Modelling engineering change management in a new product development supply chain

Abstract

The changes within a new product development (NPD) process are handled differently depending on the stage of the project. The changes during the initial stages of the project are addressed by design iterations, while the changes after the product design is complete are addressed using a formal engineering change management (ECM) process. The ECM process is a complex process, especially under a collaborative environment, where various independent entities work together for a common cause of product development. The interactions between the NPD and ECM processes have rarely been investigated in the research community. In this paper, we attempt to study the interactions between the various NPD and ECM process parameters by modelling the processes and simulated the model to understand the parameter interactions. The organisations in a supply chain have been characterised based on their interactions with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) during the NPD process. The organisation process templates representing the NPD and ECM processes of each type of organisation in the supply chain have been modelled. The templates have been used to develop a simulation model representing the NPD and ECM processes for a supply chain. The process variables, such as processing rates, resources, resource composition, resource allocation priority, processing quality and phase overlap, have been included in the model. The results indicate that most of the variables and interactions among the variables have a significant influence on the NPD lead time. By identifying the status of the NPD process, the decision-makers can use these results to develop appropriate management policies to govern their product development projects.