Complex Product Development Projects Research Articles

The robustness of complex product development projects under design change risk propagation with gray attack information

Disruptive design change risk propagation is a key obstacle restricting the success of complex product development (CPD) projects. Considering the incomplete information of initial change source selection, this paper develops the design change risk propagation model with gray attack information based on complex network theory. In this model, parameters π and σ are introduced to describe the gray information from both global and local perspectives. Based on the gray information, four kinds of gray attack strategies are provided. The robustness of the CPD project against design change risk propagation under different gray attacks is analyzed through numerical simulation. The results show that the CPD project is most robust under the small out-degree attack, while is most vulnerable under the large out-degree attack. No matter based on global or local gray information, increasing the gray level of information is beneficial to improve the project robustness under large out-degree attack, while reduces the project robustness under small out-degree attack under certain circumstances. Parameters σ and π have thresholds σ* and π*, which can keep the project robustness stable. This paper has implications for project managers to make reasonable decisions for project information management and provides a new perspective for CPD project robustness prediction and improvement.

A Comprehensive Mathematical Model for Sequencing Interrelated Activities in Complex Product Development Projects

Determining the proper sequence of interrelated activities in the design of a complex product is an irrefutable challenge for project management. The presence of components with different levels of technology in a complex product can disrupt project planning and cause cost overruns or schedule delays. This article presents a multiobjective model for organizing interrelated activities by taking into account the impact of technological capability and financial aspect of the project with a periodic perspective. First, a multidomain matrix is devised based on design structure matrix and technology readiness level to demonstrate the impact of components technology maturity level. Second, a mathematical model is developed according to rework caused by information dependence (minimizing total feedback value), project financial aspect (minimizing the difference between the budget and project costs), and technology maturity level of components (minimizing technology risk). Finally, a possibilistic programming approach is applied to cope with the uncertainty of input data; in addition, to deal with multiple objective functions, an interactive fuzzy solution approach is implemented. To validate the model and solution approach, a numerical experiment and a case study are conducted. Testing results illustrate the importance of technology maturity level in sequencing activities and indicate that the model can be introduced as a management tool for the financial feasibility study of the project due to the balanced use of budget.

Investigating the Dynamics of Engineering Design Rework for a Complex Aircraft Development Project: Lessons Learned From a Soft Systems Thinking Lens

Organizations still struggle to efficiently manage their complex product development projects (PDPs). A contributor to poor project performance is the dynamics of engineering design rework (EDR), due both to the necessity of adjusting the product being developed and the disruption it causes to the development process. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the dynamics of EDR that negatively impacts the performance of complex PDPs and to suggest actions to overcome those problems. The soft systems thinking methodology underpins the research approach. The dynamics of EDR of an aircraft development project were modeled in a causal loop model.

SIMULTANEOUS DEFINITION OF KEY CHARACTERISTICS IN ORDER TO FACILITATE ROBUST DESIGN IN EARLY PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STAGES

AbstractThe success of complex product development projects strongly depends on the clear definition of target factors that allow a reliable statement about the fulfilment of the product requirements. In the context of tolerancing and robust design, Key Characteristics (KCs) have been established for this purpose and form the basis for all downstream activities. In order to integrate the activities related to the KC definition into product development as early as possible, the often vaguely formulated requirements must be translated into quantifiable KCs. However, this is primarily a manual process, so the results strongly depend on the experience of the design engineer.In order to overcome this problem, a novel computer-aided approach is presented, which automatically derives associated functions and KCs already during the definition of product requirements. The approach uses natural language processing and formalized design knowledge to extract and provide implicit information from the requirements. This leads to a clear definition of the requirements and KCs and thus creates a founded basis for robustness evaluation at the beginning of the concept design stage. The approach is exemplarily applied to a window lifter.

