Integrated Product Process Development (IPPD)

THE PRODUCT MARKET OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY IS STILL LIMITED, AND THE FEW AVAILABLE PRODUCTS PRESENT HIGH COST, CONTRADICTING BRAZIL'S HIGH POVERTY LEVELS AND THE ACCESS FOR MOST OF THE USERS WITH DISABILITIES. THE MAIN PURPOSE IS TO PRESENT A FRACTION OF THE INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF PRODUCT (IDPP) FOR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY, APPLYING TOOLS OF PRODUCT ERGONOMICS AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN. THIS IS A RESEARCH OF THE INFORMATIONAL PROJECT APPLIED TO THE PROSTHETICS DEVICES FOR THE UPPER LIMB. THE SPECIFIC AIMS CONCERN THE MARKET OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND ITS USERS. THE STUDY IS BASED ON OBSERVATIONAL ANALYSIS IN FIELD RESEARCH AND IN DATA COLLECTION PRESENT IN THE SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEM OF THE USERS. THE RESULT SHOWS AN ANALISYS OF THE PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS AND SKILLS OF THE PERSON WITH DISABILITIES. BESIDES, BASED ON THE INVESTIGATION AND ANALISYS USING LIKERT TOOL, THE SPECIFICITIES OF THE USERS ARE FOUND IN ORDER TO APPLY THEM ASPRODUCTS REQUIREMENTS, TO CONSTITUTE THE CONCEPTUAL AND DETAILED PROJECT, TO CARRY OUT THE RAPID PROTOTYPING IN CAD ENVIRONMENT, 3D PRINTING AND ASSEMBLY OF THE PRODUCT. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE TOOLS OF PRODUCT EGONOMICS HAVE APPLICABILITY IN THE IDPP, SINCE IT ENABLES TO STUDY THE SPECIFICITIES OF USERS IN ORDER TO APPLY THEM IN SUBSEQUENT PHASES OF IDPP PROJECTS.

Based on an increasing need of life cycle perspectives in product and production development, there is a call for more effective working methods for the reconfigu-ration, rearrangement and reuse of current equipment, systems and processes within production systems. This chapter discusses the need and character of these novel methods based on current research and industrial practice in production system design and development. The proposed development process is illustrated by a double helix development cycle for the production system and the product. The traditional life cycle illustration of product and production system design is in this case altered to a double helix where the same phases of requirement analysis, conceptual design, detailed design, validation and industrialization/ running-in re-occur, but for each development cycle on an elaborated level.