Efficient Product Development Research Articles

ProMECoS: A Process Model for Efficient Standard-Driven Distributed Co-Simulation

Co-simulation techniques have evolved significantly over the last 10 years. System simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing are used to develop innovative products in many industrial sectors. Despite the success of these simulation techniques, their efficient application requires a systematic approach. In practice the integration and coupling of heterogeneous systems still require enormous efforts. At this point in time no unified process for integration and simulation of DCP-based co-simulation scenarios is available. In this article we present ProMECoS, a process model for efficient, standard-driven distributed co-simulation. It defines the necessary tasks required to prepare, instantiate and execute distributed co-simulations according to the DCP standard. Furthermore, it enables the exploitation of front-loading benefits, thus reducing the overall system development effort. ProMECoS is based on the IEEE 1730 standard for Distributed Simulation Engineering and Execution Process. It adopts the artefacts of the DCP specification, and defines additional process artefacts. The DCP specification and its associated default integration methodology were developed by a balanced consortium in context of the ITEA 3 project ACOSAR. The DCP is compatible to the well-adopted FMI standard. Therefore both standards can be used together for seamless development using models, software, and real components. ProMECoS provides the necessary guidance for efficient product development and testing.

The culture of product development in student organisations

Product development in a multidisciplinary student organisation brings many challenges; varyingexperience, adaptation and involvement of members. This article will discuss how a multidisciplinarystudent project maintains a learning culture for product development and project management.The identified factors for a learning culture; 1) define product specifications, 2) involvealumnis, 3) facilitate an open minded culture for failure and learning and 4) collect experience andadapt an agile framework suitable for the project. These are factors that should be an implementedpart to increase the chances of maintaining a learning culture.Align Racing UiA, the case of this study, is a student organisation with over 60 engaged studentsin multi-disciplinary challenges. The common team goal is to produce one race car a year and competein Formula Student. The rules for the technical side of the project are substantial, resulting inconcrete boundaries to realize the project. However, every piece of the car is designed, producedand assembled by the members. Looking at the first year of Align Racing UiA, the initial projectmanagement was not optimal for a student project of this scale. Consequently, it was realized thata strong emphasis on project management, agile development method and communication wouldbe key to a more efficient product development and project management.

Digital innovation management for entrepreneurial ecosystems: services and functionalities as drivers of innovation management software adoption

Innovation Management Software can promote Entrepreneurial Ecosystems by consolidating an organization’s innovation programs, stakeholders, and resources in one place. In this study, we highlighted the digitalization of innovation processes. We focus particularly on the factors influencing the adoption of a specific class of software tools called Innovation Management Software (IMS) or Digital Innovation Management System to support innovation management methods and activities. Specifically, we address the two questions (a) which specific functionality drives the adoption of IMS tools, and (b) which services of IMS providers are valuable in supporting the adoption of IMS by organizations aiming to digitalize their innovation processes. By using an online questionnaire, we gathered survey data from 199 innovation managers of German firms. We used regression analysis to test our hypotheses. While the overall IMS adoption is considered to positively affect the new product development (NPD) efficiency, our results indicate that especially idea management functionalities and services for updates and upgrades improve the IMS adoption. Surprisingly, offering complementary consulting services together with IMS offerings to support the digitalization of innovation processes reduces the likelihood of IMS adoption. These findings are important for managers, consultants, and developers in order to choose and leverage the right options for improving the adoption of IT tools in the NPD process and therefore increase NPD performance and thus also promote Entrepreneurial Ecosystems.