Impacts of module–module aligned patterns on risk cascading propagation in complex product development (CPD) interdependent networks

Complex product development (CPD) can be abstracted as interdependent networks with a network of organizations executing a network of components. Risk cascading propagation caused by the failure of a few components occurs frequently and makes the CPD interdependent networks vulnerable. This paper mainly focuses on the impacts of organization–component​ executing patterns on the risk propagation in CPD interdependent networks considering the limited risk resisting capacity of organizations. Firstly, the CPD interdependent networks are generated considering the modular structure of the product network and organization network in CPD projects. Secondly, a new risk propagation model is proposed combining the epidemic model (SIR) and load–capacity model to tailor the different risk propagation mechanisms in and between networks. Thirdly, three types of module–module aligned patterns, i.e., fully aligned, partially aligned, and randomly aligned are identified between the CPD interdependent networks. Finally, the impacts of the three aligned patterns on the risk propagation are investigated by numerical simulations. The results show that under two failure modes at the initial disruption, i.e., random failure (RA) of components distributed in various modules and intentional failure (IN) of components centralized in one module, the risk propagations in the CPD interdependent networks mainly experience three stages, i.e., expanding, shrinking, and stabling. The aligned patterns have important impacts on network robustness and propagation velocity. Fully aligned pattern significantly improves the robustness of CPD interdependent networks and reduces the propagation velocity at the expanding stage. Under the failure mode RA, the robustness of the CPD interdependent networks with different aligned patterns are ranked as fully aligned, partially aligned, and randomly aligned. This research is meaningful to construct robust CPD projects and effectively mitigate the risk cascading propagation.

Risk propagation and mitigation of design change for complex product development (CPD) projects based on multilayer network theory

Change risk propagation caused by unexpected design change has become a major source of risk to complex product development (CPD) projects and provides great challenge to existing project risk management methods. The aim of this paper is to reveal the law of design change risk propagation and mitigate the disruptive design change risk propagation through improving the robustness and resilience of CPD projects. First, the CPD projects are represented by multilayer networks with product-layer and organization-layer. Then, the model of design change risk propagation is built based on load-capacity model under the consideration of change risk mitigation strategies including redundant resource, inter-partner coordination, and project learning efficiency. Furthermore, the effects of these strategies and their portfolios are estimated through numerical simulation. The results provide the most cost-effective strategies to ultimately recover the multilayer CPD network within a certain time frame. This paper proposes a new perspective to mitigate the design change risk of CPD projects after the definition of project architecture and have implications for project managers to make reasonable decisions according to concrete project contexts.

INTERNAL INTEGRATION IN COMPLEX COLLABORATIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

While the importance of internal integration for effective inter-firm collaboration with suppliers is widely acknowledged, it is presently unclear how it is achieved in complex collaborative product development projects. This paper aims to address this gap in extant knowledge by investigating the internal integration approaches and exploring related project management challenges. Specifically, three internal integration approaches are found, namely integration based on multidirectional, frequent interaction; integration based on delimited, problem-solving; and based on unidirectional, information-oriented interaction. The study findings suggest that internal integration approaches are related to the degree of uncertainty in the subsystems of the suppliers, rather than the overall product system. Consequently, in complex product development projects involving many internal functions and several different suppliers, the specific supplier tasks, rather than the overall project structure and aims, determine the mode of internal integration required. This complexity creates important challenges for organisation, and requires flexibility in internal integration approaches.

An Empirical Study of Employees’ Tacit Knowledge Sharing Behavior

AbstractThis paper is to investigate how employees’ tacit knowledge sharing behavior is influenced by various antecedents. We propose that tacit knowledge sharing consists of three specific behaviors (i.e., socialization, externalization, and internalization) and they are influenced by four antecedents (trust, self-efficacy, knowledge tacitness, and IT support). A survey was conducted to collect data from 258 knowledge workers who worked on complex product development projects. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results demonstrate that trust, self-efficacy, knowledge tacitness, and IT support significantly affect the externalization and internalization behaviors, and trust and IT support significantly affect the socialization behavior. This study is helpful to organizations where it is critical for employees to share tacit knowledge. It suggests that tacit knowledge is difficult to share and organizations should nurture mutual trust between employees, enhance their self-efficacy, and provide sufficient IT support so that they are more likely to engage in tacit knowledge sharing.

