Optimal design processes under uncertainty and reciprocal dependency

The relationship between system theory and the product design, the process of product development has been described. It compared the merits and demerits of serial and parallel product development processes and, with the guidelines of system theory, put forward and analyzed the planning actions and corresponding necessity existed in the indistinct initial phase in product development process. It also analyzed the optimizing effect of planning actions in product design & development process. Thus, it obtained the model of product design & development process based on system theory so as to clarify the indistinct initial phase, shorten product development time and, improve the effectiveness of enterprise's product development.

Organic vs. mechanistic coordination in distributed New Product Development (NPD) teams

In order to perform engineering design activities aiming at the design of new or redesign of existing products, a number of alternative processes, methods and techniques are available in the literature to the engineering designer/product developing enterprise. These processes, methods and techniques, are usually not explicitly expressed in terms of directives as to when and how they are to be used in the actual design of the product-to-be. An important goal in product development of today is to fulfill the terms for sustainable development, thus emphasizing the need to develop products which are not overexploiting the available resources provided by nature. By utilizing an approach to development and design based on bionics, i.e. utilizing biological methods and systems found in nature as a means of creating technical solutions, a conceptual framework is provided which is especially fit to accommodate the striving for sustainability. Striving for lightweight designs provides a significant potential to reduce the energy consumption of the product-to-be, which at present is a highly prioritized goal within sustainable development. Up until now, the dominating approach to lightweight designs has been to utilize lightweight materials such as different types of composites and metallic materials such as aluminum, magnesium and titanium. By introducing biomimicry into the engineering design process, an additional step towards efficient lightweight design solutions might be within reach. Since the objects created by nature are independent of costs and time, these are most often very complex especially regarding shapes and dimensions. In order to match these constraints in the creation of technical solutions (products), it is necessary to utilize optimization in combination with a flexible manufacturing process. The ideal manufacturing method to meet these demands is Additive Manufacturing (AM), though, at least for the time being, it imposes some constraints in size, costs etc. of the product to be manufactured. If the product designed is to be suitable for manufacturing for AM, it must be optimized, and so must the way it is to be processed. Therefore three of the most essential problems which need to be addressed in order to efficiently utilize AM are also elaborated upon and reported in the paper. The first of these problems is how to optimize the product-to-be. The second is to establish the orientation in which the product is to be manufactured during the AM process. The third is to find the best usage of the support material in the 3D printer, as there is no optimized process available for this activity. This is mainly due to the difficulties to foresee the waste of building material as, in most cases, this material can only be used once. In this paper, a process for the design and development of new products is proposed. The application of the process also includes essential elements to assure an efficient use of AM as mentioned above. The process is established on the basis of an integration of the Biomimicry Design Spiral, Bionic Structures and Elements and optimization into the Engineering Design Process. The utilization of the process is demonstrated by an application and reported in the form of a modified engineering design process — the Engineering Design and Biomimicry Design Process or the EDBP process for short.

This paper presents a quantifying and reordering method for new product development based on the concurrent engineering concept. We propose to establish a fuzzy design structure matrix (FDSM) by quantifying the information flow of activity factors of new product development and employing the fuzzy clustering method. Utilizing the proposed partition and tearing algorithm to reorder matrixes, we can realize deeply the inner hierarchy workings of concurrent engineering in the new product development process. The purpose of this paper is to develop a dynamic planning method that is innovative, efficient and flexible for new product development by using the concurrent design concept and FDSM analysis. It ultimately helpful to designers and managers to grasp the interactive information flow between each of the activity factors for planning an optimum design process in new product development. One case study is employed to illustrate this method and the result validates that it can reduce the iterations of design process and shorten the product development time.

Computer integrated design systems will require an improved understanding of the engineering design process, including formalized notions of (1) the structure of the process, (2) the design tasks that need to be performed, and (3) the information required to carry out these tasks. An organizational model for the structural engineering design process, termed themultilevel selection-development (MSD) model, has been outlined in a recent paper. The current paper continues development of the MSD model by providing more detailed descriptions of the specific design tasks that must be carried out. The MSD model is briefly reviewed, and a simple example is presented. The design tasks are then classified and described.

