Manufacturing Ascent
Quality production
"I believe that quality level is determined primarily by the actual design of the product itself, not by quality control in the production process."
Hideo Sugiura, chairperson (retired), Honda Motor Company
Having outlined the bracket's form, the team then asked themselves what was the best way of adding illumination. From the top? From the bottom? Or come in through the side? What sort of light? Lee says it was a new experience for the team as none of the company's other products had involved the use of electricity. A number of challenges quickly became apparent. Heat was one of them. Conventional bulbs waste a lot of energy by generating heat, and this would have been a problem as the metal bracket would have acted as a heat sink and absorbed this energy and become dangerously hot. For this reason, a 12V narrow spectrum LED system was chosen as the light source. LED lights waste little energy as heat, which makes them not only safe but economical as well. A supply system had to be designed that would provide a steady flow of power and protect the system from voltage fluctuations.
A number of rough functional models were milled out of solid zinc to give the team a feel for the developing product. When a form was finally resolved, CAD files of the shape were sent to a rapid prototyping bureau where a full-scale prototype was produced using thermosetting plastic and a laser.
Stair lights from Miles Nelson Manufacturing
Just as no car maker would dream about releasing a new model without getting input from the market first, Miles Nelson sought the opinion of architects and designers about the bracket before committing to an expensive production run. An independent market research company was engaged to gauge reactions and record responses to the prototype. The feedback, Lee says, was extremely valuable.
"They all said 'fantastic concept...but why don't you do this... or this... ?' "
As a result of this, several modifications were made to the model.
Usefulness, desirability and useability; meeting the last criterion involved proactively anticipating problems and finding solutions to them. For example, inserts were designed that would allow clients to use the brackets to bear a flat-section handrail, rather than a conventional round-section one. Care was taken to make the mounting system simple and easy to use; fasteners were selected that could be worked with standard tools. Mock-ups were used to check the illumination produced by different configurations of the brackets.