New Product Development: Impact of Project Characteristics and Development Practices on Performance

Concurrent product development process and integrated product development teams have emerged as the two dominant new product development (NPD) “best practices” in the literature. Yet empirical evidence of their impact on product development success remains inconclusive. This paper draws upon organizational information processing theory (OIPT) to explore how these two dominant NPD best practices and two key aspects of NPD project characteristics (i.e., project uncertainty and project complexity) directly and jointly affect the NPD performance. Contrary to the “best practice” literature, the analysis, based on 266 NPD projects from three industries (i.e., automotive, electronics, and machinery) across nine countries (i.e., Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United States), found no evidence of any direct impact of process concurrency or team integration on overall NPD performance. Instead, there is evidence of negative impact of the interaction between project uncertainty and concurrent NPD process and positive impact of the interaction between project complexity and team integration on overall NPD performance. Moreover, the study found no evidence of any direct negative impact of project uncertainty or complexity on overall NPD performance as suggested in the literature, but found evidence of a direct positive relationship between project complexity and overall NPD performance.The practical implications of these results are significant. First, neither process concurrency nor team integration should be embraced universally as best practice. Second, process concurrency should be avoided in projects with high uncertainty (i.e., when working with unfamiliar product, market, or technology). Finally, team integration should be encouraged for complex product development projects. For a simple product a loosely integrated team or a more centralized decision process may work well. However, as project complexity increases, team integration becomes essential for improved product development. There is no one‐size‐fits‐all solution for managing NPD projects. The choice of a product development practice should be determined by the project characteristics.

Managing asymmetries in information flows and interaction betweenR&D, manufacturing, and service in complex product development

Studies of new product development have demonstrated the value of effective interaction between research and development (R&D) and manufacturing, but few studies also include service operations despite their growing importance. Building on in‐depth studies of two firms in the capital goods sector, the paper illustrates how the structural differences between theR&D‐manufacturing andR&D‐service interfaces result in serious information and interaction imbalances, and presents managerial means to handle these. The paper makes three contributions. First, it shows the value of moving beyond a dyadic perspective to studies of more complex structures involving triads of specialized functions. Second, the paper underlines the role of informational flows that can compensate for asymmetries in such triads and facilitate thoughtful trade‐off decisions. Third, the paper highlights the importance of creating conditions for integrated knowledge‐based approaches across functions, which involve the generation and sharing of new knowledge. The paper ends with an emerging management agenda to support such integrative efforts in complex product development projects.

Orchestrating Complex Product Development: Reducing Rework Hazards of Architectural Mismatches

The literature has established the advantages for product development performance when product architecture and organizational architecture are matched appropriately. Recent industrial examples have shown how a mismatch in form of an integral product architecture being developed by set of companies forming a modular organizational architecture had dramatic negative consequences. Building on these observations, we develop a simulation game to test various strategies to mitigate the detrimental mismatch effects in the context of a complex product with an integral product architecture developed by firms forming a modular supply chain. Our simulation experiments replicate system behavior observed in real systems with higher levels of complexity, and revised strategies using faster information sharing, and acceptance of temporary suboptimal partial solutions show a significant performance improvement. We discuss implications for research and practice in the management of complex product development projects.

Assessing Performance Risk for Complex Product Development: A Simulation‐Based Model

Assessing and managing performance risk is important for complex product development projects. The performance risk of complex product development can be defined as the probability failing to achieve desired performance level subject to cost and time constraints. This article presents a simulation model based on the graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT) and analyzes the complex product development project using simulation data. The model computes the probability distribution of project duration and cost in a GERT network with multifeedback branches considering activities rework that is caused by probabilistic failure to meet the planned design objective. A simulation strategy is designed to assess the performance risk in both subsystems and system development. With the performance risk assessment methodology, project managers can make a better decision and then minimize the performance risk of product development project. Finally, an obstacle clearance armored vehicle development project is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An overlapping-based process model for managing schedule and cost risk in product development