A spectral analytic study of some postulates concerning engineering design and related processes

A process simulation based method for scheduling product design change propagation

Processes are very important for the success within many business fields. They define the proper application of methods, technologies, tools, and company structures in order to reach business goals. Not only manufacturing processes have to be defined from the start point to their end, also other processes like product development processes need a proper description to gain success. For example in automotive industries complex product development processes are necessary and defined prior to product development. Over the last decades several product modeling languages have been developed moving to object oriented modeling languages, such as UML, but the used process modeling languages are still procedural. The paradigm shift caused by object oriented description within product modeling languages has to be transferred to process modeling languages. This paper describes an object oriented approach for process modeling, referred to as PML and its application to a complex product development and production process for integrated sheet metal design of higher order bifurcations. Using UML as a starting point an object oriented process modeling method is differentiated. The basic concepts which are needed for process modeling are put into an object oriented context and are explained. The paper gives an outlook, what can be achieved by the new approach.

DFMEA is a systematic and scientific method for new product design and development, which is applicable throughout the entire process of new product design and development. In this paper, DFMEA method is adopted in the systematic analyzing of the million-kilowatt nuclear power steam turbine rotor new product design and development process. On the basis of the introduction of product characteristics and current development requirement, DFMEA is introduced to the design and development process, applying the block diagram and structure-function matrix to locate the possible failure factors. Subsequently, the evaluation criteria of Severity (S), Occurrence (O), and Detection (D) are introduced and defined. According to the criteria, the Risk Priority Numbers (RPN) and Action Priority (AP) of key risks are sorted, therefore indicating the terms critical to product quality improvement. Through the application of DFMEA, an effective risk identification and analysis of the million-kilowatt nuclear power steam turbine rotor is carried out, achieving the results that operational failures are advanced to the design stage to implement countermeasures, therefore realizing the improvement of product and system operation reliability, optimization of project cycle and manufacturing cost reduction. DFMEA promotes the optimization of overall new product development process. Meanwhile it provides ideas for the subsequent design optimization methods of similar kinds.

This research explored a new direction of improving collaborative design by performance measurement. More specifically, a novel 3-dimensional performance measurement model is developed and the purpose of this model is to help project managers improve team collaboration by indicating strengths and weaknesses of team members during the project development process. Considering the complexity of collaborative design work, a multiple criteria model is proposed to reflect the design dynamics, which highlights five performance indicators: efficiency, effectiveness, collaboration, management skills and innovation. These five indicators are mostly influenced by role-based performance measurement criteria (the second dimension). Design and development process (time) is also considered (the third dimension). This 3D model allows all involved design participants to measure work performance at any time during the product development process. In order to develop this model, the role-based task analysis and industrial survey methods were utilized. Three groups of role-based product design and development performance measurement criteria were identified for measuring design performance of the top managers, middle managers and individual designers in a project team. A 3-dimensional performance measurement method was proposed to calculate final performance scores from a performance measurement matrix. The proposed model was evaluated as a tool which can support project managers to reduce potential design and collaboration risks and increase confidence in decision-making process. The model has been discussed on implementing in a web-based application for measuring design performance throughout the product design and development process.

This paper provides a methodological proposal for the design and development process of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The design core and product design specifications (PDS) of Pugh’s Total Design model are considered, with a focus on the early stages of the product design and development process. A modularization of the functional groups of an ROV is proposed, focusing attention on the sensor system. The main concepts regarding ROVs are presented, Pugh’s Total Design model is explained, justifying the application interest in technological projects, a methodological proposal adapted to ROV projects is provided, based on Pugh’s Total Design model, with special interest in the early stages of the new product development process (NPD), the suitability of applying our own model of industrial design engineering in an ROV system is analyzed, and the contribution of this study is evaluated, proposing future work and lines of research.

