Students at UW-Stout recently took part in a product design project for Arcadia-based Ashley Furniture, one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the world.
As part of a new product development course at the university, the students were tasked with conducting market research before designing, testing and building professional prototypes for toolless bed connections.
Along with getting help from product designers with the company, the students traveled to its Arcadia facility in May and presented their prototypes to Ashley’s research and development team.
The project was funded by a sponsorship provided by the company to Assistant Prof. Kevin Dietsch, from UW-Stout’s engineering and technology department. His approach for the project, called the “design build process,” involves teaching projects with quick deadlines for students, according to an overview from the university.
“When you give students such a fast deadline for large-scale projects, when you cram them with ideas, it forces creativity,” he said in a statement. “There’s this crash and burn and rebuild mentality. They’ll make mistakes and learn to quickly find solutions. It can be stressful, but it builds grit.”
Between mid-April and early May, students worked in teams to develop their ideas, which ranged from a technical model for automated machining of bed components to a 3D-printed interlocking brackets system and more. One team, made up of technology education major Annika Schlueter and engineering technology major Hunter Ouimette, made a scale model of an interlocking Japanese wood joint bedframe.
Schlueter notes the teams had to effectively use the time they were given for the project, noting only four or five class periods had to be used to research, test, “fully develop” the model and prepare for the presentation to Ashley’s R&D team.
“No team’s design has stayed the exact same since we started the toolless bed connection project. Things go wrong, and things go right, and we had to develop accordingly,” she said.
Another team went through multiple iterations for a fastener component of its design, ultimately arriving at a final version that fixed earlier issues such as failing to hold securely while under tension. Mechanical engineering major Alex Springer said the last design “addressed those weaknesses, significantly improving grip and structural stability” compared to the first version.
“Working directly with professionals from Ashley … gave us insight into the complete product development cycle, from initial design through manufacturing and packaging to mechanical and interior design to align functional and aesthetic goals,” Springer said.
See more about the project here.