Overlapping between development activities stemming from concurrent engineering may not only reduce duration of a project but also create rework risk. This article presents a process modeling and analysis technique for managing complex product development projects using optimization and simulation techniques. In order to analyze the forced overlapped process with lead–risk, we propose evolution and sensitivity design structure matrix for reflecting overlapping and their impact on the degree of activity sensitivity and evolution in the process model. Using the design structure matrix, we present the schedule and cost model associated with iteration, overlapping, and rework by incorporating many more general characteristics of complex design processes. The model can be used for better project planning and control by identifying overlapping and risk for process improvements, and for evaluating alternative planning and execution strategies. An industrial example, a tactics aerocraft preliminary development design process at a company, is provided to illustrate the utility of the model using optimization and discrete-event simulation. The optimization model maximizes the compressed time associated with overlapping and yields several managerial insights, including optimization analysis of project activity sequence, how overlapping and rework risk impact on project schedule and cost, trading off schedule and cost risk.

Can Informal Communication Networks Disrupt Coordination in New Product Development Projects?

This paper investigates how the structure of the informal communication network that results from efforts to coordinate task interdependence between design teams in complex product development projects moderates the effect of task interdependence on interteam communication. Drawing on theoretical mechanisms from the social network and knowledge transfer literature, as well as on recent empirical advances in exponential random graphs models of social networks, we examine how the presence of a common third party in the communication network affects the likelihood of technical communication between interdependent teams designing the components of a large commercial aircraft engine. Although task interdependence has a strong and significant effect on the likelihood of communication between teams, this effect is moderated by the presence of common third parties. The nature of this moderation depends on the position of the common third party within the triadic communication structure. When the common third party seats in the middle of a communication chain between the potential source and the potential recipient of technical communication, its presence increases the likelihood of communication between these two teams. However, when the communication between the source and recipient can trigger cyclic exchanges between the three teams, the presence of the third party reduces the likelihood of communication between the two interdependent teams, increasing the risk of coordination disruptions. We discuss the implications of our findings on the literature of intraorganizational networks in new product development.

A simulation approach for evaluation and improvement of organisational planning in collaborative product development projects

Human behaviour and organisational structure impact collaborative product development outcome on a large scale. Therefore, companies are continuously seeking new opportunities to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and predictability of their collaborative product development projects, and to develop innovative principles for organisational design and management such as multi-functional teams. However, there are many factors which have to be considered and assessed to systematically optimise organisational planning in respect of team configuration, structure organisation, and human behaviour. This paper proposes an agent-based simulation methodology to evaluate and improve the organisational planning in complex product development projects. An agent-based integrated simulation model is formulated which can explicitly represent human behaviour, organisational interactions, and tasks networks. Based on the model, the design agent structure and behaviour protocols are studied in detail, and a simulation platform is developed. Finally, the methodology is evaluated in a collaborative roadway design project, and several management insights are established, which are proven to be effective for the organisational optimisation. The results of the case study also show that the methodology can effectively support the evaluation and improvement of organisational planning.

Component Connectivity, Team Network Structure and the Attention to Technical Interfaces in Complex Product Development

The development of complex products poses substantial operational and organizational challenges to established firms. Previous research has shown that coordinating technical interdependencies is vital for the successful development of complex products. We integrate research streams in product development and organizational theory to study the determinants of the capability of teams to attend to technical interfaces in complex product development projects. We hypothesize that the connectivity among product components and teams' communication network structure significantly influence their attention to critical technical interfaces. We show that to effectively examine the role of component connectivity and team network structure is essential to recognize the dual role that teams play as acquirers and providers of technical information during the design process. We test our hypotheses by examining the network of components of a large commercial aircraft engine and the technical communication network structure of the organization that designs it. Our findings suggest that the connectivity of product components pose capacity restrictions when teams are requested to provide attention to critical design interfaces while teams with sparse communication networks are more capable of aligning their communication patterns with the design interfaces of the components they design.

