OVERVIEW

Now that you know a little bit about functions, let me tell you more about the value engineering workshop I attended at the University of California at Los Angeles. After we were taught several steps that are required to effectively conduct a value engineering study using value analysis, the main step known as naming functions was presented. This step taught us that every component of a mechanical assembly was there for a reason and that our assignment was to find out what each component did and express that fact using an active verb and a noun. Our instructor for this technique was Ed Heller. He told us that each verb-noun we recorded was the name we were to give to a function. He also told us that if we could name the functions for the mechanical assemblies we were assigned, we could probably improve our assigned product or project and at the same time reduce its manufacturing cost by as much as 30 percent or more. The improvements were to be accomplished by inserting each function name into the How Else Question developed by Lawrence Miles and then creatively answering each question. The How Else Question reads as follows:

• How else can this function be accomplished?

I had never seen or heard of this method of thinking before, and the thinking about functions fascinated my mentality. As five of my teammates and I worked on our mechanical assembly, we soon named a number of functions and began thinking...