Methodology for iterative system modeling in agile product development

Nowadays, manufacturing companies are challenged by dynamic market environments caused by increasing globalization, digitization and climate change. Therefore, the ability to act with speed, flexibility and efficiency in product development becomes inevitable for success. Moreover, various stakeholder requirements have to be considered and time to market has to be reduced. The development of complex mechatronic systems also requires an interdisciplinary cooperation of various engineering domains, i.e. mechanics, electrical engineering and computer science.Agile product development addresses these challenges with its focus on the iterative development of functional system increments. As a result, it enables to reduce time to market and improves handling of changing customer requirements. The model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach with its centralized system model serves as a single source of truth and data repository. Thereby, it enhances efficiency and transparency along the product development process. The integration of MBSE into agile product development offers numerous opportunities, such as virtual prototypes and the build-up of a product’s digital twin. As the design of a complete system model at the beginning of a development process requires high temporary resources, an iterative approach should be applied to incrementally build the system model along the product development process.In this paper a methodology for the iterative system modeling in agile product development is presented. In each agile sprint, design parameters based on a development question are elaborated. The information that supports answering the development questions is provided by the system model. Since the system model itself can only provide but not process information it is necessary to select the best toolset to process the necessary information. By transferring the information back to the system model, the elements of the system model itself are iteratively developed and updated.

Method for Systematic Assessment of Requirement Change Risk in Industrial Practice

Requirement changes and cascading effects of change propagation are major sources of inefficiencies in product development and increase the risk of project failure. Risk management regarding these requirement changes yields the potential to handle such changes efficiently. Currently unlocked, a systematic approach is required for risk management to assess the risk of a requirement change with appropriate effort in industrial application. Within the paper at hand, a novel method for systematic assessment of requirement change risk is presented. It is developed in a multiple case study approach with three product development projects from different industrial branches. The change risk is assessed by combining change likelihood and change impact. Propagation effects are considered by analyzing requirement interrelations. To limit application effort, a tailorable approach towards assessment of change causes based on generalized influence factors and a pre-defined rule set for semi-automatized assessment of requirements interrelations is used. A software prototype is developed and implemented to enable evaluation and transfer to industrial application. The approach is evaluated using a combination of case study projects, stakeholder workshops, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Applying the method, the risks of requirement changes are assessed systematically, and subsequent risk management is enabled. The contribution at hand opens up the research space of risk management in handling requirement changes which is currently almost unexploited. At the same time, it enables more efficient product development.

A Model Process of Integrating Context of Local Culture for Pre-Development Stage in the Design of Cultural and Creative Products—Using Macao’s Historical Buildings as an Example

In the context of the research on local architectural culture of Macao, this paper explores how architecture’s cultural elements can be integrated into cultural and creative product design at the pre-development stage. Therefore, local culture can be effectively disseminated through the medium of cultural and creative products. However, in the process of product design, seemingly, designers often rely on their experience as the main way to develop ideas and designs. This approach can fall short in generating sufficient cognition and interpretation between culture and product design, and the product may fail to truly reflect cultural and creative values. This paper focuses on the cultural elements and the designer’s cognition in design development of cultural and creative products. It applies theoretical concepts of Kansei engineering theory as the basis, and, combined with the Semantic Differential Method, tries to extract the most powerful product image elements that influence designers for better understanding of the cultural elements in design development. This paper aims to employ scientific methods to enable designers to better develop designs with cultural and creative connotations, thereby improving the success rate of cultural and creative products. It further proposes a model process of image perception to be employed by designers in early design research and the development stage. By enhancing the resonance of cultural elements for cultural and creative products, the model may shorten the perceptual distance between the designer and the local culture, improve the designer’s product development efficiency, and increase consumer satisfaction with the design outcome through added cultural and creative value. As such, the model can optimize the design development for cultural and creative products to achieve the public’s aesthetic and cultural expectations, as well as for a sustainable design approach.

