Framework For Product Design Research Articles

Framework for Consumer-Integrated Optimal Product Design

The need for rapid product design, resulting from time to market pressure, is accompanied by an increasing demand for product differentiation. In order to meet these demands, firms are seeking more efficient ways to integrate consumer’s input into the product design process. Furthermore, appropriate integration of consumer influence yields the tangible benefit of increased probability of product acceptance in the marketplace. The objective of this paper is to introduce a comprehensive framework that integrates consumer’s influence into the design space using a multiobjective optimization approach. We formulate the problem as a biobjective mixed-integer problem, for which the compromised solution is represented as a set of efficient points. A case study involving optimal design of an under eye cream product was used to illustrate the application of the framework.

Collaborative feature-based design via operations with a fine-grain product database

This paper reports a collaborative product design framework and a prototype system that supports multiple CAD systems. The key contribution is an ‘operation’-based, multi-application oriented, and near real-time collaboration mechanism which can significantly reduce collaboration communication load over the network. The mechanism is discussed and demonstrated with examples. To support the proposed multi-application collaboration system, a fine-grain feature-oriented product database is used. This research is a continued effort based on a shared common product modeling scheme, which covers fundamental issues of generic feature, feature level interoperability, engineering intent and operation definitions.

SIM-03 MULTI-SCALE SPATIAL MODEL FOR MULTI-SCALE PRODUCT DESIGN AND SIMULATION SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED WITH MESSAGE PASSING INTERFACE(Simulations of Micro/Nano Scale Phenomena I,Technical Program of Oral Presentations)

Present product includes very small designed structure. The very small designed structure directly influences the property and the shape of product. It is important for product designer or material designer to get overview and forecast of the property of designing product or material. In order to make multi-scale product design and multi-scale engineering simulation of designing product or material, a framework of multi-scale product design and simulation system is proposed. Multi-scale product design and simulation system consists of multi-scale spatial model and multi-scale simulation modules. Multi-scale spatial model is an interface for multi-scale simulation modules, and a bridge between micro scale level simulation and macro scale level (human scale level) simulation.

Axiomatic functional and object-oriented product design framework

This paper describes an axiomatic functional and object-oriented design framework for co-design and co-analysis of product functions, physical structures, and their mapping relations. This design framework consists of function model, object model, information flow model, and axiomatic design model. These models are constructed level-by-level and side-by-side to form a concurrent and coordinated design paradigm. The components of the resulting design are reviewed by the design team, summarized in a task assignment table, and allocated to respective disciplinary engineers for detail design. This methodology enables mechanical, electronic, and software engineers to collaborate and develop mechatronic products in a concurrent and integrated fashion.

RESEARCH ON COLLABORATIVE DESIGN SOFTWARE INTEGRATION BASED ON SOA

With the rapid development of economic globalization, more and more complex products have to be designed by the cooperation of the designers in different geographic locations. The effective sharing and deployment of collaborative design software are of great significance to enhance the capability of cooperative research and development of products. To solve the problem of software integration for collaborative design in the distributed and heterogeneous environment, a distributed software integration framework for collaborative product design based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) was proposed. Based on Web Service technology, a collaborative design platform was built, which encapsulates the functions of Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), Product Data Management (PDM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to integrate distributed collaborative design software in heterogeneous environment.

Product design and development framework in collaborative engineering environment

Globalisation has created a situation of increased international competition, which puts companies under pressure to compete in the value added to customers. This paper presents an integrated framework for product design and development in distributed and collaborative environments. The proposed system integrates the software tools and resources in the design process to enable geographically dispersed design teams and vendors to collaborate. The early participation of the vendors in the design process is critical to improve quality and reduce development cycle-time. The real-time, automated generation and modification of parametric CAD models are introduced to further assist the system reduce the cycle-time.

Simulation-assisted materials design for the concurrent design of materials and products

Engineering design has historically been taught using the paradigm of selecting materials on the basis of tabulated databases of properties (mechanical, physical, chemical, etc.). Recent trends have moved toward concurrent design of material composition and microstructure together with the component/system level. The goal is to tailor materials to meet specifi ed ranges of performance requirements of the overall system. Often these multiple performance requirements are in confl ict in terms of their demands on composition and microstructure. This paper explores the elements of a decision-based robust design framework for concurrent design of materials and products, focusing on enhancing the fraction of decisions supported by modeling and simulation.

Enhancing the Design Capabilities of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Through Knowledge Transfer

The National Centre for Product Design & Development Research (PDR) has generated extensive case study material based on over 20 successful Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). These KTP projects have concentrated on enhancing the design capabilities of a range of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to facilitate innovation and new product development. This paper highlights the opportunities for design and development within SMEs, and provides a rationale for knowledge transfer. PDR's research has identified four issues that characterize design challenges within SMEs: (i) the impact of the owner-manager; (ii) the resource-constrained environment; (iii) the need for an effective design process; and (iv) promoting a company vision for innovation and change. The paper employs twelve exemplar KTP case studies (three in each of these four areas) to fully define these issues and draw conclusions with regard to a framework for effective product design within SMEs.