Change decisions in product development projects

In dynamic business environments, product development projects rarely proceed according to the original plan. It is likely that some changes must be made and plans or goals be redefined to adapt to changes in the business environment. Which changes should the project approve and implement, which ones to reject, and why? Earlier product development literature has largely covered planned decisions and go/no-go decision criteria in line with a phased product development process. Project management literature, in turn, suggests change management processes and practices during the project. Earlier research has not sufficiently covered criteria for change decisions that are needed between product development gates, nor a holistic approach for making such decisions in complex product development projects.This paper explores decision criteria and change management in complex product development projects. In a qualitative, multiple-case setting we characterize change management practices, decision criteria, and managers’ experiences with change management in seven complex product development projects within one firm. The results report multiple parallel change management approaches differing in terms of business context maturity, type of change, and IT system use. Operative criteria dominated in the change decisions of the case projects, as opposed to more long-term oriented strategic criteria. The paper concludes with propositions concerning more holistic change management frameworks that would account for contextual contingencies.

Managing complex product development projects with design structure matrices and domain mapping matrices

Complexity in product development (PD) projects can emanate from the product design, the development process, the development organization, the tools and technologies applied, the requirements to be met, and other domains. In each of these domains, complexity arises from the numerous elements and their multitude of relationships, such as between the components of the product being developed, between the activities to develop them, and among the people doing the activities. One approach to handing this complexity is to represent and analyze these domains’ design structures or architectures. The design structure matrix (DSM) has proved to be a very helpful tool for representing and analyzing the architecture of an individual system such as a product, process, or organization. Like many tools, the DSM has been applied in a variety of areas outside its original domain, as researchers and practitioners have sought to leverage its advantages. Along the way, however, its fundamental rules (such as being a square matrix) have been challenged. In this paper, we formalize an approach to using a domain mapping matrix (DMM) to compare two DSMs of different project domains. A DMM is a rectangular ( m × n) matrix relating two DSMs, where m is the size of DSM 1 and n is the size of DSM 2. DMM analysis augments traditional DSM analyses. Our comparison of DSM and DMM approaches shows that DMM analysis offers several benefits. For example, it can help (1) capture the dynamics of PD, (2) show traceability of constraints across domains, (3) provide transparency between domains, (4) synchronize decisions across domains, (5) cross-verify domain models, (6) integrate a domain with the rest of a project or program, and (7) improve decision making among engineers and managers by providing a basis for communication and learning across domains.

A simulation-based optimization framework for product development cycle time reduction

By the mid-1990s, the importance of early introduction of new products to both market share and profitability became fully understood. Thus, reducing product time-to-market became an essential requirement for continuous competition. Since product development projects (PDPs) are based on information content and their accompanying information-dominated methods, an efficient methodology for reducing PDP time initially requires developing an understanding of the information flow among different project processes. One tool that helps achieving this understanding is the design structure matrix (DSM). Because much of the time involved in a complex PDP is attributable to its expensive iterative nature, resequencing project activities for efficient execution become the next requirement. This paper presents a simulation-based optimization framework that determines the optimal sequence of activities execution within a PDP that minimizes project total iterative time given stochastic activity durations. A mathematical model representing the problem is built as an MS Excel module and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is used to interface this module with a metaheuristic optimization algorithm called Simulated Annealing and commercial risk analysis software "Crystal Ball" to solve the model.

Organising for environmental considerations in complex product development projects: implications from introducing a “Green” sub-project

This paper presents findings from a case study of a product development project in which environmental performance requirements were introduced. Focus is set on how the project was organised in order to ensure that the environmental performance requirements were considered. A specific “Green” sub-project was included in the project organisation. The analysis shows that such a sub-project can: (1) serve as a means to put environmental considerations on the agenda, (2) introduce a risk for confusion regarding who is responsible for fulfilling the environmental performance requirements, (3) act as an arena for communication about the environmental performance requirements, (4) serve as a platform for environmental champions to be active, and (5) serve as a means for environmental specialists to become part of established contact networks in the product development organisation.