Final Report Team Bike E/ME 105 Fall 2011 Alen Thomas Allen Chen Arjun Soman Chris Pombrol Nnoduka Erachalu Theresa Juarez
Project Summary: The cleverly named Team bike identified a problem in Kerala- motorbike repair shops are inefficient, and causing pain to its workers. Over the course of the term we went through many processes and stages in our attempts at crafting cheap and effective solutions to the problem. The stages involved in this included brainstorming, design selection/analysis and engaging potential customers. We made to sure to keep potential customers in the loop because there really is no point to building something that no one wants. The chosen solution was a pulley system. It is a simple design and should be easy to operate and maintain. The mechanic attaches hooks to the front and back of the bike and uses the mechanical advantage provided by the pulleys to haul the bike and securely lock it mid-air. This pulley system can be made and sold at prices acceptable to bike shop owners. Further work needs to be done on the cost-analysis. The design is simple and so there must be ways of making it even cheaper.
Table of Contents 1. Mission Statement 2. Current Situation 3. Problem Statement 4. Brainstorming Ideas 5. Design Approach 6. Design Consideration 7. Customer Participation 8. Solution 9. Cost Estimates 10. Major Challenges 11. Code of Ethics 12. Team Dynamics
1. Mission Statement The mission statement of Team bike is as follows: Develop an apparatus that makes life easier for motorcycle repair shop owners and workers in Kerala. 2. Current Situation Before the class started in the fall, a small team of Caltech and Art Center students visited Kerala to perform primary market research in Kerala. While in India, we were able to visit a motorcycle repair shop and visit an actual motorcycle repair shop in India. During our visit, we witnessed first hand the working conditions of the Indians workers. We were also able to talk a motorcycle shop owner in order to get an entrepreneur s perspective on the situation. Based on what we saw, and information that was gathered by our Indian teammates throughout the class, we were able to characterize what our typical customer would be. The average motorcycle repair shop in India is a very small operation. It is usually either a sole proprietorship where the owner is also the only employee, or there are only one or two employees. They operate with the bare minimum amount of tools and workshop space necessary to complete their jobs. The repair shop itself consists of a single small building, which is more of a shed than a workshop. The building is where all the tools, machines, and supplies are stored. The work is actually performed outside of the shop, in a small dirt lot in front of the shop that connects it to the road. The motorcycles are simply parked in the lot and are worked on in order.
The work is done using primarily using hand tools. Only jobs that absolutely require mechanization, such as changing a car tire, are mechanized, and then only to the minimum extent possible. For example, when the engine of a motorcycle needs to be worked on, the workers simply squat next to the motorcycle or lie down under it in order to access the components. After repeating this throughout the day on different motorcycles, the workers become tired and the work can become painful. In a similar manner, when the wheel needs to be taken off of a motorcycle, one worker simply grabs the motorcycle and lifts it while another worker removes the wheel or slides an object under the motorcycle to support it. Lifting a heavy motorcycle many times a day is very difficult and exhausting, and there is also the risk of dropping the motorcycle or the motorcycle falling over if it isn t properly balanced. The way work is currently being performed requires very little capital investment, but it is also tiring, slow, and unsafe. Improving the working conditions and productivity in these motorcycle repair shops has the potential to have a large impact on Kerala. Around 80% of people in Kerala own a motorcycle and it is one of the most common methods of transportation. It also appears to be the dominant form of private vehicle, being much more common than bicycles and cars. As such, there is a large market for motorcycle repairs in Kerala. Furthermore, our surveys indicated that there was more demand for motorcycle repairs than could be met by the repair shops. Thus, increasing productivity in these repair shops could also have benefits for the general populations, since these motorcycles are used to commute to work, take kids to school, and run family errands. Decreasing the time wasted from waiting for their motorcycle to be repaired will help Keralans to be more productive and earn more income.
