Blog Entry 2 Week 4: SCAMPER🧐

Heyy everyone! Welcome back to my 2nd blog, this topic will be about SCAMPER for our own product design.

SCAMPER:

During Week 4 we have tried using SCAMPER to generate a large quantity of ideas and ways to improve our product such as changing the material, shape, and height or adding valve, separator, and other applications. It is useful as it helps us as students to think outside the box and enhance our knowledge to improve the existing device.

S - Substitute

C - Combine

A - Adapt

M - Modify

P - Put Another Use

E - Eliminate

R - Reverse

Feasibility Analysis Template

With SCAMPER ideas we have, we go on to Feasibility Analysis Template as this table helps us to ensure that our product design is feasible. It also helps us sieve out ideas quickly like Budget, Project Timeline, Technical Feasibility, and Operational Feasibility.

Budget and Project Timeline

Budget and Project Timeline cannot be compromised at all as the project idea is either a GO or NO GO depending on whether the idea can be able to meet both of these constraints.

Budget

It is all about money like how much the consumables, equipment, eternal laboratory testing, engineering modification, waste disposal, and transportation cost.

Project Timeline

Is like whether the project of this device will be able to complete within the stipulated timeframe example the license of this application, equipment modification/repair, and chemicals/equipment delivery.

Technical and Operational Feasibilities

Technical and Operational Feasibilities concerns whether proper resources exist or are reasonably attainable to implement the project which includes the availability of a project space, utilities, chemicals and materials, equipment, and technical capability of the organization.

Technical Feasibility

• Within the limit of current technology

• the technology existed at all

• Have sufficient space to support the project

• Required utilities available

• Any testing and fabrication equipment

• Any computer software and hardware

• Possess the necessary technical expertise and skills

Operational Feasibility

• Sufficient manpower to carry out the project

• Legal to operate the project

• Safe to operate the project

• Against any organizational policy

Idea Screening Process

My Team agreed to continue with our product design on making a device to make clarified butter and infusing it with any herbs in it.

Our Team Ideas

Our 1st idea involved a simple design where a small cylinder is placed inside a bigger cylinder in between the 2 cylinders with the red coil acting as a heating element. However, there is a problem with the design as it requires the user to drain or skim the melted butter or milk solids content that will be formed at the top.

Our 2nd idea was to add a solenoid valve that will be connected to the sensor at the side of the cylinder to measure either density or the colour, at the bottom of the inner cylinder so that once the whole process is done, the solenoid valve will be an open due difference in density or color.

Our 3rd idea consists of a combination with the 2nd idea and a change of the inner cylinder. The inner cylinder edges should be rounded instead of it being sharp. So that the user will be able to collect all the pure butter without wasting any part of it.

Our Team Feasibility Analysis Table

The photo below shows the Idea 1: Butter Separator

The photo below shows the Idea 2: Butter Separator with solenoid valve

The photo below shows the Idea 3: Butter Separator with solenoid valve, change in shape

COWS Matrix

My groups face some difficulties in doing the COWS matrix as on the day that we are supposed to do the COWS matrix most of us in our group did not turn up for the tutorial lesson as we were sick however Asraf and I managed to call one of our groupmate, Eshvin that was in campus to discuss which are the top 3 ideas we going choose and the 5 evaluation criterions to select. We overcome the challenge of leading the team online and we were able to do the COWS matrix finish before the class carry on with other topics.

COWS decision matrix is used to evaluate these 3 options

Criteria – Relevance

5 evaluation criterions were selected

• Cost-effectiveness

• Availability of materials

• Storage capacity

• Ease of use

• Ease of fabrication

Options – All feasible

The 3 ideas from the ideation stage from SCAMPER:

• Butter Separator.

• Butter Separator with Solenoid Valve.

• Butter Separator with Solenoid Valve, change in shape.

Weighting – Contextualise

Each criterion will be assigned a weightage based on the level of importance.

Weightages must add up to 100%.

Score - Assessment

The options will be scored against the criteria based on a rating scale of 1 to 3

1 being the poorest and 3 being the best.

Below shows our team COWS Matrix :

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