Methodology and computer-based tools for design, production and sales of customized switchboards
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing switchboards comprising the steps of:
- a) interviewing individual customers to identify and understand actual needs of the individual customers beyond what the customers indicate in switchboard specifications;
b) from the actual needs of the individual customers beyond what the customers indicate in switchboard specifications, revising switchboard specifications to more closely correspond to actual needs of groupings of customers;
c) identifying a subset of switchboard configurations that in various combinations satisfy a majority of the actual needs of the groupings of customers;
d) standardizing and streamlining a process of ordering and manufacturing standard designs from the subset of switchboard configurations; and
e) manufacturing a switchboard that is ordered using the resulting standardized and streamlined process of ordering, said switchboard being manufactured using said standardized and streamlined process of manufacturing standard designs.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An in-depth review of the switchboard business, including customer interviews, revealed that customer specifications were more complex than customer needs. Customer needs were quantified, and a reduced set of standard switchboard configuration classes was selected so that about 80% of customer orders based on actual customer needs could be satisfied by the standard switchboard configuration classes, and the remaining orders would be satisfied by custom designed switchboards. Major components in the standard switchboards were themselves standardized. A standard switchboard, for example, has a continuous current capacity of no more than 4000 Amps, a maximum voltage rating of 480 Vac, a short circuit current rating of no more than 200 kA, and an aluminum or copper bus. The manufacture of the standard switchboards was optimized for a one-day manufacturing cycle and separated from the manufacture of the custom designed switchboards. A sales office and manufacturing plant roll-out schedule was implemented and managed by computer-based spreadsheet tools. A switchboard configuration computer program module was designed and interfaced between a product selector and a materials management (MRP) system in order to automate the process of entering orders, designing standard switchboards, ordering parts, and scheduling assembly of standard switchboards.
95 Citations
69 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing switchboards comprising the steps of:
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a) interviewing individual customers to identify and understand actual needs of the individual customers beyond what the customers indicate in switchboard specifications; b) from the actual needs of the individual customers beyond what the customers indicate in switchboard specifications, revising switchboard specifications to more closely correspond to actual needs of groupings of customers; c) identifying a subset of switchboard configurations that in various combinations satisfy a majority of the actual needs of the groupings of customers; d) standardizing and streamlining a process of ordering and manufacturing standard designs from the subset of switchboard configurations; and e) manufacturing a switchboard that is ordered using the resulting standardized and streamlined process of ordering, said switchboard being manufactured using said standardized and streamlined process of manufacturing standard designs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of manufacturing switchboards comprising the steps of:
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a) identifying a subset of switchboard configurations that in various combinations satisfy a majority of the actual needs of customers; b) standardizing and streamlining a process of ordering and manufacturing standard designs from the subset of switchboard configurations; c) revising a process of custom design and manufacture of non-standard configurations to maximize use of standard components used in the manufacturing of standard designs; and d) manufacturing a switchboard that is ordered using the resulting standardized and streamlined process of ordering, said switchboard being manufactured using either said standardized and streamlined process of manufacturing standard designs or said revised process of custom design and manufacture of non-standard configurations. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of manufacturing switchboards comprising the steps of:
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a) identifying a subset of switchboard configurations that in various combinations satisfy a majority of the actual needs of customers; b) standardizing and streamlining a process of ordering and manufacturing standard designs from the subset of switchboard configurations; c) revising a process of custom design and manufacture of non-standard configurations to maximize use of standard components used in the manufacturing of standard designs; d) integrating a switchboard configuration system for automatic configuration of the standard designs into a computer system having an order-to-payment system, a switchboard selector for selecting standard switchboards and custom switchboards, a configuration program for automatic configuration of standard switchboards, and a materials management system; e) performing custom design to satisfy customer orders of switchboards that are excluded from the subset of switchboard configurations, and performing automatic configuration to satisfy customer orders of switchboards that are included in the subset of switchboard configurations; and f) manufacturing a switchboard using either said custom design or said automatic configuration. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of manufacturing switchboards comprising the steps of:
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a) interviewing individual customers to identify and understand actual needs of the individual customers beyond what the customers indicate in switchboard specifications; b) from the actual needs of the individual customers beyond what the customers indicate in switchboard specifications, revising switchboard specifications to more closely correspond to actual needs of groupings of customers; c) identifying a subset of switchboard configurations that in various combinations satisfy a majority of the actual needs of the groupings of customers; d) standardizing and streamlining a process of ordering and manufacturing standard designs from the subset of switchboard configurations; e) revising a process of custom design and manufacture of non-standard configurations to maximize use of standard components used in the manufacturing of standard designs; f) integrating a switchboard configuration system for automatic configuration of the standard designs into a computer system having a switchboard selector for standard and custom switchboards; g) performing custom design to satisfy customer orders of switchboards that are excluded from the subset of switchboard configurations, and performing automatic configuration to satisfy customer orders of switchboards that are included in the subset of switchboard configurations; and h) manufacturing a switchboard using either said custom design or said automatic configuration. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of manufacturing switchboards to satisfy individual customer orders, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) receiving respective customer specifications for switchboards to be manufactured; b) determining whether or not the customer specification for each switchboard can be met by a respective standard switchboard design configuration from a predefined set of standard switchboard designs and a predefined set of standard switchboard components; and
when the customer specification for said each switchboard can be met by a respective standard switchboard design configuration from the predefined set of standard switchboard designs and the predefined set of standard switchboard components, automatically producing manufacturing instructions for the respective standard switchboard design configuration from the custom specification for said each switchboard, and; and
when the customer specification for said each switchboard cannot be met by a respective standard switchboard design configuration from the predefined set of standard switchboard designs and the predefined set of standard switchboard components, producing manufacturing instructions for a custom switchboard design configuration that will meet the customer specifications for said each switchboard; andc) manufacturing a switchboard using either the manufacturing instructions for the respective standard switchboard design configuration or the manufacturing instructions for the custom switchboard design configuration. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method of improving production and sales of switchboards, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) conducting a review of production and sales of the switchboards, including customer interviews to determine discrepancies between actual needs of the customers and customer needs expressed in respective customer specifications for the switchboards; b) selecting a reduced set of standard switchboard configuration classes so that a predefined majority of customer orders can be satisfied by the standard switchboard configuration classes; c) optimizing manufacturing capabilities for manufacturing of the switchboards from the standard switchboard configuration classes; d) processing customer orders by determining whether or not a respective switchboard specification associated with each customer order can be satisfied by a switchboard configured from the standard switchboard configuration classes;
when the respective switchboard specification can be satisfied by a switchboard configured from the standard switchboard configuration classes, producing manufacturing instructions for the switchboard by configuring the switchboard from the standard switchboard configuration classes; and
when the respective switchboard specification cannot be satisfied by a switchboard configured from the standard switchboard configuration classes, producing manufacturing instructions for the switchboard by a custom design process; ande) manufacturing a switchboard using either said manufacturing instructions produced by configuring the switchboard from the standard switchboard configuration classes, or said manufacturing instructions produced by said custom design process. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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Specification