The Development of Virtual Concurrent Engineering and its Application to Design for Producibility

Abstract

It is well known that so-called concurrent engineering is a desirable alternative to the largely sequential methods which tend to dominate most product-development methods However, the proper implementation of a concurrent engineering method is still relatively rare, due in part to unreliable guesswork, poor knowledge structuring and utilization, and the lack of integrated, global decision making. Thus, to remedy the current shortcomings, we propose an initial, straightforward theory for product development, which is based on properly-defined concurrent engineering principles. After establishing the overall goal for product development, we formulate an objective that a product- development method must meet. This objective then leads to three fundamental criteria, which basically govern where concurrent engineering must be implemented, how consistent communication between different domains must be carried out, and how to structure and network the vast amount of expert knowledge in an effective, feasible manner The product-development objective and the three criteria guide the establishment of a feasible computer-based implementation of concurrent engineering, called virtual concurrent engineering (VCE) The effectiveness of VCE is demonstrated by applying it to refine a method, called design for producibility (DFP), that integrates the design and manufacturing stages of product development. Two elements that are crucial to the success of DFP are the producibility cost function network, and the software package AUTOPROD (Automated Producibility) The refined DFP method has been successfully applied to concurrent product and process design in three domains: stamping, forming, and machining