Exploring coordination practices in digital–physical product development

PurposeThe paper explores coordination practices in digital–physical product development and their consequences for companies traditionally relying on physical product development.Design/methodology/approachUsing an embedded case study design, the paper reports four action research initiatives addressing the digital–physical coordination challenges encountered by a leading B2C company.FindingsEffective coordination of digital–physical product development, firstly, involves standardization of process, output and skills to accommodate the stability needed for efficient physical product development and manufacturing. Secondly, it involves agile coordination events, such as Scrum ceremonies and PI planning, to facilitate the mutual adjustment needed to allow agility and the differences between digital and physical product development to be continuously and successfully negotiated.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper illustrates a research model with case evidence and suggests tentative theory in the form of propositions. Future research should explore coordination problems and solutions in different digital–physical project types and contexts.Practical implicationsCoordination practices for digital–physical product development are presented and analyzed, providing inspiration for companies.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to explore coordination practices within the emerging field of digital–physical product development.

Research on Evolution Process and Control Method of External Shapes in the Life-cycle of Modern Civil Jets

External shape is a key property of aircraft. With the wide application of digital technology, various external shapes are produced in different states and different uses in the life-cycle of modern civil jets. If these external shapes are not clearly distinguished, they might be used improperly. Therefore, in this paper, various shapes in the full life-cycle of modern civil jets are defined, and the evolution process of these external shapes is researched. Based on the control of these external shapes, some advanced management methods are put forward, which have been successfully applied in civil jet development in China, and effectively improve the efficiency of civil jet product development.

A structured approach to measuring and optimizing the organizational architecture in global product development projects

In global product development projects, coordinating complex technical communication among teams across time zones in the overlapping process is a fundamental challenge. To optimize a global product development organization to reduce the negative impact of time separation on coordination, this article presents an innovative approach to solve two key problems: how to quantify the coordination among distributed teams and how to identify efficient global product development organization. We build structural models to capture the coordination dependency strength among global product development teams from the time separation and overlapping process perspectives, employing the design structure matrix method. Then, we analyze the factors that influence synchronous and asynchronous communication due to time separation. We also apply the random walk method to identify a team similarity matrix, taking into account the direct and indirect dependency relationships among teams associated with their performed activities. Finally, we use the team similarity matrix as an input to a spectral clustering algorithm to identify the clustering strategy for the global product development organizational architecture, yielding and reinforcing several managerial insights, including how to analyze the coordination among global product development teams as well as how the offshoring costs impact the clustered organization.

Enabling Rapid Product Development through Improved Verification and Validation Processes

1. IntroductionCompanies are facing increasing demands to improve their product development (PD) efficiency because of tough competition in the consumer product market. Newer and more innovative products and services must be brought to market earlier than competitors, which means a need for continuously shorter design cycles. In their studies, McGrath (1998) and Mahadevan

A Design for Qualification Framework for the Development of Additive Manufacturing Components—A Case Study from the Space Industry

Additive Manufacturing (AM) provides several benefits for aerospace companies in terms of efficient and innovative product development. However, due to the general lack of AM process understanding, engineers face many uncertainties related to product qualification during the design of AM components. The aim of this paper is to further the understanding of how to cope with the need to develop process understanding, while at the same time designing products that can be qualified. A qualitative action research study has been performed, using the development of an AM rocket engine turbine demonstrator as a case study. The results show that the qualification approach should be developed for the specific application, dependent on the AM knowledge within the organization. AM knowledge is not only linked to the AM process but to the complete AM process chain. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the manufacturing chain during design and to develop necessary knowledge concurrently with the product in order to define suitable requirements. The paper proposes a Design for Qualification framework, supported by six design tactics. The framework encourages proactive consideration for qualification and the capabilities of the AM process chain, as well as the continuous development of AM knowledge during product development.

Stimulating Innovation on Social Product Development: An Analysis of Social Behaviors in Online Innovation Communities

With firms’ increasing adoption of social product development strategies, such as mass collaboration and crowdsourcing, online users are actively participating in the development of new products and services via social media platforms. Online innovation communities (OICs), one representative of such social media platforms, have been used by large firms to collect ideas from their users and facilitate the product development process. While it is extensively studied that product ideas with high popularity on OICs are of great importance to the product development, research on what social behaviors of online users lead to the high popularity is largely unclear. This article conducts an empirical study by collecting a large-scale, quantitative dataset from an OIC between 2014 and 2018. With the analysis of users’ online idea posting and commenting behaviors, our results reveal that the idea contribution experience, together with comment diversity, positively influence the overall popularity of an individual's ideas, while the motivation of providing comments is negatively related. Moreover, user's innovation capability poses a positive effect on both overall and average popularity of ideas. These findings can help firms better incentivise their users on OICs to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of social product development.