Neuro-Genetic Design Optimization Framework to Support the Integrated Robust Design Optimization Process in CE

This article describes an integrated and optimized product design framework to support the design optimization applications in concurrent engineering (CE). The significant consideration is given to show the effectiveness of hybrid approaches and how they can be used to improve the performance of integrated design optimization applications. The proposed approach is based on two-stages which are (1) the use of neural networks (NNs) and genetic algorithm (GA) with feature technology for integrated design activities and (2) the use of Taguchi’s method and GA for design parameters optimization. The first stage resulted in better integrated design solutions in terms of computational complexity and later resulted in a solution, which leads to better and more robust parameter values for multi-objective shape design optimization. The effectiveness and validity of the proposed approach are evaluated with examples.

A conceptual framework of intangible product design: applying means‐end measurement

A new integrated method based on the means‐end chain (MEC) analysis and factor analysis is proposed for developing intangible product‐mix strategies for convenience store (CVS) chains. With variables obtained from a survey on CVS service items, both analyses were used to derive the hierarchical value factor map (HVFM). The new map can handle and develop strategies for product differentiation, advertising and market segmentation. The purpose of this article is two‐fold: to propose improvements for the traditional MEC method of constructing the service hierarchical value map (HVM) and to formulate effective intangible‐product strategies.

A Conceptual Framework for Collaborative Design and Operations of Manufacturing Work Systems

The paper addresses a conceptual framework for collaborative product design and related manufacturing system development, operations and maintenance. The framework consists of (1) a conceptual model for collaboration among autonomous manufacturing work systems and (2) an ICT platform which supports collaborative operations over the web. The framework improves visibility, understanding and control of the processes involved and on a practical level provides a platform on which geographically distributed operations can be conducted effectively. The system is developed as an integrated prototype web application. The case study presents the implementation of the concept in the development, operations and maintenance of manufacturing cells for die-casting of aluminum and magnesium components for automotive industry.

Computer-Aided Methods and Tools for Chemical Product Design

Chemical product design involves a very large search space and evaluation of numerous alternatives. It also requires a number of tools and different sources of data for properties that define the needs of the chemical product. In this paper, a framework for computer-aided chemical product design is presented together with a review of methods and tools that may be useful in chemical product design. The objective of this framework is to provide a set of integrated methods and tools so that some of the chemical product design steps can be carried out faster, over a wider search space and using less resources. The requirements for such a framework and its resident methods and tools are that there exists a reliable set of models. Within this context, the differences between the process model, the property model and the chemical product model are highlighted together with a discussion on the roles of property models with respect to chemical product design. Several types of chemical product design problems are highlighted together with the corresponding methods and tools that can be used. Illustrative examples highlighting the use of the framework are also presented.

Chemical product design: challenges and opportunities

This paper highlights for a class of chemical products, the design process, their design with respect to the important issues, the need for appropriate tools and finally, lists some of the challenges and opportunities for the process systems engineering (PSE)/computer-aided process engineering (CAPE) community. The chemical products considered belong to the following types: chemical/biochemical/agrochemical products, coatings and solvents, food (nutraceuticals), HI&I (household, industrial and institutional), personal care, pharmaceuticals and drugs. The challenges and opportunities are highlighted in terms of the needs for multi-level modeling with emphasis on property models that are suitable for computer-aided applications, flexible solution strategies that are able to solve a large range of chemical product design problems and finally, a systems chemical product design framework with the overall objective to reduce the time and cost to market a new or improved product.

Engineering an Anti‐Graffiti System: A Study in Industrial Product Design

AbstractThe objective of this work was to develop products for the anti‐graffiti market using a product design framework that takes into account the company core practices and meets customer expectations. Product development comprised several concurrent steps including market research and analysis to determine the market potential using a Quality Functional Deployment tool. From market research it was estimated that anti‐graffiti products had significant potential within Australia. A range of technical and quality parameters were tested. The Hildebrand and Hansen solubility parameters, viscosity and diffusivity estimates were mainly used for technical evaluation of products. An iterative process was used throughout in conjunction with parameter restraints to meet environmental sustainability, waste reduction and minimize resource consumption. The result was a cost effective product, tailored to customer expectations.

