Template-based configuration and execution of decision workflows in design of complex engineered systems

Abstract

The research reported in the paper is from a decision-based design perspective wherein the principal role (but not only) role of a designer is to make decisions. Decision workflows are the processes by which the solutions pertaining to the design of complex systems are generated. Decision workflows are core to design processes, in which a set of decisions are connected (or interconnected) to generate shared and desired design outputs. Careful configuration of decision workflows is very important to ensure the generation of designs using available resources. Configuration of decision workflows is a process that requires a designer to use the basic elements to compose feasible workflows and then select an appropriate one for implementation in designing a product or a system. In this paper, we propose a template-based method for the design and execution of decision workflows associated with designing engineered systems. The value of the method is anchored in that it facilitates designers rapidly planning the processes, namely, the decision workflows, for designing products or systems. Moreover, due to the fact that these decision workflows are modeled in a computational manner, designers are able to execute decision workflows to explore the solution space and identify satisficing design solutions in early design stages. A gearbox with connected gears and shafts is a typical complex engineered system that can be partitioned into multiple levels of interacting subsystems. We illustrate the method and the decision workflows using a gear and shaft (within a gearbox) design example.