
[Note: You must discuss at least three Designs Considered. More are encouraged. Copy & paste
additional headings as necessary. Be sure to update your Table of Contents.]
8
5 DESIGN SELECTED
5.1 Rationale for Design Selection
[Use this section to explain / justify the design solution selected. Your selection must be one of the
possible solutions described in the previous chapter, and you should discuss why, given the various
advantages and disadvantages of all of the options given, the selected solution is most appealing. Use an
Appendix for any lengthy engineering calculations.]
[Include in Preliminary Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
5.2 Design Description
[Use this section, with additional subsections as appropriate, to fully describe your design. Show
engineering calculations (or if lengthy, place them in an Appendix and refer readers to that part of the
report) to justify the proposed design. Create, and refer to, detailed engineering drawings, 3D models,
parts and materials used, process diagrams, simulations, facility layouts, or other appropriate tools to
completely specify all aspects of the design.]
[Include in Final Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
9
6 IMPLEMENTATION
[Final Proposal (fall term): Use this chapter to provide a complete description of how you plan to
implement your design (e.g. by fabricating a prototype, creating a proof-of-concept, programming a
simulation, writing software or operator procedures, or making physical and operational changes to the
current system.). It must include a detailed breakdown of all resources needed to implement the chosen
design: information, people, materials, facilities, etc. As appropriate, include a complete bill of materials,
including sourcing (if manufactured, by whom and how, if purchased, from what company). Unless your
bill of materials is very brief, place it in an Appendix. A comparison of the implementation costs and
budget must be included. The plan must also include a detailed schedule for all implementation
activities.]
[Final Report (winter term): Discuss how the implementation actually occurred and describe problems
encountered. Update this section as the project progresses, and add sections as necessary if the design is
subsequently changed due to implementation problems. For design changes, include engineering
calculations and revised part drawings or other design specifications (probably in appendices) as
necessary.]
[Note: This section documents all design / prototype changes made before testing begins (i.e., changes
due to implementation issues). Changes made due to test results are to be described in the next chapter.]
[Include in Final Proposal and all subsequent reports.]
10
7 TESTING
[Discuss your testing plan. Referencing the Chapter 1 design requirements, listed specifically and
exactly, explain how you independently and scientifically tested each. Provide complete test results and
discuss problems encountered. Clearly show which of the design requirements are satisfied, which
are not, and which are ambiguous. For every failed test, (i) provide a compelling technical argument of
why success was expected, (ii) provide a detailed and technically justified redesign to address the problem
including supporting engineering calculations, part drawings, and other documentation as necessary
(Include in Final Report only.)]
[Note: This section documents design / prototype changes made after testing begins (i.e., changes made
due to test results). Changes due to fabrication issues should be described in the previous Chapter.]
[Include in Final Report only.]
11
8 REFERENCES
[Include here all references cited, following the reference style described in the syllabus. If you wish to
include a bibliography, which lists not only references cited but other relevant literature, include it as an
Appendix.]
12
APPENDICES
[Use Appendices to include lengthy technical details or other content that would otherwise break up the
text of the main body of the report. These can contain engineering calculations, engineering drawings,
bills of materials, complete process maps and IDEF0 drawings, current system analyses, and surveys or
questionnaires. Letter the Appendices: Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, etc.]
13