Collaborative Product Development Process Research Articles

Smart Product Design Ontology Development for Managing Digital Agility

Digital agility is a critical dynamic capability that is becoming increasingly important in the context of collaborative product development processes (PDPs). This paper aims to address the complexity of today's PDPs by considering various quality aspects including safety, environment, and the entire lifecycle, along with diverse dynamic capabilities such as digital agility and circular economy. The authors employed a semantic web methodology and created an ontology-based knowledge model. The proposed ontology uses Design for X techniques, circular economy, digital agility, and the semantic web under the PDP perspective to increase performance and cooperation between designers and the project team. To validate the ontology, measures for domain ontology evaluation have been used. The paper presents a detailed guide for ontology engineering and evaluation for collaborative smart PDP, which incorporates digital agility as a critical dynamic capability. The proposed ontology can help boost PDP performance and increase customer satisfaction.

Achieving a shared understanding in the creative industries: freelancers’ use of boundary objects in collaborative innovation projects

This paper examines how freelancers in the field of the creative industries capture and distil their clients’ needs and wants in collaborative innovation projects. Our empirical data from sixteen collaborative product-development processes led by freelancers in Finland and Spain allowed us to identify that boundary objects were critical for the achievement of a shared understanding at the beginning of the development process. In the later stages, the use of these objects decreased drastically and dialogue became the focus. The existence of a project match – whether the project was relevant and interesting for the freelancer – and a personal match – perceived similarity with the client in terms of thought and sense-making processes – were crucial to ensure engagement. From a managerial perspective, this paper stresses the importance of finding a personal and project match, highlights the role of boundary objects to create a shared understanding and reinforces the importance of dialogue in development processes and collaborative innovation.

Ambidexterity in collaborative new product development processes

PurposeThe objective of the present research is to explore how firms, when engaged in collaborative new product development (NPD) activities, may be understood to be successful or unsuccessful in achieving ambidextrous processes. The study explores the organizational and managerial practices inside the firm and in the supply chain that enable or constrain the firm in reaching a balance between exploitation and exploration when engaged with NPD.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach was adopted with the ambition to develop new theoretical insight. Insights from multiple NPD projects in a single highly innovative firm were collected and coded.FindingsThe analysis shows how the organization of the NPD projects, alignment strategies, approaches to reward structure, supplier integration willingness and absorptive capacity were all formative in the firms' abilities to achieve ambidexterity in the NPD processes.Originality/valueThe presented research expands knowledge of how ambidextrous NPD processes can be reached. It demonstrates how a complex combination of factors and practices internal to the firm and concerning its supplier management strategies and practices enables or constrains ambidexterity in NPD processes. The results allow managers to devise more informed strategies and design decisions to enable NPD processes that reach adequate and simultaneous concerns for exploitation and exploration.

Smart Virtual Product Development (SVPD) System to Support Product Inspection Planning in Industry 4.0

Abstract This paper presents the idea of supporting product inspection planning process during the early stages of product life cycle for the experts working on product development. Aim of this research is to assist a collaborative product development process by using Smart Virtual Product Development (SVPD) system, which is based on Set of Experience Knowledge Structure (SOEKS) and Decisional DNA (DDNA). The proposed system is developed to support three key aspects of industrial product development i.e. design, manufacturing, and product inspection. Therefore, it comprises of three main modules; design knowledge management (DKM), manufacturing capability and process planning (MCAPP), and product inspection planning (PIP). It collects, stores, and uses experiential knowledge from formal decisional events in the form of set of experience (SOE). This research enlightens the working mechanism of the PIP module, and shows how experiential knowledge related to product inspection can be used during the early stages of product development process. This experiential knowledge is extracted and stored from similar products having some common features and functions. First, the basic description and principles of the approach are introduced, then the prototype version of the system is developed and tested for product inspection planning (PIP) module for the case study, which verifies the feasibility of the proposed approach. The presented system successfully supports smart manufacturing and can play a vital role in Industry 4.0.

Knowledge sharing in collaborative new product development: a study of grey box supplier involvement configuration

Abstract Paper aims To shed light on how knowledge is shared between companies during a collaborative new product development (NPD) process. Originality It is the first study of different knowledge sharing levels for each stage of the NPD process in an inter-organizational context. Research method A research framework was created based on the literature. Guided by this framework, an in-depth case study was performed in a multinational company analyzing the knowledge sharing with the company’s supplier during a collaborative NPD process. Main findings Different levels of knowledge sharing were found at each stage of the NPD process. Implications for theory and practice The results complement previous works demonstrating that this phenomenon should not be considered as a binary state. By clearly presenting how knowledge sharing occurs at each phase of the NPD process, managers can be prepared and correctly implement tools to support NPD teams from both buyer and supplier companies.