Research on FMEA Application in Assembly Process of Complex Space Probes

The process of developing new spacecraft is time-consuming and task-intensive. This paper analyses various problems existing in the application of spacecraft FMEA, and points out that it is necessary to it is necessary to assure the validity of FMEA work, including normative FMEA work carried out in time, comprehensive identification of failure modes and their causes, correct expression of failure modes and their causes and effects, and the pertinence and maneuverability of measures to be taken. Taking the development of Mars rover as an example and considering the actual situation, the assembly process and FMEA agreement are proposed and formulated. According to the development process, the failure modes, causes and effects (severity) of the main processes are analyzed. The risk sequence number (RPN) is obtained by combining the frequency of occurrence and the difficulty of detection. Finally, through sorting out the assembly work and key points in each stage of AIT, 60 processes and 95 failure modes are analyzed, the possible weaknesses are found out, and the control methods and measures are put forward, so that the RPN values are below 12. Improve the quality and efficiency of product development by strengthening FMEA management, and ensure the smooth development of Mars probe on.

Product development in technology based firms in innovation environments

Abstract: Technology based firms (TBFs) require innovative products to survive and compete in the market. The creation of products that sustain the competitiveness of companies depends directly on their product development process (PDP). The objective of this research was to investigate how PDP is carried out in TBFs in innovation environments. The research is qualitative, based on multiple case studies. Three companies in technology parks in the South and Southeast of Brazil were studied. The companies produced the following products: multiparametric monitor, an ondaleta and a microfiltration system. The key findings of the research were a lack of formal PDP planning and unstructured development processes. As a contribution, the study proposes that TBFs use a milestone strategy in the PDP microphases, guaranteeing greater efficiency in product development without the need to create rigid processes in project development. The study also highlights the importance of cooperation with clients and suppliers during the revision phases of PDP. The products resulting from PDP of the companies studied were identified as incremental innovation, novel for the national market, but with established technology on the international market. Future studies should assess the evolution and learning curve in the product development phase of TBFs.

Model of PGE – Product Generation Engineering by the Example of Autonomous Driving

Automotive product development is undergoing significant change: Autonomous driving is leading to altered customer needs that are decisive for competition and which established automotive OEMs must anticipate and systematically reflect in future product generations. To structure the provider side and manage product complexity, politics and industry, for example, classified autonomous driving into five levels (cf. Norm SAE J3016-2018) based on customer and user benefits. In order to counteract a complexity-induced "cost explosion", the functional implementation of autonomous driving must be planned across a provider’s product portfolio. For the successful implementation of such development activities, methods and processes (e.g. "functional kit") must be developed to support the product developer.The model of PGE – Product Generation Engineering according to Albers et al. describes every form of product development and enables the research and development of transferable methods. In this paper, a procedure model is developed based on the model of PGE for the systematic realization of requirements with severe effects on product complexity (e.g. redundant vehicle electrical systems, new E/E architectures) using the example of autonomous driving. The focus lies on the variation types at different product model views as well as the product function roadmap from which the functional product concept for future product generations can be derived on the basis of defined systems of objectives across the product portfolio. The procedure model aims to support the overarching planning of variations of physical subsystems by means of the functional product concept. The evaluation confirms a contribution to more efficient, customer-centric and cost-optimized product development through processes and methods of the model of PGE.

