Establishing

Product Function

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Why Functional Decomposition
Number of limitations to seek from existing product.
Seek directly from previous experience of design
team
Concentrates on What has to be achieved by a
new concept & not How it is to be achieved
Basis for organizing design team, tasks & process
Creativity enhancement
Abstraction
More acceptable solutions can be generated with
mapping Needs to Function & then to Form

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Functional modeling basics
Function
Statement of clear, reproducible relationship between
available input & desired output of product, independent
of any particular form
Product Function
Intended overall function of product just a noun & an
active verb
Sub function
Component of product function corresponding to
subtasks

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Black Box

Input Product Function Output

Intended form is unknown

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Functions and Constraints

Constraints
Is a statement of clear criterion that must be satisfied by a
product & requires consideration of entire product to
determine the criterion value
Functions are satisfied through operation of product
Constraints are satisfied by properties of entire
product
Includes criteria of cost, compactness, mass & reliability

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Functional Modeling
Systematic process of transforming needs to a clear
specification of design task
Initiates conceptual design phase
Function Hierarchies (trees) or Function Structures
(task listing) used to model products function

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Functional Trees

Decompose the Prime function hierarchically into sub

functions

Fast & Simple to construct

Function Analysis System
Understanding the interactions between expanded sub
Technique
functions is vital

Less effective in establishing specifications & structuring

of development process
FAST Method (top-down approach)
Subtract & Operate Method (bottom-up approach)

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Function Analysis System
Technique (FAST)
Displays function in a logical sequence, Prioritize them
and tests their dependency
HOW-WHY analysis
Basic function?
Secondary function?
Higher order function?
Critical path?
Each right node in critical path must answer how the
left node is achieved, every left node should answer
why right node is being achieved

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 FAST diagram: Coffee Mill
Support Loads

Create Aesthetic
Reduce noise Compact System Appeal

Convert EE to Provide
Grind Coffee Chop Beans Driving Power
Rotation Electricity

Seal for Chopping Transmit Torque Connect Electricity

Contain Beans Dampen

Vibration

Hold Beans
Generate Noise
Accept Beans
Reduce Noise
Generate Noise

Reduce Noise
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Subtract and operate Method

Bottom-up approach to develop a function tree

Assumption: a form concept or actual product exists, this

concept/product is then reverse engineered

Better way to figure out function of component; removing

it, operating system without it conceptually

Starts by considering smallest isolatable function of feature

(which are not further decomposable)

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Function Structure

Meaningful & Compatible combination of sub

functions in to an overall function produces a
Function Structure
Sub functions should be expressed in terms of
measurable effects or mathematical relationships
Sub functions are schematically networked
together to form an overall function structure

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Function Structure modeling process

Phase 1 :
Develop Process descriptions as activity Diagrams
Phase 2:
Formulate Sub functions through Task Listing
Phase 3:
Aggregate sub functions into a refined Function Structure
Phase 4:
Validate the functional Decomposition
Phase 5:
Establish & identify product architecture & assembly

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Phase 1 : Develop Process
descriptions as activity Diagrams

Process description in Activity Diagrams eventually forming a Function

Structure
Process description includes three phases;
Preparation
Execution
Conclusion comprising network of high level user activity
Parallel activities will lead to device functions or subsystems

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Phase 2: Formulate Sub functions
through Task Listing

Task Listing
Method of aggregating sub functions & comparison of functional decomposition
with needs
Flow
Qualitative phenomenon passing through & being changed by sub functions
Eg: energy, material , information
Translating Needs to Flow
For every flow; sequence the sub functions & operations

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Basic Function Structure: Coffee Roaster

Electricity Heat , Noise

Green coffee Roasted coffee,

beans
Roast coffee beans Chaff
Roast level
Start signal Status -
Completed

Chaff is a thin skin which comes out of

Energy
coffee beans while roasting and
needs to be discarded.
Material

Information

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Phase 3: Aggregate sub-functions
into a refined Function Structure

Sequence of sub functions is aggregated to represent functions of

entire product
Function Structure must satisfy two criteria:
Are sub functions Atomic; can they be fulfilled by a single basic task?
Is the level of detail sufficient to address customer needs?

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Phase 4: Validate the functional
Decomposition

Analysis of functional modeling

Verification steps :
All measure Flows between subfunctions are labeled & checked according to
their state of transformation
Customer Needs list is reviewed & sequence of subfunctions identified

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Phase 5: Establish & identify
product architecture & assembly

Defines collections of functions (chunks) that will form assembly in

product & clarifies the interactions & interfaces between the chunks
It provides Basis to Product team for:
Choosing between modular & integral architecture
Choosing parallel design task for product development

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Toy Dart Gun

KE, Eloss, Acoustic,

Human energy, gravity Reaction Force

Air, dart, target, hand Air, moving dart, target, hand

Shoot Darts
Fire, aim Noise, aligned target

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Black Box for Toy Dart Gun

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Function Chain for
Shoot Dart at longer Distance

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Function Chain for Easy to Trigger

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Complete Function Structure for
Toy dart gun

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus