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Prof. R. Panneerselvam with his rich experience of teaching and research at Anna University main campus and Pondicherry University main campus for four decades, in specific teaching Operations Management, Project Management, Business Intelligence, etc., had published 25 well established text books through PHI Learning Private Limited, Cengage, Vijai Nicole and Amazon. His research and teaching experience coupled with industrial and research experience of Dr.P. Senthilkumar, Deputy General Manager, Program Management Office, Farm Division, Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, Mahindra Research Valley, Chengalpattu, Tamilnadu, who served in other leading manufacturing industries, viz. TVS Lucas, Valeo Minda and Ashok Leyland, with credentials of publishing four well established books through PHI Learning Private Limited and Cengage, made an attempt to develop this text on ‘Design Thinking for Product and Process Ideas and Improvements.’ This text begins with history of inventions. Chapter two gives a comprehensive presentation of creativity, which includes product design, essential qualities to be creative, stages of creative process, advantages and disadvantages of creativity and a case study. Chapter three on the basics of design thinking covers definition of design thinking followed by a Casestudy, features of design thinking, uses of design thinking, design thinking applications, types of design thinking, steps of design thinking and a Casestudy of fabricating milling/ slotting attachment to lathe. Chapter four is on design thinking using business process reengineering (BPR), which includes a case study on rethinking after introducing the BPR, steps of BPR, measures of performance of BPR, objectives of BPR and a Casestudy in automobile company. The Chapter five is on value engineering (VE)/ value analysis (VA), a means for design thinking, which includes symptoms for introducing value analysis, distinction between VA and VE, concepts of value and function, aims of value analysis, analysis of value content of a product, steps of value engineering, advantages of VE and a Casestudy with computer chair. The last chapter six presents seven case studies, which include Design Thinking in Eye Care, Design Thinking in Foundry, Design Thinking in FMG Company, Design Thinking in Auto Industry, Design Thinking at Retail Outlet, Design Thinking in Flight Reservation System and Design Thinking to for Winding Fabric on Bale in Textile Mill

1.1 Introduction The concept of invention is the fundamental requirement for design thinking. Since the birth of mankind, people started inventing many concepts, which are mainly observations of facts and innovation of ideas for producing products that are useful to the society. The design thinking requires unconventional thinking to design processes for maximal operational efficiency of manufacturing the products, which give maximum satisfaction to customers with more value for money. Hence, the team that is involved in the design thinking projects may gain the required skills by knowing several inventions of the past. Hence, a review of inventions is presented in this chapter. 1.2 Tracing Inventions The content at https://www.explainthatstuff.com/timeline.html gives a complete account of inventions starting from 4–5 billion years ago up to 2022. The article on solar cell energy gives an account of the sun started producing energy. About 1.2 million years ago, humans invented fire, which has been further innovated for biofuels, candles, IC engines, aviation engines, etc. In the 7th century B.C., ants were killed by burning in the heat produced by concentrated sun rays using magnifying lens. Greeks and Romans utilised burning mirrors to light candles during religious ceremonies in the third century B.C. About 3.5 million years ago, stone, wood, antlers, and bones were used by humans to make first kind of tools. These were further improved to make tools for machines. About 4000 BCE back, iron was used to make decorative ornaments. About 3500 BCE, people invented the concept of wheel, which brought quantum revolution in transportation.

2.1 Introduction As time passes, the customers are used to the practice of having short life for the products, which they buy and use. This is because of the globalization of business and growing global competition all over the world. The companies engaged in manufacturing and selling the products which are used at large volume by households and partly by industries, introduce new models to attract customers and to have more market share. This in turn has impacts on customer buying and retention decisions of those products. Though the companies introduce new models, they are expected to keep the prices of the products at affordable ranges so that there is always a larger customer segment to buy those products. This is like egg or chicken situation, because companies introduce many new models to out beat competition and in turn customers expect improved versions of those models in shorter time intervals. This forces companies to continuously engage themselves to come out with new models or improved models which have convergence of technologies to give maximal customer satisfaction. So, creativity in product design becomes an essential requirement of the product development teams of the companies. 2.2 Product Design Product design aims to include the following tasks to solve the problems of the users or address expected needs of customers in a given market. These tasks are human intensive. i. Understanding end-users’ requirements ii. Imagining alternate product ideas to address their needs