3. Problem Statement The problem we chose to focus on is lifting the motorcycle to allow the wheels to be removed for tire changes, as our market research indicated that changing the motorcycle tire is one of the most common jobs and one of the most painful as well. It also offered much room for improvement in both comfort and speed. The motorcycles used in India are smaller than those used in the United States, but they still weigh around 200 to 300 hundred pounds each on average. A machine that can quickly, easily, and safely lift the motorcycle high enough to allow the wheels to be changed would make the lives of motorcycle repair shop owners easier. Based on our experience in India and through additional information gathered by our Indian team members, were able to develop a set of constraints necessary to make our design work in a Keralan motorcycle repair shops. The main constraints to our design will be size, ease of use, and cost. Although most repair work is performed outside, and our machine will primarily be used outside, it will probably have to be stored inside the repair shop overnight to prevent theft. There is very limited space available inside the repair shop because of the small size of the building and also because of the large number of tools and supplies already stored in the building. Because of this, our design will have to have a small footprint, so as to not take up too much floor space in the repair shop. Additionally, it will have to have some degree of mobility since it will need to be moved between the shop and the work area every day.
The machine will also need to be easy to use, to encourage adoption by workers and owners. It must be easy for the workers to learn, as the small motorcycle repair shops cannot afford to spend large amounts of time training employees to use a new tool. It must also be at least at fast as lifting the motorcycle manually. If lifting the motorcycle takes longer with the machine, then it will probably not be used because the workers are already under pressure to complete as much work as possible. Lastly, the action of lifting the motorcycle must be made less physically strenuous by the machine. Another major constraint is cost. Motorcycle repair shops in Kerala are very small business, and they do not have access to large amounts of capital to invest in tools and machinery. This means that our machine must have a low upfront cost so that repair shop owners can afford to buy it. Additionally, it must be reliable and have low repair and maintenance costs to ensure that the repair shop can afford to continue to operate it and also to ensure that the machine will be profitable to operate. An additional constraint is that this machine should not replace any workers. Based on the nature of the motorcycle repair shop, we believe that a motorcycle lift will not threaten any jobs. Our machine will not replace any of the skill required to perform motorcycle repairs and maintenance. 4. Brainstorming Ideas: We at some point broke up and individually came up with possible solutions. Outlandish ideas were also welcome. When the group re-joined a list of possible ideas so far was created. This is discussed here.
Hydraulic Cylinder: Use this to expand a scissor lift. Bike will be on scissor lift and when levitating above ground can be worked on. Pulley System: Place hooks on front and back of bike and using a pulley system, a mechanic pulls down on a rope that lifts the bike up. The rope is then locked Removable ramp: Push bike up a ramp. When bike is on ramp, pull out the middle section of ramp leaving only the front and back slopes. This now exposes the midsection of the bike. Magnetic Levitation: Slightly outlandish but the bike is made of metal that can probably be lifted up. Jack: Creating a motorbike version of a car jack Wheel stands: Add some stands or supports to wheels. Prevents wheels from spinning. Giant lever: An L-shaped lever to lift each side of bike. This rests underneath. Gearbox: Ratcheted gear system to raise bike platform Underground repair area: Secure bike firmly on ground and mechanic goes into a repair area directly underneath the bike and with access slots to the ground level bike. 5. Design Approach: As stated earlier the team started off by breaking up and individually coming up with ideas. This was the brainstorming session. Individual brainstorming forced everyone to come up with something fresh and people were unable to influence the thought process of others. After individual brainstorming the team re-grouped and discussed. We first
generally classified ideas as possible and funny. Goes without saying that magnetic levitation immediately went under funny. This general classifying actually took a lot of discussion and voting. It only makes sense that the owner of an idea puts up a fight before having it be classified as funny. The ideas that had been considered possible were now up for serious review. This was done using a Decision Matrix. We came up with a shortlist of design consideration factors. Each idea was scored on all these factors by all team members. The scores were aggregated and then we had some more group discussions. These group discussions were key to breaking tie-breakers without going through the scoring process again. By the end of this we had successfully eliminated most ideas to end up at the winning solution of a pulley system. With the pulley system emerging as the winning solution it was time for an indepth analysis. 6. Design Considerations We used market specifications as our guidelines for the design process. The specifications we identified were split into two groups, must-haves and like-to-have, to help us prioritize. The following are the specifications we were able to meet. The specifications are listed below in order of decreasing importance. Cost: Currently bike shop owners feel similar products are too expensive and they are content with their current repair capacity. So we need a very low relative price to convince them that it is worth a minimal investment. Our original target
