Bridging Triumph and Trial: A Panel Discussion about Engineering with ‘To Engineer is Human’ and ‘The Wright Brothers’

Anne Meixner, Dr. Vaneeta Kaur Grover, and Dianna Deeney join in a panel discussion about engineering and STEM. They met for an engineering book review to discuss the ideas that came from the books themselves and to link literature about engineering to current-day challenges.

Uncover the intricacies of engineering’s past and present as we dissect To Engineer is Human and The Wright Brothers. Our collective expertise spans the gamut from semiconductor testing to biotechnology statistics, offering a rich tapestry of perspectives on these seminal works. This episode promises a journey through the shared trials and triumphs that shape our engineering landscape and a candid examination of the setbacks we seldom speak about.

Their wish for listeners is to gain different perspectives and to get inspired toward action: to try something new, read one of the books, or make new connections with others.

The episode isn’t complete without their review of the books that sparked this enriching dialogue. You’ll hear why “The Wright Brothers” and “To Engineer is Human” scored high on our recommendation list for anyone keen on understanding the essence of engineering, from the glory of breakthroughs to the wisdom found in failures. Join us for this episode, where we bridge the divide between historical achievement and contemporary challenges in the ever-evolving world of STEM.

This panel discussion about engineering and STEM originally aired on Linked-In Live on November 1, 2023.

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What is DFSS and How does Quality during Design Relate?

We explore the history, philosophy, and methodology of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and explore how it relates to Quality during Design (hint: they’re not the same).

Six Sigma

We dissect the acronyms DMAIC and DMADV, revealing how these methodologies are blueprints for achieving excellence. From statistics to Motorola’s legendary quality standards and other history of six sigma, you’ll begin to see how DFSS may relate with your organization’s current design development processes.

Quality during Design

Quality during Design is not DFSS. It can be part of DFSS or any other product development process. Quality during Design is a philosophy that emphasizes the benefits of cross-functional team involvement and a methodology that uses quality tools to refine design concepts early on. Quality tools bridge the gap between team communication and innovative concept development. We review why skipping the crucial steps of questioning and investigating can lead to missed opportunities.

As we navigate through the essential stages of product development, we invite you to join us on this enlightening path to creating impactful and high-quality solutions that stand the test of time—and the marketplace.

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Exposing The Hidden Flaws of FMEA and Risk Matrices: Advancing Your Risk Assessment

In the realm of risk assessment and management, traditional tools like Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and risk matrices have been widely accepted as the norm. However, beneath the surface of these established methods lie hidden flaws of FMEA and risk matrices that can significantly impact the effectiveness of risk analysis and decision-making processes. The latest podcast episode takes a deep dive into these issues, offering listeners an exploration of the challenges posed by conventional risk assessment techniques.

The episode emphasizes the importance of staying informed and adapting to new methods in the ever-evolving landscape of risk management. By doing so, professionals can ensure that they are not only equipped to handle current challenges but also prepared to meet the demands of the future.

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Getting Information for Product Design with Fred Schenkelberg (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts) – Part 2

Dianna Deeney interviews Fred Schenkelberg about getting information for product design, focusing on reliability engineering in new products.

This episode is part 2 of 2.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts”. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they’re involved and work with product design engineering teammates.

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Getting Information for Product Design with Fred Schenkelberg (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts) – Part 1

Dianna Deeney interviews Fred Schenkelberg about getting information for product design, focusing on reliability engineering in new products.

This episode is part 1 of 2.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts”. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they’re involved and work with product design engineering teammates.

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Harnessing Team Insights for Risk Analysis using Probabilities

Navigating the common roadblocks of team consensus on severity ratings during FMEA or hazard analysis can be challenging. But with the right strategies, your team can capture uncertainty and avoid the pitfall of too many conservative estimates that skew prioritization. Learn how a probability mass function can revolutionize your risk assessment, ensuring a smoother, more accurate process for all stakeholders involved.

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From “Fall-Through” to “Follow-Through”: A Proactive Strategy for Design

Quality during Design isn’t just an add-on; it’s a fundamental aspect that drives innovation, efficiency, and customer satisfaction!

Ever find yourself at the tail end of a project, swamped with unfinished tasks, and wondering where things went awry? Are there important recommended actions that the team was excited about that just didn’t get done? These are the conundrums we tackle in this episode of Quality During Design, with a special nod to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Be Useful” for his proactive approach to work. Move from “fall-through” to “follow-up and follow-through”.