Toward a Contingent Model of Mirroring Between Product and Organization: A Knowledge Management Perspective

Much of the contemporary modularity literature subscribes to the idea that increased product modularity is associated with advantageous increase in organizational modularity. Known as the “mirroring hypothesis,” this proposed relationship states that the structure of a product development organization and the architecture of the product being developed would “mirror” each other. This correspondence suggests that product modularity can be a substitute for overt organizational coordination mechanisms, thereby increasing the efficiency of product development. However, empirical research to date provides inconsistent support for the hypothesis and the extant literature has yet to converge on a systematic explanation for the inconsistent findings. Moreover, important conceptual inconsistencies still remain in the extant literature, which impede cumulative knowledge development. As the first step toward reconciliation, this conceptual paper puts forth a contingent model of mirroring between product and organization, based on the systematic examination of the requisite architectural knowledge that enables product and organizational modularity. The resulting contingent model clearly articulates the knowledge prerequisite of mirroring and its underpinning causal mechanism. Based on the contingent model, a set of propositions are derived to explain and predict when the mirroring relationship will hold and when it will not. This paper thus contributes to the literature by helping to resolve persistent conceptual inconsistencies and reconcile conflicting empirical findings. In addition, explicating the knowledge prerequisite for mirroring places boundary conditions on product modularity as an effective substitute for overt exercise of managerial coordination, which helps us gain a deeper understanding of modularity as a design strategy and how complex innovations can be organized, and provides a basis for more nuanced prescriptions for practitioners to assess the relationships between their product and organization design.

Development of a numerical material model for axial crushing mechanical characterization of woven CFRP composites

Nowadays, the significant potential of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites in terms of weight to performance has contributed to their wide application in industrial fields. However, it is widely accepted that design of CFRP components remains rather challenging as laborious experimental work is usually required. Therefore, to reduce the cost and improve the CFRP product development efficiency, the present work aims to develop a numerical material model for numerical prediction of mechanical responses of composite structures under external loading. Both intralaminar and interlaminar failure mechanisms are taken into account with the aid of user material subroutine VUMAT and cohesive surface capability in Abaqus/Explicit. Particularly, a plasticity formulation, post-failure definitions including both continuum damage mechanics and progressive damage mechanics models, and smeared formulation accounting for mesh independence are all incorporated into the intralaminar material model. Finally, the model has been assessed by using two off-angle tension cases and axial crushing tests of corrugated specimen, and good agreement between experiment and simulation demonstrates that the proposed methodology can be used for mechanical characterization of woven composites under these loading cases.

An integrative Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and lean-based approach for development of new complex products

Abstract An effective and efficient New Product Development (NPD) and implementation process is crucial for creation of competitive advantage for each company. Due to this fact, companies are more and more often looking for methods and tools for improvement of NPD processes. The paper deals with an integrated Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and lean approach to NPD. The individual stages of the NPD process are predisposed to different degrees to the use of MBSE and Lean. The research conducted shows that the use of advanced MBSE and lean tools and techniques in the development of new products is not widespread. There is a room for future research.

Supporting the Modelling and Managing of Relations in the Design Platform

AbstractA common strategy which has in many cases become a necessity in product developing companies is to apply platform thinking to some extent. Engineer-to-order (ETO) companies are firms that need to invest in a significant amount engineering time in each product ordered by customers. These companies have in the past been known to not be fully able to apply platform strategies. An area of concern to product development is the design and manufacture of machine tools aimed for part manufacturing which is a large investment and a critical bottle neck. As a response to these challenges the design platform (DP) concept was developed which is founded on the re-use of company assets. This paper aims to investigate the application of the DP in a company designing and producing unique high-pressure die casting tools for different applications and customers. To enable companies of this character to utilize platform thinking to a higher degree and thus increase the efficiency in product development, a focus is set on modelling and managing relations within the DP. In addition, a PDM system setup is proposed together with an integrated support application for the realisation in industry.

Decision Science for Generic Drug Development and Review.

Decision Science for Generic Drug Development and Review.