Learning from Product Disassembly

This week Prof. Banzaert introduced us to the wonderful world of REVERSE ENGINEERING, where one builds "down" rather than "up" to understand the product. I disassembled two brands of milk frothers, IKEA (Top, A) and Bodum (Bottom, B), but, before then, I first evaluated how well each brand functions and interacts with the consumer.

IKEA	BODUM
- Supposed to take 15-20s; took 31s	- Supposed to take 25-30s; took 50s
- No instructions	- Includes instructions
- Visual feedback	- Visual feedback; poor mapping
- General "affordances," i.e. where to hold, switch on/off	- General "affordances," i.e. where to hold, switch on/off
	- Aesthetic appeal; professional and sleek
	- Quieter, smoother and quicker performance

As a consumer who has no experience with making artistic coffee creations, I personally would not recognize the difference between the almost $3 and $20 models. However, if a consumer is heavily invested cafe drinks, then she may identify the slight shortcoming in the IKEA brand. To look closer into the differences (and possibly explain the large price gap), my group dissected each model piece by piece. At a cost of $19.99 and $2.50 respectively, Bodum and IKEA milk frothers looked similar in their design and function from the outside, with some small differences.

C: BODUM (with complete disassembly)

As seen in the two pictures/diagrams, the milk frothers have similar outside casing and exterior tools, including a wand with a spring attached. Bodum has its casing painted black and segmented more, while the IKEA brand has silver-painted covers. Also, they both use two AA batteries which are not included in the purchase and thus not included in the price of each. At first, as a money-savvy consumer, I hypothesized that there would not be any difference between the two -- at least not one that warrants an approximate $17 difference. However, I am amazed at how such tiny changes in the design of a wand or motor can affect how the product functions and, subsequently, the  overall price.

D: IKEA Brand Fully assembled

WHAT I FOUND

• IKEA has one loosely coiled spring at the end of the wand.
• The Bodum brand has a stronger, tightly coiled spring and an even tighter spring to connect the motor with the wand/pole.
• In the motor itself (after complete disassembly of both brands), I noticed that both use two magnets to around the interior motor, forming an electromagnetic circuit.
• In the interior motor, IKEA uses thirteen metals discs and three copper wires of approximately six feet each.
• Bodum uses fourteen metal and 2 plastic discs with three copper coils of almost seven feet each.

To fully document the differences between the milk frothers, my group identified each part's function, the material, how it was manufactured and approximate price (per quantity). The table formed is called a Bill of Materials (see below, "E"). 

In the bills of materials, the quantity of each part is listed next to the price for easy calculation of the total cost of each milk frother. Based on what we found, it seems that the IKEA and Bodum milk frothers came to a total cost of $.81 and $2.92 respectively, between one-fourth and almost one-seventh of the store prices of $2.50 and $20.

E: Bill of Materials for IKEA (top) and Bodum (bottom)

At first, my group felt we had calculated the costs incorrectly but the instructor confirmed that such jumps are common. That said, I am surprised -- baffled really -- at how an extra three feet of copper wire and a stronger spring can lead to an increase in the technical costs. More so, I am somewhat shocked and angered at the fact that the price inflation intended for profit can be five to ten times more than the actual cost. I would attribute to such a cost difference to 1) the "name," 2) the aesthetic appeal of the product and 3) the slightly faster and smooth performance. Despite these factors, I stand on my hypothesis that none of those differences constitute the financial jump. If I were the consumer, I would pick Bodum for the appearance of better functionality at the price of $20. Then again, I would not have a comparison or insight on how the Bodum and IKEA products generally function.

Nonetheless, in this activity, I learned quite a bit about determining and comparing products' functionality by building "down." While in science classes in high school and middle school I was taught to build X product with the pieces given, this activity has helped me learn how to build down and think differently. I really enjoyed how hands-on the activity was and how detailed it forced me to be. I learned that reverse engineering is a skill and an important one.