Use of MFF and concurrent engineering to develop a sustainable product—radical redesign of flushing system

Abstract

The paper shows the approach to radical product redesign of sanitary flushing equipment which is conservative market niche product. The approach demonstrates use of the Matrix of Functions and Functionalities (MFF) and elements of concurrent engineering to achieve a significant reduction of necessary resources during whole product’s lifecycle: production, use as well as its disposal. This approach led to a considerable reduction of number of different parts and materials, as well as total number of parts and overall mass of the product. The result was a product proposal, which fulfills the same functional requirements as exiting products using different principal solutions. This change of exploited working principles opened new possibilities for a significant reduction of necessary amount of flushing water, thanks to the energy stored in the new flushing device. The proposed solution was experimentally confirmed also with working prototype.