Continuing in this ongoing series of communications about the field of engineering design and how you can be more effective in it, let’s talk a bit about quantifying your requirements. You will never get what you want if you don’t spell out your needs and wants, exactly. It reminds me of a story I read many years ago wherein one of the characters said something to the effect that, “You don’t know anything unless you can define it to 5 decimal places.” Perhaps that is a bit extreme, but I’m sure you get the idea. For example, someone says to me, “I want the part to be light and strong and look good too.” Or, “I want there to be a great amount of clamping force exerted, when the device is closed.
Both statements convey the desired concept, but are so general as to not provide me with enough data with which to work. The words “light” and “strong” are relative terms. Light compared to lead, or compared to steel, or compared to aluminum, or compared to balsa wood, mean totally different things. Likewise, the word “strong” could mean very different levels of “resistance to applied forces.” Having something “look good” is probably the most difficult concept of all to define, as both beauty and ugliness alike are both considerations and have no other basis in fact.
In talking about clamping force, I would agree that a bench vise could exert a good amount of clamping force. Banging the handle with a hammer will create more clamping force. Putting a 10’ piece of pipe on the handle and then having a 300 lb guy “bounce” on the end of the pipe a few times would really be getting into the range of “great amount of clamping force.”
You get the idea. All I’m saying is that I need to have enough quantifiable data to at least get started. Then, with a point of reference established, we can move in whatever direction you want to go. Please understand, that the better you do your end of this process, the better I can do mine. And, as an added bonus you end up paying less overall. It’s easier to find the right pew when you don’t first have to find the correct state, city, street and church.
So, help me help you. Call me for a no-cost, no-obligation appointment, so I can begin sorting out your product or manufacturing process difficulties.