selling price was $30 but based on the willingness of customers to pay more and design changes our new target price is $150. Reliability/Maintenance: Like with most products, bike shop owners will not care about a low upfront cost if the cost of owning the bike-lift is beyond their budgets. To minimize repair and maintenance costs the following specifications must be met. o The device should be rugged. This will help attain a goal of approximately 40,000 lifetime uses and 10,000 uses between repairs and component replacements. o Second, the replacement parts should be inexpensive. Size: It turns out the bike shops are hard pressed for space so the lift has to be compact. Our target size was approximately 5 x 5 x 5. We were able to arrive at final design dimensions of 6 x 6 x 2.5. We felt that this size would be appropriate for most of the bike shops in Kerala. Easy to operate: The device must be easy to use and perform its function quickly. The repair shop owners will not use this device if it takes a long time to set up because it will reduce the amount of work they can get done. We hoped for our design to require one person for operation. Features/Functionality: o Portable if it has to be moved around. The work is done outside of the shop, but the machine should be stored inside overnight. Our design is light enough to be carried in and out of the shop.
o It secures the bike and lifts it approximately three feet to provide easy access to the bike internals. This is the height at which it is most comfortable to work on the bike for an extended period of time. o Tackles the biggest pain point of bicycle repair- changing tires. Production: o Can be made locally. This will help lower cost. 7. Customer Participation The most important thing we learned from our research is that a market exists for our product. According to the bike shop owners that were surveyed, they would be willing to invest in our product if it meets certain market and design considerations which are described in more detail in a later section. Based on the market research we did during class, including the survey, we discovered additional information and constraints on our problem. The bike shops that were surveyed indicated that the most difficult repair job on a motorcycle is removing the wheels to change the tire. We therefore decided to target this particular repair when design our device. Making this repair easier will have the greatest effect on the workers because it also one of the most common repair jobs they perform. We also need to keep the price low, as the survey also indicated that there is a perception among repair shop owners that equipment of this kind is very expensive, and not useful enough to be worth the investment. Thus, in order to successfully market our product, we will have to keep the price very low. Owners indicated they would be willing to pay up to $150. The customers also participated in the later stages of prototype development. We
showed them our most recent design and received a positive reaction, the only issue was the price of our design. The customers asked us to try and bring the cost down further. 8. Solution Our solution is a simple bike lift that alleviates the pain from difficult repair jobs, especially changing the tires. To raise the bike, we utilize a compound pulley system, commonly known as a block and tackle or pulley hoist. The pulley system has two major advantages: 1) it provides a mechanical advantage of up to 7:1 (from commercially available products), which reduces the force the operator needs to apply by a factor of 7 (i.e. 300 pound bike only needs 43 pounds of force to lift); 2) it allows for the application of the force to be downwards, which takes advantage of the operator s weight and the strength of the shoulder and back muscles. This reduces fatigue from repeated uses of the lift, and allows the operator to apply a higher force on the pulley system. In order to support the pulley system and provide a space for the bike while it is being worked on, we have a basic frame made from wood. The entire frame consists of 10 beams: six 6 beams, three 3 beams, and one 42 beam. Using identical parts reduces the amount of manufacturing required and makes it simpler to assemble and to replace parts should they wear. The beams are nominally a 2 x4 cross section, because it is common and easy to obtain. However, the relatively low loads placed on the frame mean that a 2 x2 cross section could also be substituted to reduce weight and cost. The basic frame design we chose minimizes flexing and torsion while keeping
