Concurrent Product Development Research Articles

Managing the Concurrent Execution of Dependent Product Development Stages

Concurrent product development, the practice of executing dependent product development stages simultaneously, has become the common mode of new product development because of the increasing importance of time-to-market. However, such simultaneous execution of dependent stages may substantially increase the total amount of rework. This research addresses the trade-offs involved in concurrent process, presents analytical models to determine the optimal priority ordering of initial development and rework, and the optimal overlapping duration. We first show that initial development is prior to rework when learning effect is taken into account. Then, based on the general assumption of nonnegative upstream evolution and the clear definition of maximum concurrency, we prove that the total development cost (including rework cost and opportunity cost of time) is convex with respect to the overlapping duration, and so the optimal overlapping duration can be identified by a simple binary search. After that we investigate the Pareto-optimal overlapping strategies for the cases where budget is given or the time to market is predetermined. Finally, the methodology is illustrated with a case study at a handset design company.

VIRTUAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A FOURTH YEAR OPTION IN THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM

The Mechanical Engineering Department of École Polytechnique after experimenting for a number of years with a virtual environment option in the Aerospace Master Program, created a new design option in the fourth year of the Mechanical Engineering program. This option is built around a project carried out by a large team working over two semesters where a digital product definition including Product Data Management and Manufacturing Process Management technologies are currently used to foster a concurrent product development process. This orientation contains three courses and the project. A series of laboratory sessions have been developed in each course in order to familiarise the students with the virtual environment and also the various types of analysis that they will have to perform on the product being developed. Professors teaching the three courses participate in the project definition and the project assessment. This approach reinforces the various subjects’ knowledge and integrates it into a practical realm close to an industrial environment. The project assessment includes four reviews. A requirements review and a conceptual review are set in the first semester and a preliminary design review and a critical or detail design review in the second semester. At each review, the students prepare a technical report followed by an oral presentation to a jury composed of four professors of the option, engineers from industry and the professor coordinating the SAE Student Formula. At each review, the students have to evaluate the work completed by each participant to the project. This evaluation impacts on the individual assessment of the project. The vision for this project is to integrate practical building and test experiences by coupling the option courses with an already existing lab course in the last semester. A major part of this lab course is oriented for practical team training (3 - 4 students) on a given number of laboratory experiments. It is planned that some of these labs will be focused on the analysis and testing of sub-assemblies already designed and built during the project of the previous or the current year. This goal is in line with our CDIO (Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate) initiative which aims to include in the engineering curriculum a number of design, build and test experiences.

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.

A Risk Analysis Model in Concurrent Engineering Product Development

Concurrent engineering has been widely accepted as a viable strategy for companies to reduce time to market and achieve overall cost savings. This article analyzes various risks and challenges in product development under the concurrent engineering environment. A three-dimensional early warning approach for product development risk management is proposed by integrating graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT) and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA). Simulation models are created to solve our proposed concurrent engineering product development risk management model. Solutions lead to identification of key risk controlling points. This article demonstrates the value of our approach to risk analysis as a means to monitor various risks typical in the manufacturing sector. This article has three main contributions. First, we establish a conceptual framework to classify various risks in concurrent engineering (CE) product development (PD). Second, we propose use of existing quantitative approaches for PD risk analysis purposes: GERT, FMEA, and product database management (PDM). Based on quantitative tools, we create our approach for risk management of CE PD and discuss solutions of the models. Third, we demonstrate the value of applying our approach using data from a typical Chinese motor company.

Concurrent Product Development and Industrial Design Education: ANEXPERIMENT

IN CONCURRENT PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (CPD), the disciplines involved in the many phases of a product's life (from concept to disposal) are represented on the design team from the outset The potential advantages of this type of organization are several, including faster time to market, improved quality, and lower costs. Given these outcomes, providing students with a CPD experience and sensitivity to the related design-management issues should be an academic priority, but as Jacques Giard and George Lee attest, it's easier said than done.

Overlapping and communication policies in product development

Shorter product life cycles in many industries impel firms to accelerate the product development process. Overlapping development stages, combined with frequent information exchange, is commonly regarded as a core technique for faster product development. However, overlapping and communication require additional resources and can be costly. We investigate the time-cost tradeoffs involved in concurrent product development to determine the optimal overlapping and communication strategies. The methodology was applied to a refrigerator development process in order to illustrate its utility.

