scott

Cory:

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a prime example that a great engineering design is doomed if it is not constructed as designed, or if through the construction process, aspects of the built system change to become out of specification. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was supposed to, and was, a big seller in Samsung’s smartphone line. However, after some time, more and more cases came up of the phone’s battery exploding after regular usage. This led to Samsung having to recall 2.5 million of the Note 7 smartphones. The company reported “at least 35 cases where the batteries combusted due to a ‘very rare manufacturing process error’ in which the anode and the cathode touched” causing the battery to explode. This “rare manufacturing process error” could have just been one employee working in the factory making a mistake when assembling the phones. This one mistake renders all of the engineering and design work put in by a multitude of disciplines as useless. No matter how perfectly designed and executed every other aspect of the phone was executed, it doesn’t matter. This goes to show just how important it is to ensure that all aspects of a system are constructed just as designed, any variation could cause catastrophic failure.

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/why-those-samsung-galaxy-note-7-batteries-exploded-1457917

Yuan:

This issue can happen in the fast development of technology. For example, about five years ago, Blackberry was in the process of developing their new generation of cellphones. Their new release was aiming at prettier outlook and faster response of the keyboard. Blackberry was such a big company specialized in manufacturing cellphones with years of experience. The design strictly followed the engineering design process and the system was efficient. However, a brand-new cellphone called iPhone came out. It changed the world of instant communication and people’s idea about cellphone. People ditched their old phones and started using iPhones which had bigger touch screen with better resolution. People changed their expectations and requirements for their cellphone as well. They wanted it to be smarter with more functions but less buttons. Blackberry was out of date all of a sudden. Although its new cellphones looked prettier than before and the keyboard had better performance, it didn’t meet consumers’ requirements anymore. So less and less people would buy Blackberry cellphones.

Blackberry’s great design was doomed because it failed at meeting consumers’ needs. This is a real world example of a design failure even after carefully following the process. Nowadays, the systems become more and more complex and the requirements are constantly changing. The lifecycles are shorter and new technologies are developing every day. Given today’s environment, it’s much more difficult but important to design robust and reliable systems. As a result, any systems design can be a challenge for engineers and designers. They should not only follow the process but also always keep an open mind on the latest trend and adapt to it.