Gas detection
compatible probes measure key parameters such as humidity, temperature, pressure, dew point,
CO2, H2O2 or moisture in oil. Importantly, each of the smart probes can operate as a standalone device, which provides portability advantages for customers. A key advantage is that processes can operate continuously, because each of the probes can be hot-swapped with another.
combination of application knowledge and an ability to provide answers to the questions customers didn’t even know they had.” It was interesting to note Laitinen never
mentioned competitors. When we asked why, he said: “Of course, if you want to be a market leader, you have to constantly benchmark yourself, but from a product design and development point of view it makes no sense to follow competitors. If you do so, you will always be behind the curve. That’s why we are in continuous dialogue with our customers; looking for opportunities to exceed their expectations and disrupt the market.”
IDEAS FACTORY New product ideas are brought to multi- disciplinary workshops involving staff from several different departments. Emphasising the importance of this, Laitinen says: “We need to consider every customer touch-point in the product journey, which means more than just its operation; it also means manufacturing, packaging, transport, assembly, configuration, maintenance, calibration, disposal or recycling. Every step of the product journey is mapped out so that the design team can predict and prevent potential issues. “We also need to find those hidden
opportunities for improvement. For example, if a customer currently completes a task with two people in a set period of time, the design team’s objective might be to enable one person to do it in a fraction of that time.” Throughout the design process, the team will
continue to ask if the product is solving a genuine customer problem, and if it still feels like a Vaisala product. If an idea passes these tests, sketches and mock-ups are created for early validation of concept. Mock-ups are assessed against how effectively
they solve a customer’s problem; how widely the solution would be adopted; how pleasant the user experience would be; how it would be assembled or configured; how accuracy and reliability can be assured, and how good the product will look and feel. All of these evaluations address the perspective of the user, but it is also necessary to ensure that the product fulfils the needs and expectations of the
Instrumentation Monthly January 2023
customer, which may include considerations such as service requirements, longevity, price, lifetime cost, materials and lead times. “The early stages of idea generation
and evaluation are great fun,” Laitinen comments. “However, once a candidate product passes the concept evaluation stage, things rapidly get serious.” In addition to evaluations, all products are
tested to check their reliability, durability, stability and accuracy in all potential conditions, which means that products have to be tested beyond customers’ expectations. Laitinen says: “We regard our specifications as a performance promise, so we test our designs rigorously and repeatedly to ensure that we are able to deliver on that promise.”
DESIGN PROJECT EXAMPLE: THE SMART INDIGO FAMILY The Vaisala Indigo family of industrial measurement instruments has evolved in recent years as a result of a series of product development programs with common goals; each of which solved specific customer problems. Indigo is a great example of joined- up thinking in the Vaisala ideas factory. At an early stage, the team realised that if a variety of products could be harmonised as a modular family, they would simultaneously solve a number of important customer challenges. The overall aims of the development work were
to enable the continuous flow of data; avoiding process down-times, and improving data visualisation. Following an extensive development program, it is now possible to measure all of Vaisala’s key parameters with technologies from within the modular Indigo family, and new products are regularly added to the series. The Indigo range includes
intelligent, interchangeable, standalone measurement probes and optional transmitters; all of which are configurable by Vaisala Insight PC Software. The Indigo
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SUMMARY Vaisala’s design philosophy can be summarized in three words: insightful, complete and pure. Insightful development programs are grounded in a deep understanding of customer needs, combined with a determination to find innovative solutions. The solutions must be complete, in that they may involve both software and hardware, working harmoniously to exploit the latest technologies to both satisfy and excite prospective users. Last but not least, the new product must be pure – this means it must be credible and recognisable as a Vaisala product. Furthermore, it must be designed for an actual customer need, setting the highest standards in the market with essential features such as accuracy and reliability in the long term. Finally, of course, there is no place for
gimmicks in the Vaisala ideas factory, because there is no design without a reason.
Vaisala
www.vaisala.com
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