Computing Completion Time and Optimal Scheduling of Design Activities in Concurrent Product Development Process

This paper proposes a time-computing model and a scheduling method for shortening the completion time of product development under the given rework cost budget. As overlapping and iteration exist between or among design activities in concurrent product development, predictability and efficiency of the process deserve attention. By using the corresponding design structure matrix, the characteristics of information flow are obtained and applied to analysis of the dynamic behavior of the product development process. A time-computing model is set up to estimate the rework cost and completion time of each of the activities, between which both iteration and overlapping are observed. Through sequential quadratic programming, an optimization algorithm is developed for minimizing the development completion time under the constraint of the given rework cost budget. Our application results acquired from our experiments have verified the feasibility and validity of the approach.

Developing a universal numerical control machine based on an enterprise multilevel framework and its IPPMD reference map and methodology

Nowadays more manufacturing enterprises are requiring the adoption of a structured process to improve their practices in a product development project. Using an enterprise multilevel framework, this paper introduces an integrated product, process and manufacturing system development ( IPPMD) reference map and methodology to create a particular product development model and setting-up based on it a successful concurrent product development process that is independent of the enterprise industrial sector and focuses on specific issues such as: market opportunities, technological constraints, stakeholders’ interrelations and declared goals related to the enterprise strategies. Furthermore, a study case is presented following the IPPMD methodology, which is supported by a reference map as part of the enterprise multilevel framework, and starts with a project scope definition and moves forward to the establishment of a particular product development model for a specific project, in this case: the development of a universal numerical control (UNC) machine.

Project-driven Concurrent Product Development

When entering the global market, companies encounter several difficulties, the most severe being long product development times and too high costs of sequential product and process development. In order to overcome this problem, the companies will have to make a shift from sequential product development (which is wasteful regarding time and costs) to a project-driven concurrent product development as soon as possible. The article presents a procedure for project-driven concurrent product development by taking into account three strategic management methods: parallelness, standardization, and integration of product development processes. Also presented are the changes in organizational concept of the company, organization of processes, organization of work and organization of IT, which are required for a transition from sequential to concurrent product development. Finally, an analysis is presented on concurrent product development teams in a company; this analysis is a prerequisite for a transition to a new method of product development.

A process-oriented multi-agent system development approach to support the cooperation-activities of concurrent new product development

In the recent decade, concurrent new product development (CNPD) has been recognized as an effective approach for eliminating the long and costly product development cycle. CNPD needs multi-disciplinary workgroups to communicate and cooperate in a computer network environment, particularly a multi-agent system (MAS) environment. Recently, several MAS development approaches for CNPD cooperation have been proposed. These approaches constitute on a goal basis and this will confine the application of developed MAS to the pre-defined goals. However, in a complete CNPD process, different cooperation requirements take place at different stages and need different workgroups to be involved. Consequently, the goal-driven MAS development approaches can only provide a partial solution to the overall cooperation requirements of a CNPD process. This research has proposed a process-oriented approach to develop MAS for all CNPD cooperation requirements. This approach is acting on two phases: the process-oriented cooperation requirements analysis phase and the MAS specification design phase. The process-oriented cooperation requirements analysis phase first defines the desired CNPD process and cooperation workflow based on the company-specific organizational structure and practice. Next, the MAS specification design phase derives the MAS specification, including the agent classes, their conversations and system configuration, from the defined CNPD process and cooperation workflow. Besides, an empirical case is used to explain the proposed approach and to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach on the Java Agent Development Framework (JADE).

A concurrent function deployment-based and concurrent engineering-based product development method for original design manufacturing companies

In order to launch products earlier while balancing limited company resources, outsourcing is becoming more and more of a necessary alternative. Currently, original design manufacturing (ODM) is a convenient and potentially cost-effective production option, where outsourced suppliers (i.e. ODM companies) are contracted to handle product design and manufacturing. For ODM companies, procuring ODM business will increase sales and boost revenue. This paper presents a product development method based on concurrent function deployment and concurrent engineering to assist ODM companies in generating detailed proposals and in carrying out product development. With this method, ODM companies can engage in and effectively complete ODM projects, and, most importantly, meet customer's requirements: high quality, low cost and time-to-market. Three liquid-crystal-display television design and manufacturing companies in Taiwan will be investigated to formulate this method. An example is shown in this paper in order to present its application in a real-life setting.

