Cost of Bad Design

Mufaddal Rasheed Author

What are the implications of errors or Bad quality of design in mechanical product development

Through the Product Lifecycle The cost of Bad design keeps rising

At the prototype stage any correction can be easily done by remaking the prototype and doing design modifications

At the production level, Many mass production tools would have already been designed around the product hence any change would incur heavy expenses

In the hands of the User/customer, the Loss of Bad design is highest as the reputation is lost in addition to the cost of correction

Rework and Redesign :

Depending on the stage of product development, any modification in design will require re-work or re-design of the product and manufacturing tools associated with them . For example , if the durability study has not been carried out on a structural member and then the part fails in a prototype. It requires re-design to improve the structural integrity as well as rework of the manufacturing setup due to changes in the design

Manufacturing delays and lost production time:

Any change in manufacturing line requires stoppage of production and hence those will result in loss of sales revenue. Extending product development times also adds up the cost

Production complexity , maintenance and support costs:

Sometimes even if designs don’t outright fail, a faulty design may have a very difficult maintenance regime which adds unnecessary cost . Additional overheads and support costs are incurred for not so optimized design.

Waste of Resources :

The parts which have been manufactured already are wasted and so are interface components in that assembly . So one bad part has a series of consequences in terms of the interfacing components and functions.

Legal issues , Product Recalls:

For products which deal with load bearing members or machines that can cause bodily harm, any failure resulting in damage bears a huge cost .

Design flaws that compromise safety or fail to meet regulatory standards may result in product recalls. Product recalls can have significant financial implications, including the cost of retrieving and replacing products, legal expenses, and damage to the company's reputation.

Opportunity cost :

The time and resources spent addressing design issues detract from the opportunity to focus on new projects or innovations. Opportunity costs arise when a company is unable to capitalize on emerging market trends due to persistent design challenges.

Categories: Design process