A collaborative apparel new product development process model using virtual reality and augmented reality technologies as enablers

ABSTRACTThis study presents a collaborative new product development (NPD) process model that accommodates different perspectives of stakeholders in an apparel value chain and expedites robust new product outcomes. Advanced technologies are demanded to establish such collaborative NPD process models. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies have become prominent in product realisation during this process, to evaluate multiple alternatives. The study proposes a twofold approach where, in the first phase, a qualitative study was carried out to evaluate the viewpoint of value stream collaborators to study the potential opportunities and limitations of applying VR and AR in NPD process. In the second phase, a quantitative study was carried out to assess the apparel consumers’ awareness on VR or AR applications, perceptions on such technologies, and intention to use such technologies in the context of apparel business. Data collection consisted of 10 in-depth interviews with experts in the industry and 94 survey responses from apparel consumers in the United Kingdom. It is concluded that VR and AR technologies will be enablers for NPD’s success in the apparel industry in providing quick responses to consumers to enhance the performance of the new products.

Virtual supply chain for networked business: perspective of collaborative bill-of-materials, scheduling and process monitoring for developing innovative product

This article presents a methodology applicable to the formation of collaborative bill-of-materials (C-BOM), coordinating production scheduling and monitoring operational processes. The concept of collaborative product development process is described in detail through an example network, where the participating organisations form a temporary virtual organisation (VO) and contribute throughout the entire product development processes. In this paper, the basic need for exchanging product information among the partners is carried out through IT-based software tools, where the partners are enabled to visualise and monitor the operational processes in a real-time environment. This research study concludes with the overall research outcomes and future research directions.

Effects of demand forecast and resource sharing on collaborative new product development in supply chain

In today's volatile global marketplace co-developing of new products is increasingly important, owing to the uncertainties of developing and launching a new product. The collaborative new product development process however, presents a new challenge for the partner firms due to the sharing of information, resources and technology. Literature has not adequately addressed the issues associated with collaborative decision making that has to be robust in an environment with varying performance, quality and timing uncertainties, despite the growing need to collaborate. In our model, we consider a product development company and a technology development company with different but symbiotic capabilities. We analyze various scenarios, assessing the benefits and downsides of demand forecast information sharing on each company and the supply chain as a whole. The scenarios analyzed vary according to the level of technology, innovation and resources shared between the firms.

Implementation of a User-Oriented Model for Collaborative Product Development: An Example from The Medical Equipment Industry

In this study, we summarize the requirements for collaborative product development based on our investigation of the differences in the resources and tools that are needed for the various stages of collaborative product development and the needs of system users during these various stages. We developed a user-oriented model of collaborative product development for medical equipment and designed an interface module with the required functionalities to satisfy different areas according to their roles and workflow. In medical-equipment development, the issues related to marketing, design, and manufacturing must be considered; more importantly, the relevant regulatory needs must be thoroughly understood. Therefore, based on the unique features of the medical-equipment industry and the requirements for product development therein, we implemented a development system for collaborative product development in the intelligent medical-equipment industry, including a calendar function module, an announcements module, a knowledge-based information system, a project management system, a project operation and maintenance system, a file management system, an accessibility system, and a clinical test system. In addition, the results obtained with this system were verified with the following three possible cases: project operation and maintenance, clinical trial application, and medical equipment testing. The platform we developed can drastically simplify the original complex and dispersed process of product development for intelligent medical equipment, thereby allowing the project team to develop new medical-equipment products and promote interactions among the research and development staff, clinical specialists, and the test participants successfully, thereby resulting in a user-oriented collaborative product development process.

An integrated fuzzy approach for information technology planning in collaborative product development

Collaborative product development (CPD) processes are generally based on technological infrastructures. Various information technologies (IT) are proposed every day to facilitate collaboration, integration, co-design and co-development processes. In this highly uncertain environment, a systematic methodology is essential to plan the IT infrastructure needed to start and maintain a collaborative process. This study offers an integrated IT planning methodology combining fuzzy quality function deployment, fuzzy axiomatic design and fuzzy rule-based systems. The methodology is tested in a CPD case and the outcome presents an improvement path for IT for each of the collaborative parties.

Agent Behavior-Based Simulation Study on Mass Collaborative Product Development Process

Mass collaborative product development (MCPD) benefits people by high innovation products with lower cost and shorter lead time due to quick development of group innovation, Internet-based customization, and prototype manufacturing. Simulation is an effective way to study the evolution process and therefore to guarantee the success of MCPD. In this paper, an agent behavior-based simulation approach of MCPD is developed, which models the MCPD process as the interactive process of design agents and the environment objects based on Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory. Next, the structure model of design agent is proposed, and the modification and collaboration behaviors are described. Third, the agent behavior-based simulation flow of MCPD is designed. At last, simulation experiments are carried out based on an engineering case of mobile phone design. The experiment results show the following: (1) the community scale has significant influence on MCPD process; (2) the simulation process can explicitly represent the modification and collaboration behaviors of design agents; (3) the community evolution process can be observed and analyzed dynamically based on simulation data.