Introducing Templates for Sustainable Product Development

SummaryWe have previously developed a method for sustainable product development (MSPD) based on backcasting from basic sustainability principles. The MSPD informs investigations of product‐related social and ecological sustainability aspects throughout a concurrent engineering product development process. We here introduce “templates” for sustainable product development (TSPDs) as a complement. The idea is to help product development teams to arrive faster and more easily at an overview of the major sustainability challenges and opportunities of a product category in the early development phases. The idea is also to inform creative communication between top management, stakeholders, and product developers. We present this approach through an evaluation case study, in which the TSPDs were used for a sustainability assessment of televisions (TVs) at the Matsushita Electric Group. We study whether the TSPD approach has the ability to (1) help shift focus from gradual improvements of a selection of aspects in relation to past environmental performance of a product category to a focus on the remaining gap to a sustainable situation, (2) facilitate consensus among organizational levels about major sustainability challenges and potential solutions for a product category, and (3) facilitate continued dialogue with external sustainability experts, identifying improvements that are relevant for strategic sustainable development. Our findings indicate that the TSPD approach captures overall sustainability aspects of the life cycle of product categories and that it has the above abilities.

Research on DSM for Simulation of Concurrent Product Development Process

In this paper a simulation algorithm for concurrent product development process (CPDP) is presented based on Design Structure Matrix (DSM). An aggregate DSM is used to model the CPDP. To simulate the influence on the process of the time limit and the resource competition, the schedule and resource model are established. A method is also advanced to handle task delay. At last a case is used to validate the simulation algorithm and to show the influence on the process of task duration and resource.

A process model for concurrent design in manufacturing enterprise information systems

In manufacturing enterprise information systems, concurrent design process is one of the focuses of research on design process management. This study proposes a novel process model for concurrent design based on unified modelling language (UML) and polychromatic sets theory. Model primitives and constructs of UML activity diagram, concurrent design activities, and dynamic changes of concurrent design process are described in the polychromatic sets contour matrix. Based on polychromatic sets theory, the model reduction rules and algorithm are proposed. With the feature-based part design and process planning, a UML model of concurrent design process is developed and mapped into polychromatic sets contour matrix model. The dynamic change, model reduction, path search and time consumption of concurrent design process are analysed, and the direction for improving concurrent design process and shortening product development cycle is suggested.

Concurrent product portfolio planning and mixed product assembly line balancing

Reconfigurable products and manufacturing systems have enabled manufacturers to provide “cost effective” variety to the market. In spite of these new technologies, the expense of manufacturing makes it infeasible to supply all the possible variants to the market for some industries. Therefore, the determination of the right number of product variants to offer in the product portfolios becomes an important consideration. The product portfolio planning problem had been independently well studied from marketing and engineering perspectives. However, advantages can be gained from using a concurrent marketing and engineering approach. Concurrent product development strategies specifically for reconfigurable products and manufacturing systems can allow manufacturers to select best product portfolios from marketing, product design and manufacturing perspectives. A methodology for the concurrent design of a product portfolio and assembly system is presented. The objective of the concurrent product portfolio planning and assembly system design problem is to obtain the product variants that will make up the product portfolio such that oversupply of optional modules is minimized and the assembly line efficiency is maximized. Explicit design of the assembly system is obtained during the solution of the problem. It is assumed that the demand for optional modules and the assembly times for these modules are known a priori. A genetic algorithm is used in the solution of the problem. The basic premise of this methodology is that the selected product portfolio has a significant impact on the solution of the assembly line balancing problem. An example is used to validate this hypothesis. The example is then further developed to demonstrate how the methodology can be used to obtain the optimal product portfolio. This approach is intended for use by manufacturers during the early design stages of product family design.