We dissect the all-too-familiar scenario of projects saddled with incomplete actions, despite our best-laid plans. We don’t just commiserate—we arm you with a strategy to ensure that things are seen through to the end.

Let’s pull lessons from Schwarzenegger’s tenure as California’s governor and his hands-on approach during crises. We dissect the significance of staying involved and the vital role of follow-up and follow-through. Use this when implementing recommended actions from customer studies to FMEAs.  Join us as we cast a critical eye on why management systems sometimes fail in practice and what to do to help ensure success. This isn’t just about weathering audits or ticking boxes; it’s about a commitment to excellence in product and service design.

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Welcome Back! New, Upcoming Opportunities with FMEA and Quality during Design

Quality during Design isn’t just an add-on; it’s a fundamental aspect that drives innovation, efficiency, and customer satisfaction!

Welcome back from our brief hiatus!

One of the highlights of this episode is the introduction of an upcoming FMEA course on Udemy, with The Manufacturing Academy. FMEA, or Failure Modes and Effects Analysis, is a systematic method for evaluating our offerings to identify where and how they might fail and to assess the relative impact of different failures.  Dianna’s approach to FMEA is not only about adhering to traditional methods but also about addressing the criticisms and limitations often associated with them. This course promises to be a fresh take on risk-based decision-making. You’ll hear more about it when it is released!

Moreover, the episode touches upon the ‘Quality During Design Fast Track’ program, which is currently in the works and open to listener feedback. The initiative aims to harness quality tools in novel ways, even before a design concept is fully fleshed out. It emphasizes the importance of early input from cross-functional teams to gather requirements and user needs, thereby making the design process more effective and efficient. This program is system-based and affects how products and services are developed, leading to more thoughtful, user-centric designs.

Listeners are invited: please take brief survey to help Dianna with aspects of these upcoming courses and more.  www.qualityduringdesign.com/survey

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Taking a Brief Pause: Reflecting on Quality During Design’s Journey and Preparing for What’s Next

Blink and you’ll miss it, Quality During Design is taking a short, well-deserved break. We’ve journeyed together through a whopping 136 episodes over the last two years and eight months, and now it’s time for us to recharge, refocus, and return with a bang in a few weeks. While we are not releasing new episodes during this period, we’re excited to stay connected with you through our weekly email newsletters, loaded with the same quality content, professional wisdom, and valuable tips that you’ve come to expect from us.

Is there a particular topic you’d love us to tackle in future episodes? Now is the perfect time to share your thoughts! We’re eager to hear from you, so reach out via email or social media with your questions, feedback, or suggestions. Let’s continue to build this community together during our short hiatus.

I want to thank you for your support and participation.  We’re already excited to return to your favorite podcast platforms soon with a fresh perspective, exciting guests, and a renewed commitment to bringing you the best insights into quality and reliability in design. Until then, stay inspired, curious, and in touch!

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Timing Reliability in Product Design, with Jeffrey Lewis (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts)

Dianna Deeney interviews Jeffrey Lewis about new product development: how timing the right activities can lead to product success.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts”. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they’re involved and work with product design engineering teammates.

About Jeffrey

Jeff is a senior director of corporate quality at Globus Medical. He’s a quality, reliability, risk management and product development professional. He is experienced at building quality into products, manufacturing processes and all business processes. Jeff is an accomplished executive with experience directing design and development and quality staff to meet company goals and objectives.

Jeffrey and Dianna talk about:

• The delicate balance between knowing what you know and discovering what you don’t.
• Incorporating reliability tools like Design FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis) and TAFT (test-analyze-fix-test) into the design process to improve designs and make products more reliable and manufacturable.
• Signs that a product development process needs improvement.
• How, by fostering a collaborative environment, product designers can balance the pressures of completing a project within a given timeframe and still ensure the quality and reliability of their work.

Jeff’s wealth of experience and insights provide a roadmap for quality and reliability in product design, making it a must-listen for all in product development and design.

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Driving Effective Conversations-Prioritizing and Decision Making at Concept Development and Beyond

What if you could shift your approach in product design to focus on what really matters, and thereby create products that truly resonate with your customers?

We’ve been discovering the importance of considering a variety of inputs early in the design process. Now, we navigate the challenge of prioritizing these inputs to make the crucial trade-off decisions that can make or break your product.