3.1 Introduction Since the dawn of humanity, the expansion of invention and technological innovation has made it possible to make a variety of goods to meet its needs. To get a competitive edge in the market, the manufacture of a product has three main goals, viz. efficient product planning, efficient manufacturing, and effective cost control. These can be achieved through a random thinking, if the designer is fortunate to have the best design of a product of interest, which satisfies the needs of its customers. But it will rarely happen. Design thinking maximizes the possibility of happening of the best design in the journey of design a product in shorter possible time. Design thinking, an emerging field in this direction, tries to create a product by utilizing the following steps. i. Empathize ii. Define iii. Ideate iv. Prototype v. Test 3.2 Definition of Design Thinking A design methodology called “Design Thinking” offers a problem-based approach to problem solving. By understanding the human needs which changes quickly, re-framing the issue in human-centric ways, generating a lot of ideas during brainstorming sessions, and taking a hands-on approach during prototyping and testing, design thinking is incredibly helpful in handling complicated challenges that are ill-defined or unknown. Anyone can use the Design Thinking approach to tackle complex problems that arise in our society, such as those in our businesses, governments, and other spheres of influence, if they have an understanding of these five steps of the process.

4.1 Introduction Companies that produce tangible items or offer services must drastically increase their productivity in order to maintain their operations in the face of intensifying global competition. A single quantum jump productivity enhancement technique or multiple concurrent incremental improvement productivity strategies can both be used to achieve this goal. If a business chooses the second choice, integrating various tactics for a significant increase in the total productivity would be quite difficult. The first alternative, a single productivity improvement plan, will make it possible for the business to increase productivity with the same or greater success. The only difficulty with this strategy is locating the probable problem area and then using process improvement techniques to achieve the anticipated dramatic increase in productivity. Business process reengineering refers to any significant adjustment of business processes that results in a dramatic increase in an organization’s productivity. Price, quality, after-sales support, adherence to delivery schedules, technological breakthroughs, etc. are some elements that influence market competition. Therefore, the business should focus its efforts on each of these areas in order to achieve notable improvements in terms of decreased operating costs and higher sales revenue from the sale of its goods and services to clients. Improved pricing for a company’s goods or services can provide it an advantage over competitions. Applying various cost-cutting strategies to lower variable costs and overhead costs will lower the price of the good or service. The other elements, viz. quality, after-sales support, delivery schedule adherence, and technological advancements are all directed in this direction

5.1 Introduction One of the main methods for cost avoidance and prevention is value engineering/ value analysis. “Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE)” states that value Analysis is the systematic use of known procedures which determine the function of a product or service, define a monetary value for the function, and provide the essential function reliably at the lowest overall cost. If these are applied to a new product, it is called value engineering. By analysing the function of any product, material part, component, system, or service, it is possible to find extraneous expenditures connected with them and effectively remove them without compromising the product’s quality, functional dependability, or ability to provide services. The principles and steps of value analysis/ value engineering will supplement the effort of design thinking. 5.2 Symptoms for Introducing Value Analysis (VA) If one or more of the following symptoms exist, starting a VA programme is expected to yield very positive effects. i. Sales of the company’s products are declining. ii. The prices of the products of the company are greater than those of the products of its rivals.

6.1 Introduction The success of design thinking depends on its applicability in industries and service organization. The applications of design thinking applied to product development should focus on the needs of users. The design thinking can also be applied to design new processes as well as improve an existing process. 6.2 Case Studies The section presents several case studies of applying design thinking in realities as listed below. 1. Design thinking in eye care 2. Design thinking in foundry 3. Design thinking in FMG company 4. Design thinking in auto industry 5. Design thinking at retail outlet 6. Design Thinking in Flight Reservation System 7. Design thinking in winding fabric on roller in textile mill 6.2.1 Case study: Design Thinking in Eye Care Eye care is a crucial part of health care system. There are many factors that are responsible for poor eye vision. Normally in the early stages, viz. children and adults up to 40 or 45 years of age may have eye power issues, which are managed