The quality of the design has been recognized as one of the key factors to the success of the engineering project. However, engineers need to repeatedly perform design tasks, such as processing information, to produce an appropriate design result. Such a design process involves many activities and lead into one or several iterative loops. Consequently, the sequence of performing design activities should be properly planned to avoid unnecessary loops. Design Structure Matrix (DSM) is one of the widely used methods to describe the design process. By employing DSM, the relationships and the sequence of the design activities can be identified. In this research, several principles of evaluating the design process are developed. In addition, fast messy Genetic Algorithm (fmGA) is employed along with the proposed evaluation principles and DSM to determine the optimal design process. Results show, based on the proposed evaluation principles, the impact of the iteration loops can be clearly identified. Furthermore, with the proposed optimization model and its computer implementation, engineers can find the optimal design process for the large-scale design project efficiently and effectively. the proposed evaluation principles and DSM to determine the optimal design process. Results show, based on the proposed evaluation principles, the impact of the iteration loops can be clearly identified. Furthermore, with the proposed optimization model and its computer implementation, engineers can find the optimal design process for the large-scale design project efficiently and effectively.

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated experience through projection of shapes, objects, and scenic views via headset or helmet device and interpreted as a genuine realistic environment. The interpretation of the highly realistic projection from the eye creates an immersive experience for the user. The use of VR technology is utilized in an array of industry applications as well as learning/training spaces. In particular, when VR is used in an educational setting, studies have shown positive or improved student achievement for a variety of academic disciplines in conjunction with creativity, inspiration, engagement, and motivation. VR used in industry applications, specifically within apparel industries, has been reported to enhance efficiencies in retail, enable virtual garment fitting, and reduction of physical samples in the apparel design and product development process. Regardless of these demonstrated favorable outcomes from education and industry, few research studies have investigated students’ willingness to adopt VR as a tool for use within their desired academic discipline (feeding into their future career path). As use in the apparel design and product development process has been reported, an opportunity exists to explore VR as an educational tool to ideate fashion design ideas in an individual’s apparel design process. Thus, the goal of this study was to provide initial insights into students’ willingness to use VR as a sketching tool, compared to traditional sketching tools, during the apparel design process. A multiple case study design was employed to examine the phenomenon in eight selected undergraduate Apparel Design students. The study was guided through the lens of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework to examine students’ willingness based on performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions to use VR. A learning module was developed in a 300-level apparel design course specifically to explore VR as a sketching tool in their design ideation process. Students received a demonstration for how to use the Oculus Quest VR equipment and experimentation/practice time using the equipment in conjunction with the Gravity Sketch (GS) VR application which allowed student users to draw in virtual space on an imported preexisting dress form. Following the practice time, students then completed an apparel design activity using the VR tool. Students then completed a survey in which data was collected through mixed methods by questionary scales and open-ended questions. The findings suggest a relationship between social willingness to adopt VR in their design ideation process while also providing a structure for future researchers to expand the use of this technology in apparel design coursework.

Introduction Designing is a key component of professional practice in many fields of human endeavor (e.g., architecture, engineering, industrial design, art, and literature). For engineers, designing integrates engineering knowledge, skill, and vision in the pursuit of innovations to solve problems and enable modern life. With this understanding, engineering educators have, for several decades, been infusing their programs with design curricula and pedagogical experiences in order to enhance the design competencies of engineering graduates. Paralleling the development of these curricula and experiences, a growing body of research has been providing a scholarly basis for engineering design education. The goal of this chapter is to acquaint readers with engineering design education research and practice. To situate engineering design education in the larger context, we first present a brief history of research on design processes across several fields and then move to a more specific description of research on engineering design processes. We then focus on research that investigates effective ways to teach and assess the design process and review curricular structures and pedagogies that are commonly used in undergraduate engineering programs.

Globally, customers are getting increasingly demanding in terms of personalization of products and are asking for shorter product development periods with more predictable product performance, especially in fashion industry. Current market pressures drive firms to adapt new design process in product development (PD) processes. Nevertheless, choosing the effective PD process is a challenging, complex decision. There is a critical need to develop a performance measurements system (PMS) for choosing appropriate product development (PD) processes in garment design to support product mangers to effectively respond to market. This paper presents a knowledge-based open performance measurement system (KBO-PMS) in big data environment, in order to support complex industrial decision-making for new product development. Its dynamic and flexible structure enables the whole system to be more adapted to knowledge sharing of product managers and processing of various time-varying data. The proposed KBO-PMS is composed of an interactive structure, capable of both integrating new KPIs from the open resource and tracking the evolution of the KBO-PMS components with time. The proposed KBO-PMS has been validated by realizing the performance evaluation of product development (PD) in fashion industry. It can be regarded as an application of open-resource based dynamic group decision-making in fashion big data environment.