Door Chimes

Key Issues

 

Company

 Caradon Friedland

Product

 Family of battery, transformer and mains powered door chimes

Objectives
  • Reduce product cost
  • Improve product reliability
  • Enable automatic assembly
  • Improve build quality

    		•

    Approach

    		 Concurrent engineering team using Design for Manufacture and Assembly tools

    Friedland was the largest supplier of door chimes in the UK, but was losing market share to cheaper imported products. The objective of this exercise was to redesign the product to make it suitable for automatic assembly.

    DFA was used to redesign the product. FMEA was used to ensure the design was robust and to identify any weaknesses in the assembly process.

    The significant reduction in the cost (44%) of the mains powered units had the unexpected effect of potential major improvements in market penetration in geographical areas where this company's products had been perceived as too expensive.
     

    Benefits

    Automatic assembly
    22% - 44% reduction in product cost
    Improved quality and reliability
    Potential new markets
     
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