Conflict Analysis between Task Iteration and Design Capabilities in Collaborative Product Development

Based on the analysis of collaborative product development process, the overall task load model was established. Through analyzing the features of task iteration convergence and building the design capabilities constraint functions, the design capability reliability evaluation model was constructed to evaluate the conflict between task iteration and design capabilities for each design entity, and judge whether the design entities’ capability is capable or not to complete the design tasks on the condition of the task iteration. Based on the assessment results and combined iterative design structure matrix, the main factors which affecting the task iteration was analyzed and corresponding improvement measures were also proposed for the purpose of reducing task iteration frequency and optimizing the conflict processes. Finally, a case study was presented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Use of Process Modeling in Product Development Integration within Manufacturing Environment

The impact of supply chain on new product development (NPD) and product introduction is particularly important in a time when (i) there are pressures for growing product proliferation in order to meet varied demands and constraints, (ii) the research and development pipeline is a key focus in companies, and (iii) technology life cycles have shortened so much that obsolete inventories and time to market are crucial for companies margin performance. This research focuses on the early stages of the collaborative product development process in the extended enterprise and shows it is a contribution to the business world. The output of the research includes the functional requirements of a framework and a developed prototype methodology with tools and technologies that are tested with case studies in the industrial environment. The study also focuses on using modern modeling tools to represent the product development processes of an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and its suppliers.

Modelling and simulation of the task scheduling behavior in collaborative product development process

Collaborative Product Development (CPD) process is characterized by autonomous task control, dynamic task sequence, and frequent team collaboration, which endow the process with high flexibility and uncertainty. To make the process predictable and im

An integrated fuzzy approach for Information Technology Planning in Collaborative Product Development

Collaborative Product Development processes are generally based on technological infrastructures and various information technologies are proposed every day to facilitate collaboration, integration, co-design and co-development processes. In this highly uncertain environment, a systematic methodology is essential to plan the Information Technology infrastructure needed to start and maintain the collaborative process. This study offers an integrated Information Technology planning methodology combining Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment, Fuzzy Axiomatic Design and Fuzzy Rule Based Systems. The methodology is tested in a Collaborative Product Development case and the outcome presents an improvement path for Information Technologies for each of the collaborative parties.

Agent-based Partner Selection and Simulation in Collaborative Product Development Process

Collaborative Product Development (CPD) process is characterized by autonomous task control, dynamic task sequence, and frequent team collaboration, which endow the process with high flexibility and uncertainty. In the CPD process, designers are the one of the important elements with prominent characteristics of autonomy, collaboration and initiative, the process is knowledge-based simultaneously. Therefore, partner selection is essential problem. Aimed the problem, a multi-agent negotiation-arbitration framework of partner selection is proposed firstly; secondly, partner selection process and rules based on the framework are given; thirdly, 3 optimal strategies for conflict resolution are approached, including suboptimization strategy, waiting strategy and utility strategy; lastly, various contrastive experiments are carried for some CPD process based on the former simulation platform by add new functions. The simulation results show that the selection rules and conflict resolution strategies can shorten project duration on the basis of quantitative analysis; it indicates that the method of agent-based simulation is a valid way to improve the efficiency of process management.

Study on Dynamic Resource Scheduling of Collaborative Product Development Process

Study on Dynamic Resource Scheduling of Collaborative Product Development Process

Task scheduling behaviour in agent-based product development process simulation

In order to model the designer's autonomous task scheduling behaviour and use it in an agent-based product development process simulation, in this article a utility function is constructed, in which task urgency, task importance, agent individual preference and recovery cost are considered. Algorithms to calculate the utility function are developed and verified in detail. To validate and evaluate the scheduling behaviour based on utility functions in agent-based simulation, comparative simulation experiments are carried out on the basis of a case study in the Chinese industry. Simulation results show that the agent's behaviour in the development process simulation is close to the real working process of designers. In the comparative case study, the scheduling behaviour considering both task urgency and task importance can significantly shorten project lead time compared with considering task urgency only. It can also save time for the whole project if the agent assigns collaborative tasks high priority. The developed model and simulation approach can help organisations to identify efficient and effective scheduling behaviours in collaborative and complex product development processes.

Application of Data Maturity in Product Development Process Control

In the concurrent and collaborative product development process, the realization of quantitative analysis and overall control of the development process management is the key and the difficulties in the current study. Through describes the concept and role of data maturity, a new methods to quantitative analysis and overall control of collaborative product development process based on the idea of data maturity was proposed in this paper. Base on the explanation of the theory of data maturity to control the process, the differences and relationship between data maturity and milestone was analyzed. The division method of data maturity level was discussed, and the corresponding relationship between each data maturity level and completion degree of the digital product model was illustrated also. In addition, the overall form of the product collaborative development process based on data maturity was provided. Finally, the detailed process between product structure design, process design and tooling design driven by each data maturity were explored, which realized the quantitative analysis and overall control of the product development process.

An Ontology-Based Workflow Model Supporting Collaborative Product Development

Collaborative product development (CPD) is a dynamic collaborative process. A workflow model supporting CPD can provide a powerful and orderly workflow management for modern product development. This paper studies the requirements of CPD towards the workflow model, establishes a workflow metamodel supporting CPD process, proposes an idea of ontology-based workflow modeling and builds the workflow ontology model, which will strongly support interactive manipulation between the workflow management systems of collaborative product development.