weight and cost down; additional cross-bracing would make the frame much stiffer, but adds complexity, cost, and assembly time. We also aimed to keep the work space as open and accessible as possible to the workers, so that they could have access to all the major parts of the bike during repairs. This necessitated a minimum of bracing. The pulleys at either end of the frame would be attached to handles on one end of the rope, and bars with attached hooks at the other end. The operator uses the handle to apply force to the pulley, pulling the handle down and the bike up, as well as locking the handle in place when the bike is at a suitable height. The hooks attach to the handlebars at one end of the bike, and to the frame underneath the seat at the other. Thus by pulling down on a handle at the closed end of the frame, the worker can lift the entire bike at once, with very little effort. 9. Cost Estimates Based on quotes for components obtained by our Indian team members, we have arrived at the cost estimate shown below. Component Description Cost Each Quantity Total Frame Teak 2 x4 beams obtained 800 Rs / cu 2.8 2240 Rs in India ft. $44 Pulleys Steel pulleys 200 Rs / ea. 2 400 Rs $7.85 Rope Nylon braided cord (i.e. 25 Rs / 30 750 Rs
paracord) linear ft $14.72 Labor Estimated 100 Rs / hr 4 400 Rs $7.85 Other costs (fasteners, etc) Estimated 300 Rs $5.89 Distribution costs Estimated 1200 Rs. $23.56 TOTAL: 4090 Rs $103.86 The wood for the frame is the single largest cost of our machine. This is because a relatively large amount of wood is required to construct the frame that will support the weight the motorcycle. Our machine is estimated to take about four hours to assemble as a conservative estimate. Most of the time will go into building the frame, which is a relatively simple operation. This value could change depending the nature of the raw material actually used for construction. If the wood comes in a convenient configuration, such as 2x4 blocks at the correct length, the assembly time could be significantly lower. Conversely, if the wood requires a cutting and other preparation, such as sanding or coating, it is possible that assembly could take longer than four hours.
According to our market research, repair shop owners in Kerala are willing to pay about Rs. 10,000 or $200 for a motorcycle lift. Based on this, we are setting the target sale price of our lift at about Rs. 7,500 or $150. This will allow plenty margin for unanticipated costs that we could face while still generating a large enough profit to sustain the business. It will also allow the repair shop owners to acquire the lift at the lowest possible cost. We attempted to reduce costs in our design as much as possible. The major way we did this was by making a simple, flexible design.the frame is simple, and can be made from a variety of materials, including wooden beams of metal piping, whichever is convenient. Additionally, the joints can be formed in any convenient way that can support the weight of a motorcycle. The rope and pulley are off-the-shelf parts that are readily available at low cost. Similar parts can also be substituted, provided the load rating is sufficiently high. Our lift is also designed to be highly reliable in order to reduce maintenance costs. The design was kept as simple as possible. There are almost no moving parts in our design. This reduces maintenance costs, because it means that there a very few wearable items that will have to be changed on a regular basis. The only moving parts on our motorcycle lifts are the pulley systems. These are made from steel and are expected to last the lifetime of the lift. They may need to be taken apart and cleaned occasionally, and as such they are not designed to be permanently fixed to the frame. Rather they are designed to be easily removed by undoing a number of screws to facilitate removal. This will also make replacement of the rope easier, as this is a wear item that will have to be replaced occasionally. The cost for this maintenance should be
low as rope is cheap and readily available. The frame itself is completely static is expected to last for 5 years or more. The main constraint on this the material that it is made out of. Wood beams may not last as long in Kerala due to humidity and other environmental conditions, but a metal frame could last for an very long time. Lastly, we kept costs low by utilizing local sources of raw material and labor. The materials for the machine will be sourced directly in Kerala, reducing the transportation costs. The labor used to prepare the materials will also be sourced locally, which is much cheaper than importing labor from elsewhere. Additionally, because our device is relatively simple and takes up a lot of space when assembled, we will adopt a distribution model similar to IKEA. All the components will be prepared by us, but the product will ship without being assembled. This allows us to save on shipping costs, as the components will fit in a much smaller box than and assembled machine. Instructions will be shipped with the product and it will be assembled by the customer upon arrival. This will not be burdensome to the customer as our product can be assembled using common hand tools and will not take more than a few hours. 10. Major Challenges One of the major challenges we faced was keeping the cost of our design down. There are a few areas we are targeting to keep the cost of our product as low as possible, at least initially. For now, the main goal is to keep our design as is, simple. This will minimize our cost by keeping the amount of materials we use to a minimum and the hours of labor needed to assemble the product small. The price of raw and stock materials is another area that can potentially impact the cost
