ABSTRACT
Engineering design differs from the scientific method in that there is not just one design solution; you must select the optimum design from the alternatives. In this selection, cost is an important criterion. Since return on investment is a ratio of benefits/expenses, it is a great help to keep expenses (primarily capital costs) low. The manufacturing engineering group needs to decide on the general production concept. Product life has four overlapping stages: product design, process design, process build/installation, and production. Because the cost of a change increases exponentially with each stage, the benefits of change decrease exponentially with the stage. The key concept of benchmarking is to learn from the experience of others and then apply the knowledge of someone else's product or process to your own product or process. Product Ford provides an example of benchmarking using a product.