An information and knowledge framework for multi-perspective design and manufacture

Although the advances of computer systems continue to provide improved support to concurrent product development activities, there are still several limitations that need to be addressed. A product needs to be considered from multiple perspectives or viewpoints to satisfy the many conflicting requirements that must be addressed during product development. The ability of software systems to provide an information sharing environment that can support multiple viewpoints is, therefore, vital for a concurrent engineering environment. This paper presents an approach to support flexible integration between multiple views. A novel framework is proposed to capture the combination of information and knowledge in two separate but related layers. This approach provides a flexible environment that is easy to maintain and can operate on new perspectives as they are introduced and as new knowledge is identified. Injection mould design has been used as a focus for the experimental work and results are presented which deal with interactions between design for function, design for mouldability, design for assembly and design for machining.

Knowledge elicitation for risk mapping in concurrent engineering projects

Concurrent Engineering aims to incorporate the overlapping of processes in order to reduce its time-to-market and thereby sustain the existence of organizations in increasingly competitive times. Although faster product design, development, and delivery are the intended outcomes of concurrent engineering, one of the undesirable by-products is an increase in risks as a consequence of uncertainties between interdependent processes. Hence, the risks need to be identified, assessed, and mitigated together with concurrent engineering considerations for the elimination of the ‘domino-effect’ within risk management. This paper concentrates primarily on knowledge elicitation techniques that were used to provide information to the Intelligent Risk Mapping and Assessment System (IRMAS™) to identify, prioritise, analyse, and assist project managers to manage perceived sources of CE risks. Techniques such as expert interviews, brainstorming, the Delphi technique, and the analogy process are discussed in relation to compiling the knowledge used for this expert system. A total of 589 risk items were identified for different project types, and information on 4372 items and 136 lessons learned were collected from experts at HdH. The core of the research is a reasoning methodology used for Knowledge Elicitation of a Risk Mapping and Assessment System which will not only support the decision-making process of the user but also aid the knowledge retrieval, storage, sharing, and updating process of manufacturing organizations. This research provides a systematic engineering approach to risk management of concurrent product and process development.

Dynamic data sharing and security in a collaborative product definition management system

Product definition management (PDM) is a system that supports management of both engineering data and the product development process during the total product life cycle. The formation of a virtual enterprise is becoming a growing trend, and vendors of PDM systems have recently developed a new generation of PDM systems called collaborative product definition management (cPDM). This paper presents the concept of a virtual engineering community (VEC) to support concurrent product development within geographically distributed partners. A previous case study has shown that collaborative engineering design may be modelled from a parameter perspective [1]. Effective implementation of the parameter approach raises the following problems: how to support data sharing and secure that span the partner borders. This paper describes the system architecture, deployed security mechanisms, the prototype developed within cPDM, and the system demonstration using a real test. The implementation of this architecture extends a common commercial PDM system (Axalan™) and utilizes standard software to create a security framework for the involved resources. Collaboration infrastructure, shared team spaces and shared resources are essential to enable virtual teams to work together. Various organizational and technical challenges are implied. The outlined architecture features a federated data approach. These issues are discussed and potential perspectives in the area of collaboration engineering are identified.

An approach to incremental feature model conversion

A new approach to converting a design feature model (DFM) to a machining feature model (MFM) step-by-step during a design process has been proposed. In the approach, the MFM is incrementally set up and updated through performing a local machining feature recognition on certain areas of a design part’s B-rep when its design features are updated. The areas to be recognized as machining features are determined through geometric reasoning according to the statuses of the DFM and the dynamically generated MFM of the part. To facilitate the above geometric reasoning, a dynamic link list (DLL) has been developed to record the changed topological elements during the design process and the relationships between the DFM and the MFM. Based on the automatic and effective conversion process from design models to machining feature models, the proposed approach can support the establishment of a concurrent product development environment to link product design and manufacturing processes seamlessly.

Product development flexibility in a changing business environment

Increasing global competition has instilled a high degree of uncertainty into the business environment. A firm's capability to deal with uncertainty is increasingly important. While facing the business environmental change, each industry may face a distinctive rate of business evolution. The product life cycle in the electronic industry is much shorter than that in the utility industry. In the changing business environment, any firm that possesses a higher clock speed would enhance its product development flexibility to hedge against market uncertainty. This paper proposes a research model to depict the relationship among firm's clock speed, the supplier involvement, Concurrent Engineering (CE) practices and product development flexibility.