We journey through the world of early concept development, discussing how setting priorities can ensure we deliver what’s truly important. We look at how these priorities can guide the product development process and how they can be adjusted when new information arises. From surprising test failures to unexpected customer issues, we explore how to reassess our priorities based on these fresh insights.

Along the way, I’ll be sharing more tools and techniques from previous episodes to help you prioritize your ideas effectively. Get ready to enhance your approach to product design and development and create products that your customers will love!

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Driving Effective Conversations-Three Major Aspects to Consider for DfX

Gain insights into working effectively with cross-functional teams, collecting invaluable design inputs without succumbing to the overwhelming flow of information.

We’ll discuss the magic behind the ‘concept space’, an efficient approach to dissect potential customer experiences, streamlining concept development at the start.

What about after that high-level concept development, when we begin our engineering design?

Early engineering diagrams can prove instrumental in evaluating modularity, layout, and interactions in product design with a team. Dianna guides us through part of a Quality During Design course lesson, shedding light on how these diagrams can be used. Each function has a different reason to look at these three aspects of product design, and it’s worth asking to help us achieve Design for Excellence.

Learn how the collective wisdom of these teams can influence design choices, ensuring that the final product appeases both the internal and external customers. So, buckle up for this enlightening episode as we demystify product design and stress the crucial role of a synchronized team effort.

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Driving Effective Conversations-Taking the Lead in Working Meetings

As a product designer, you need design inputs. Many of us have communication problems with our cross-functional teams about product ideas which then morph into product development problems later.

What can happen when we are taking the lead in working meetings, to get the information we need for design?

In this episode, we unravel the importance of communication and self-advocacy in the realm of product design. In our chat, we share how to take the lead in working meetings with cross-functional teams to get design inputs. Learn the art of preparation, involvement, maintaining an open mind, and making the most of the knowledge gained.

Let’s dig into the power of active communication and how it can not only resolve issues but also enhance outcomes for all parties involved. This episode is a unique blend of design engineering, self-advocacy, and quality during the design process. Tune in, absorb, and apply these insights to your professional journey.

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Supply Chain Management during Design, with Kevin Bailey (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts)

Dianna Deeney interviews Kevin Bailey, from Design 1st, about supply chain management during design: how product design engineers and product development leadership can be affected by and affect the supply chain for their products.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts”. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they’re involved and work with product design engineering teammates.

About Kevin

Kevin Bailey is the Founder and CEO of Design 1st, a leading product development consultancy. With a dedicated team specializing in various aspects of product development, including industrial design, user experience, mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, Design 1st is at the forefront of delivering top-quality product designs. Kevin is known for his expertise in integrating cost considerations early in the design process and helping clients navigate supply chain solutions, ensuring a seamless development journey for their projects.

Kevin and Dianna talk about:

• How to approach supply chain management from a risk point-of-view, including balancing risk and opportunity.
• Kevin’s framework for successful supply chain management: FACT. Feasible, Available, Constraints, and Test.
• Engineers’ responsibilities toward supply chain management, and Leaderships responsibilities toward enabling those activities.
• His views of the current state of supply chain management challenges.

Hear Kevin’s take on why engineers need to factor in supply chain management while designing products and how crucial it is for leadership and other teammates to lend support to engineers when liaising with suppliers. We’ll also talk about how the size of the project and the roles within it should influence the product engineer’s approach.

Don’t miss out on Kevin’s thoughts on the intersection of AI and product development and a sneak peek into his company’s upcoming project. Join us for this insightful episode, packed with actionable advice for product development leaders, designers, and engineers.

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The Strategic Gamechanger: Quality during (Product) Design

Ever wished you could ace the art of product design using quality frameworks? Your wish is just about to come true!

We unravel the ADEPT framework, your magic wand for creating products that are not just satisfactory,  but loved by users. We’ll also be discussing how to lead a team effectively, conduct hands-on meetings, and choose the right participants. These handy tips will enable you to develop top-notch products using cross-functional collaboration.

We’re also unveiling how quality itself can be a strategic gamechanger in product design. The ADEPT framework, applicable to any quality tool, will bring alignment, discovery, examination, prioritization, and teamwork to your concept development process.

With Quality during Design’s unique approach and with these resources at your fingertips, you’re ready to step up your product design game.

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