Module 2 – Measure

Chapter 2: Market Analysis

Research Market Competitors – Benchmarking

In researching the market, your team needs to understand the customer’s experience(s) with existing products on the market. These competitors are then assessed using CRs. The idea is for your design team to understand the customer’s current experiences, or what products they are using to satisfy their requirements. This gives the opportunity for your design team to see what kind of product you can design to better satisfy the customer, so you can capture the market!

Benchmarking_Video Script [DOC]

Let’s take a look at MIRE_TECH’s competitor assessment/analysis from the HoQ:

The team identified four competitors to assess using the customer requirements with rankings of 1, 3, and 9:

Table 1. Stove Reviews
Chitetezo mbaula Weber-741001 Grill
Greenfire Stove Rocket Stove
9 1 1 9
9 3 9 3
9 9 9 3
9 9 3 3
3 9 3 9
3 1 1 3
Table of Competitive options, ratings, and final scores based on whether an item meets requirements
A screenshot of the same data from above, as it would appear in the DMADVR spreadsheet.

The team’s assessment shows that Chitetezo mbaula  as the highest performing competitor or the competitor that met the customer requirements with the highest score! The team can use this information to analyze the top-scoring competitor. This provides the team with knowledge about where they can either meet or exceed customer expectations in their designs!

The Chocolate Chip Cookie design team also researched the competition and reviewed how they stacked up:

Table 2. Cookie Reviews
Mrs. Field’s Girl Scout’s Starbucks Cinnabon
3 3 3 9
3 3 3 3
3 3 3 3
3 1 1 1
3 3 9 9

 

Practice Exercise

Answer this practice question about the cookie design team’s assessment:

Occasionally, ranking numbers besides 1, 3, 9 are used by different entities. In ME design, we ONLY use 1, 3, and 9 for ranking.
Practice Exercise

Watch the following interactive video:   Developing a Deep Understanding of the Customer – Tools and Methods

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Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design Copyright © 2023 by Jacqulyn A. Baughman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.