of our product. Though it would seem that these prices are fairly stable, we would like to shop around and find better prices for the materials. Because of this, we choose teak as our material. It is used in a variety of products in India and readily available. As we begin building a prototype, we will be able to evaluate the possibility of reducing the amount of materials we were planning to use. We might even be able to effectively reduce the number of features on our product. On the other hand, we might have to redesign because our product does not meet our specifications. A prototype will give us an overall better direction. Unfortunately one of the issues with building a prototype is the size of our device. Another challenge we faced was team communication. This is discussed in further detail later. In terms of product distribution, we decided the most cost effective solution was to follow the IKEA method of shipping the parts unassembled, but including all necessary fasteners and instructions. By having the customer assemble the parts, we reduce labor costs, which in turn lowers the cost of the product. Since most of our assembled lift is empty space, shipping just the parts saves space and lowers shipping cost and amount of packaging waste. Although there is a greater possibility for error during assembly with this distribution method, the relative simplicity of our design, coupled with the small amount of parts and common mounting method across all parts minimizes the chances that our product is assembled incorrectly. 11. Ethical Plan (Code of Ethics): This team aims to do good in Kerala. So it seems appropriate that we get to this
goal via ethical means. To facilitate this a code of ethics was developed, and it is detailed below. A. Introduction Our aim as Team Bike is to make affordable bike workshop apparatus that genuinely improves the lives and productivity of bike shop owners/workers. Affordable here means as cheap as possible while maintaining profit margins necessary to keep the business running. We aim to make the world a better place one village at a time. To ensure this happens this code of ethics is being set in place. It is divided into categories, outlined below. B. Conflicts of Interest: Team members must avoid conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest is a deed that yields personal benefits but harms the team as a whole. We cannot cover all possible conflicts of interest in one document but a few samples should get the ball rolling: - accepting bribes in exchange for some service. - making sub-par products to cut costs. - doing a poor/rushed job on a task to get more free time. - starting a side project that competes with our line of products. C. Use of Team information, assets: It is beyond reasonable to demand that team members only use team assets when working on the next big bike workshop apparatus. This means you don t take them home for use in remodelling.
Team information means things like CAD drawings, market research, etc. If we wanted them to be public knowledge they would be on our website. They aren t which means you should keep such knowledge to yourself. D. Environment: We strive to be environmentally conscious and will be compliant with all applicable environmental policies. Where these laws are vague or do not exist we will set our own standards, explicitly declare what these set standards are and state how we are following them. E. Political Activities: The company is politically neutral. Employees are free to have and stick to their political beliefs. These are their rights as people but will not have their beliefs endorsed by Team Bike. This means team members can not make claims and say that the company supports them. F. Safety and Health: Team Bike will follow federal safety and health regulations in the workplace. Team members will also be sure to follow in-house safety regulations when working especially in dangerous areas like construction rooms. G. Enforcing this Code: We all play a part in enforcing the code of ethics. If you are aware of an ethical violation, it is your job to report it to your team mates and superiors. The severity of the situation will be discussed among team members and the consequences will be agreed upon by the team. H. Review of the Code:
This code of ethics will be reviewed every 6 months. If we are faced with an ethical issue not covered by the code of conducts then it might be necessary to have a review before the 6 month mark. All changes will be agreed upon by all team members. 12. Team Dynamics With everyone on a different schedule we weren't able to hold in-person meetings but were able to collaborate effectively using email/google docs/ instant messaging and skype. When we did meet/discuss we would hold short meetings (one hour or less). Important points would be discussed, but team members were given the power to make executive decisions on smaller issues. We would also assign weekly tasks for each team member to complete before the next meeting. Everyone was responsible and met expectations. The team dynamics were awesome!