Performing action...
Performing action...
To help drive future product designs, Herman Miller, Inc. needed to know how its current products were used in the hands of customers.
Customer Usage Profiling (CUP)
Capturing unbiased, real-world data while the product is in service is the essence of CUP.
Direct measurements and statistical analysis remove product development guesswork and eliminate the under or over-design of products.
Collecting Data
Chairs, instrumented to collect and store data, were given to over 100 users at six locations during a 4-month period.
ITI analyzed the data creating a report of the user's physical information (sex, height, weight, occupation, etc.) and a number for each of the load channels indicating the amount fatigue sustained by the chair in one week. This allowed durability requirements to be quantified based on customers' use.
Simulating Usage
In an accelerated laboratory test, dynamic loads were automatically applied and repeated until the desired damage had been accumulated. The magnitude, direction, number of repetitions and order of the loading events correlated to data from the data collection phase. This allowed years of use to be simulated in only a few short weeks.
Results
Through CUP, Herman Miller is ensuring that products are effectively developed to meet its strict durability standards and the expectations of the customer.