R&D Support
Wouter Konings was asked to lead a team of engineers with the task to reduce the production costs of the low-end shaver without sacrificing quality.
Challenge
The task to implement changes in a big organization like Philips is not easy. New initiatives do not always align with the personal targets the managers have been given. In some cases, an outsider (or an external team) can help to create a fresh look and open new ways that are hard to achieve from the inside.
Approach
When we connected with the different production departments we found out that a lot of information about cost reduction was already available. A lot was achieved by changing the assembly line and cost calculation structure. Another important aspect was to approach water-resistance as an integral part of the design.
Result
We were able to prove that a different approach could create significant savings. The technical concept direction and the learnings from the project were used to develop the new low-end shavers.
The downgrade strategy makes that the low-end is not optimized for costs. Within Philips, the development of the shavers was dominated by marketing. Features, price points, and specials are important but the batch quantities are reduced when a lot of different model types need to be produced.
Ideation
Visualizations of ideas to integrate functionalities
and reduce parts.
Ideation
Visualizations of ideas to integrate functionalities and reduce parts.
Part reduction ideas in the drive and shaver assembly.
Technical Concepts
3 concepts were made and ranked on cost reduction and innovation effort.
Technical Concepts
3 concepts were made and ranked on cost reduction and innovation effort.
Design
Design exploration in co-cooperation with Philips Design.
Final design and a lot of the learnings from the project were implemented in tens of millions of shavers.
One of the first designs were the learnings from the project were implemented.
If you are exploring a new product or facing complexity in development,
we are happy to discuss your situation and identify the most effective next step.