Integrated Product and Process Modeling for Collaborative Design Environment

Concurrent engineering (CE) has been widely accepted as an effective engineering practice for decreasing product development time, improving quality, decreasing manufacturing costs, and improving customer satisfaction. Since CE philosophy is intended to consider all elements of product life cycle from the outset, CE approach increases the complexity of design problem and makes it more difficult to manage. In addition, the advances in computer networks and information technology have brought engineering design into a new era. Although a considerable number of studies have been made on design decomposition (e.g., product and process (or perspective) decomposition) as a means to reduce the complexity of a large scale design problem, relatively little attention has been given to the computational framework for dynamic and systematic design integration in a computer network-oriented design environment. This paper describes an integrated product and process modeling (IPPM) framework for collaborative product design through the Internet. Here, the hierarchical and heterarchical dependencies between the decomposed smaller design problems are addressed. An agent-based approach is proposed for the computer support of hierarchical and heterarchical design topologies. In our framework, a smaller design problem is dynamically modeled in terms of interacting and pluggable design agents that represent a specific aspect of the design problem and provide the interoperability between heterogeneous design agents or software applications, and the results of these smaller problems are recursively integrated to formulate solutions to the larger problems in a systematic manner. Finally, the proposed framework forms a global design network through which a number of design possibilities are explored.

A novel framework for simultaneous separation process and product design

The objective of this paper is to introduce a systematic framework for simultaneous solution of process/product design problems related to separation. This framework is based on the recently developed property clustering approach that allows one to perform design calculations on a component-free (or composition-free) basis. Removing the composition dependency from the design problem enables the simultaneous consideration of process and product selection and optimization. The clustering concept is based on the observation that properties, unlike mass, are not conserved and consequently they cannot be tracked among process units without performing component material balances. To overcome these limitations the use of property-based clusters has been proposed. The model derivations and reformulations to cluster-based models are presented and the usage highlighted through a simple proof of concept example and a case study.

The design of blanket wash solvents with environmental considerations

The search for new solvents is often driven by (a) the need to replace solvents whose continued use pose a threat to environmental health and safety, (b) the needs of new applications and processing requirements, (c) a response to changing environmental regulations and (d) a response to market demands. For example, many traditional solvents are on the environmental ‘hit list’ and are to be phased out within the next few years. In particular, cleaning solvents, which are used as blanket washes in the lithographic printing industry present a number of environmental concerns including health and safety. To respond to these concerns and more importantly to respond to rapidly changing operational requirements and market forces, there is a need for efficient and systematic strategies for ‘just in time’ optimal design of solvent alternatives. A good strategy has to consider simultaneously, performance objectives, system interactions and environmental constraints. The object of this paper is to identify and discuss the issues in the design of cleaning solvents (blanket washes) in the printing industry and how environmental and health factors can be accounted for. We do this in the context of a framework for product design. As a proof-of-concept, blanket wash solvents are designed.

Comparison of environmental performance between plastic and steel fuel tanks

Increasing awareness of environmental burdens has led companies and designers to initiate design for the environment (DFE) programmes, which consider the design of products from the ‘cradle to grave’ and is also known as ‘life-cycle design’. In this paper, the use of a novel environmental performance technique to be used at the early stage of product design is presented. This technique, which is to be used as a framework for green product design, is demonstrated in this paper by evaluating the environmental performance between plastic and steel fuel tanks. The fuel tank comparison can be divided into five steps. In the first four steps, a modified house of quality (HOQ) is used to analyse the performance of fuel tanks in terms of requirements of environmentally conscious design. The final step is an overall assessment that synthesizes the results from the previous four analyses. As a result, the comprehensive environmental effects in the whole life cycle of fuel tanks are captured in the early stage of design.

Immersive virtual product development

Immersive virtual product development is a new design, development and evaluation method of integrated product and processing strategies, which using VR, multidiscipline simulation and scientific visualization technologies. Users may have the experiences of being part of a cyberspace environment with the ability to navigate and manipulate objects which have properties and behavior that correspond to those of the real world objects. The authors present a framework and prototype system of an immerse virtual product design (IVPD) which enables users to navigate and interact with 3D peripherals with the display system. Participants may passively view the virtual world revolving around them while others control navigation and simulations, and may interact with other members such as to pass an object from one embodied manikin to another.

Guiding functional design of mechanical products through rule-based causal behavioural reasoning

The paper presents a behaviour-driven functional (B-FES) modelling framework for functional design of mechanical products based on a rule-based causal behavioural reasoning step to guide the design process. A new representation scheme called rule-based behavioural representation (causal behavioural rules) was developed to facilitate causal behavioural reasoning, with which the interconnected physical behaviours can be reasoned out from a desired function. The behaviour schema was then used to select and arrange embodiments (abstractions of physical artefacts) to develop a set of potential concept variants. The proposed approach was not only useful in the creation of new configurations (combinations) from a library of standard physical behaviours, but also it might be used to generate specifications of new physical behaviours. A design case study of a terminal feeding unit is presented to demonstrate the practicality of the proposed approach.