Internet Driven Parametric Design Software for Design of
Children’s Toys
Prototypical Needs Assessment
By
Christina White
Fisher-Price, Inc
636 Girard Avenue
East Aurora, NY 14052
Abstract:
The purpose of the project is to create a user-friendly front end to help utilize the large
quantity of standard design parts used by Fisher-Price designers. The program that we are
creating will be used by the designers in an effort to drastically cut the design process
lead time from 4 weeks to 2 weeks. “Product Builder” will query the individual a series
of questions concerning the standard parts used within their design.
Facet 1: Recognize and Quantify the Need
Project Mission Statement:
The mission of the design team is to go above and beyond the customer expectations in
providing a user-friendly web-based front-end for all of the designers within Fisher-Price.
The platform must be highly successful and utilize the existing packages currently in
service by the company.
Project Description:
The program, “Vehicle Product Builder,” that we are creating will be used by the
designers in an effort to drastically cut the design process lead time from 4 weeks to 2
weeks. It will query the individual a series of questions concerning the standard parts
used within their design. The vision of the customer is to produce a package with the
abilities to be modified for future product designs.
Scope Limitations:
The project must be completed before graduation in May, which is within the expected 6
month timeframe set by the customer. The interface must be easy to understand and use
for designers that are both familiar and unfamiliar with Pro-E and Pro-I. It may be written
in ASP, VB Script, HTML, Java and/or C, but must be compatible with Microsoft IIS.
Interaction between software must be established using Pro-E trail files (Wildfire release
build 2003330+) and Pro-I toolkit functions written in C (Pro-I version 3.3 2002470+).
The program shall utilize the existing software packages used by Fisher-Price. “Product
Builder” should be easy to maintain with future releases of all related software. All user
web input must be stored in a database located on customer’s server. Software revision
control must be maintainable within the development process of the program. In order to
keep open communication and organization throughout the duration of the development
process, internal program documentation and external flowcharts are crucial. The project
team should utilize and work in conjunction with a student co-op on-site at Fisher-Price.
Stakeholders:
Our stakeholders are those that will be directly in contact with the “Vehicle Product
Builder”. Those individuals would be the designers that utilize Pro-E at Fisher-Price. On
a higher level, Fisher-Price, as a whole, is also considered as a stakeholder, due to the
great deal they would gain from the success of this project.
Key Business Goals:
The success of the project relative to Fisher-Price can be measured by the increased use
of the program by the designers. The increase in use will eliminate the amount of “nonvalue added activities”, which as a result, will decrease the lead time of the design
process.
It can also be measured by the relationship between RIT and Fisher-Price following the
conclusion of the project.
Top Level Critical Financial Parameters (CFPs):
The “Vehicle Product Builder” must not have a development cost. It is essential that
existing software packages be utilized by all members involved. Due to the high intensity
of software and database involvement required, there should be no need for materials to
be acquired for the successful completion of this project.
Financial Analysis:
The cost of developing the project should be minimal due to the company being exempt
from purchasing the required software tools necessary to complete the project. It should
involve only the cost of being involved and the salary of the co-op student.
Primary Market:
The primary market is to the designers within Fisher-Price. The designers involved have
an understanding of Pro-E that ranges from very familiar to vague.
Secondary Markets:
The secondary market is other areas of the company that can benefit from design
modifications of the system. The aforementioned areas that have been identified are
Industrial Design and Product Development. The goal is to have the capabilities, within
the program, to change and/or duplicate large portions of the code to interact in various
environments with other products (i.e. - houses, gearboxes, etc.).
Critical Performance Parameters (Order Qualifiers, Minimum Required
Performance)
Along with remaining within the customer criteria for the project, the following are
deliverables that will be anticipated at the end of the established timeframe and signify
completion of the project:
• Robust Access database of sample Pro-E parts, which contains all inclusive
subassemblies, object attributes, attribute types, options, and defaults.
• Graphical User Interface (GUI) between Pro-E and MS Access database with
query options
Critical Performance Parameters (Order Winners, Desired Performance)
Innovation Opportunities
In an effort to go beyond the customer expectations, the following parameters have been
established as potential areas of growth:
• Demonstrate breadth and depth of scope in order to modify the resulting program
for future uses.
• Develop Quality Control Matrix to test the feasibility of the interface that will be
established.
• Create interface for database input interfacing with all supported software,
including Pro-E, Pro-I, MS Access, Oracle, and the web.