Talk:Ice cream maker

From DDL Wiki

We received your report, and we are impressed with your findings. Detailed comments follow:

• Please include a picture of the product at the top of the document
  • Added assembly picture at top
• Very clear executive summary with findings highlighted
• Good discussion of basic customer needs, but more detailed discussion of specific needs such as noise, safety, speed, etc. would be helpful
  • We detailed the customer needs more specifically
• A technical description of how the ice cream maker functions appears to be missing
  • A technical description has been added under the heading "Product Usage"
• The components list is clear. Is the motor spindle holder a single component or an assembly? How about the mixing bowl?
  • The motor spindle holder is a single component. The mixing bowl is a three piece assembly. There is an outer plastic base, a thermal fin assembly, and the metal bowl. There is also a liquid in the bowl.
• How are the aluminum and plastic components of the mixing bowl sealed to avoid leakage of the thermal fluid?
  • The aluminum component of the mixing bowl is sealed with pressure. The top of the bowl is clamped onto the plastic. The mixing bowl is sealed with an O-ring around the top to keep the liquid from escaping.
• Good observations for DFMA. The ideas to look into merging gear assemblies to reduce part count is worthwhile for us to investigate.
  • We were able to take apart the mixing bowl and found that a thermal fin is located between the plastic and aluminum components. A discussion of this is now located in the DFMA section.
• FMEA - you identified some important failure modes. The data from customer complaints on amazon is also useful for helping identify places for focus.
• Your LCA analysis is interesting. You conclude that the manufacturing stage is where most of the energy is consumed, but it is not completely clear from your numbers. $1 million worth of manufacturing is 598 MTCO2E, and under your assumptions the $1 million of ice cream makers is associated with 4kWh of electricity. What is the MTCO2E associated with this electricity? Also, is the energy used by a refrigerator to cool the mixing bowl negligible?
  • The LCA has been clairified on the wiki page to bertter explain that the manufacturing stage consumes most of the energy. The MTCO2E associated with the energy during use is now uploaded as well (105 MTCO2E). Finally there is an energy expence related to the cost of freezing the freezer bowl, but it would be near impossible to estimate because it depends on the type of freezer, the size, the settings, how much other already cold items are in there, the range of temperatures the freezer moves through before it turns on, the type and build of the compressor, weither the freezer bowl is kept partially frozen or allowed to thaw between each use and probably more concers, This could only be calculated through extensive trials which would be expensive and the results would not be very useful. Consumers of Ice cream makers generally have freezer's running all the time, and would associated the energy cost of running the freezer with that appliance and would not be deterred from purchessing/running the ice cream maker because they have to turn on the freezer.
• Your quantitative analysis uses P = 50W. Where did this number come from - is this the power listed on the motor ?
  • The power output came from the box