Custom Composite Product Assembly via CNC Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional retail practices of selling fully assembled large products are burdensome and uneconomical due to storage, display, and inventory management challenges, as well as the inability to meet customer-specific demands, and often result in unsold products.
Innovation Solution
A method where a retailer provides raw materials and a CNC machine to produce unfinished components, which customers can assemble and finish according to their specifications, allowing for customizable products and reduced storage needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If retailers sell fully assembled large products, then customers can immediately use the products, but storage space requirements increase and inventory management becomes burdensome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides fully assembled products into separate components that are stored and displayed individually. These components can be assembled by customers into the final product, reducing the storage space required while maintaining product availability. The segmentation allows retailers to store components compactly rather than requiring large spaces for complete assembled items.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements pre-cut and pre-shaped components that are prepared in advance but not fully assembled. These preliminary prepared components are stored and can be quickly assembled by customers into the final product, eliminating the need for retailers to store and display fully assembled items while ensuring immediate usability for customers.
2Productivity
If retailers inventory and display large assembled products, then products are readily available for purchase, but the ability to meet custom customer specifications is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables dynamic customization by providing customers with standardized components that can be configured in different arrangements and sizes. The system allows real-time adjustment of product specifications through computer-controlled cutting and assembly, enabling each customer to receive custom-configured products while maintaining efficient inventory management and rapid production.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal component system where standardized components can serve multiple functions and be assembled into various product configurations. This universality allows a single inventory of components to meet diverse customer specifications and requirements, enhancing adaptability while maintaining product availability.
3Reliability
If retailers purchase from suppliers at high cost, then product quality is ensured, but profitability is reduced due to overhead costs and freight charges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a system where customers participate in the assembly process themselves, eliminating the need for retailers to incur full production costs, overhead expenses, and freight charges for assembling products. Customers purchase pre-cut components and assemble them according to provided instructions, improving profitability for retailers while maintaining product quality through standardized manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the assembly function from the retailer's operations and transfers it to the customer. By removing the assembly step from the retail supply chain, the system eliminates associated costs such as labor, overhead, and freight for final assembly, thereby improving profitability while maintaining quality through controlled component manufacturing.
4Productivity
If retailers store and display large assembled products, then immediate sales are possible, but discounting and discarding unsold products becomes necessary
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments products into components that can be stored efficiently and assembled on-demand. This segmentation prevents the need to discount or discard unsold assembled products, as components can be stored indefinitely and assembled only when customers place orders, eliminating inventory waste while maintaining sales velocity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent prepares components in advance through pre-cutting and pre-shaping, but does not assemble the final products until ordered. This preliminary preparation allows components to be stored without requiring immediate sales, eliminating the need to discount or discard unsold items while maintaining the ability to quickly produce products when customers purchase.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces storage costs, allows for customizable products, and enhances profitability by eliminating unsold items, while providing customers with affordable, tailored solutions.
Implementation Method 1
providing such first party a CNC machine operable upon suitable programming to produce the components from such raw materials
Data Source
AI summary
A method of producing a product composed of a set of components generally consisting of providing certain raw materials suitable to produce such components; providing a CNC machine operable upon suitable programming to produce the components from the raw materials; providing programming for the machine suitable for forming the components from the raw materials; soliciting the sale of the components to a prospective customer intended for assembly by the customer in producing the product; producing the components from the raw materials, utilizing the machine suitably programmed upon the sale of the components to the customer; and delivering the components to the customer for assembly thereof by the customer to produce the product composed of the components.