Coordination of Complex Product Development Processes

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Suss ◽  
Vincent Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Complex Products ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Correct Understanding ◽  
Vital Element ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Product Development Processes

Product development processes of complex products are complex themselves and particularly difficult to plan and manage effectively. Although many organizations manage their product development processes by monitoring the status of documents that are created as deliverables, in fact the progress of the process is in large part based on the actual information flow which is required to develop the product and produce the documents. A vital element in making product development processes work well is the correct understanding of how information flows and how to facilitate its development. In this paper we describe an executable stochastic model of the product development process that incorporates the salient features of the interplay between the information development, exchange and progress of the technical work. Experiments with the model provide insight into the mechanisms that drive these complex processes.

scholarly journals Semantic Relatedness Measures for Identifying Relationships in Product Development Processes

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Witherell ◽  
Sundar Krishnamurty ◽  
Ian Grosse ◽  
Jack Wileden
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Semantic Relatedness ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Comprehensive Knowledge ◽  
Formal Framework ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Product Development Processes

The Semantic Web, especially in relation to ontologies, provides a structured, formal framework for knowledge interoperability. This trait has been exploited by both the biomedical community in development of the Human Gene Ontology [1] and also by geographers in development of geospatial ontologies [2]. Using semantic relatedness techniques, researchers from both communities have been able to develop and integrate comprehensive knowledge bases. Beyond knowledge integration, semantic relatedness techniques have also been able to provide each community with a unique insight into relationships between concepts in their respective domains. In the engineering community, semantic relatedness techniques promise to provide similar insight into product development processes. This paper explores the application of semantic relatedness techniques to ontologies as a means towards improved knowledge management in product development processes. Several different semantic relatedness techniques are reviewed, including a recently developed meronomic technique specific to domain ontologies. Three of these techniques are adopted to create a semantic relatedness measure specifically designed to identify and rank underlying relationships that exist between aspects of the product development process. Four separate case studies are then presented to evaluate the relative accuracy of the developed algorithm and then determine its effectiveness in exposing underlying relationships.

The Significance of Specifications in the Product Development Processes

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gritt Ahrens ◽  
Oliver Tegel
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
The Right ◽  
Product Development Processes

Abstract An approach to support the appropriate definition, formulation and presentation of requirements obeying the needs of the employees is being presented. Classifiying the needs for information of the employees according to some characteristics, a guideline for how to promote the information needed by them can be developed. The goal is to ensure that everyone involved in the process — even the subcontractor — has the right information available in the right form at the right time. Defining requirements lists, splitting them into partial requirements lists for each area of the company, each process phase or each team, and then formulating these requirements and presenting them in an adequate way is the proceeding strived for. The result will be implemented into an information infrastructure to support the product development process continuously.

Combination of Management Methods and Information Technologies for Product Development Processes

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Götz v. Esebeck ◽  
Oliver Tegel ◽  
Jeffrey L. Miller ◽  
Karl-Heinrich Grote
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Employee Motivation ◽  
Design Methods ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Time To Market ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Product Development Processes

Abstract As companies become aware that they have to restructure their product development processes to survive global competition in the market, it is important that they evaluate which management methods and techniques are suitable to improve the performance of the process and which design methods can be integrated and be used efficiently. A combination of management methods like Total Quality Management (TQM), Simultaneous or Concurrent Engineering, and Lean Development can be adapted to meet the requirements of a company more than a single strategy. Interdisciplinary teamwork, cross-hierarchical communication, and delegation of work in addition to employee motivation changes the common attitude towards the work process in the company and integrates the staff more tightly into the process. Nowadays, there is tight cooperation between companies and their sub-contractors, as sub-contractors not only have to manufacture the part or sub-assembly, but often have to design it. Therefore, the product development process has to be defined in a way that the sub-contractors can be tightly integrated into the product development process. Additionally, it is important to break the product down into functionally separate modules during the conceptual phase of the process. If the interfaces between these functions are defined as specifications, these modules can easily be given to suppliers or to other teams inside the company for further development. The use of methods such as Design for Manufacture (DFM) or Design for Assembly (DFA) early during the development process, which utilize the knowledge of experts from manufacturing and assembly, results in a decreasing number of iterative loops during the design process and therefore reduces time-to-market. This cross-functional cooperation leads to improved quality of both processes and products. In this paper, different management methods to achieve the best improvement from the product development process are discussed. In addition, suitable design methods for achieving cost reduction, quality improvement, and reduction of time-to-market are presented. Finally, proposals for industry on methods to reorganize the Integrated Product Development (IPD) process based on actual findings are presented.

scholarly journals Knowledge integration with customers in collaborative product development projects

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 889-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad H. Eslami ◽  
Nicolette Lakemond
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Collaborative Product Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Knowledge Contribution ◽  
Product Development Processes

Purpose This paper aims to address the need for managerial and organizational approaches to knowledge integration with customers in collaborative product development projects. The purpose is to identify the roles of customers in terms of the customer’s knowledge contribution and timing of customer collaboration in the product development process. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a multi-case study approach, comprising four product development projects from two large international suppliers. The cases were selected following the theoretical replication logic. Data consist of interviews, workshops and secondary information. For each of the cases, a within-case analysis was performed followed by a cross-case analysis. Findings The study shows that the customer’s knowledge contribution is aligned with the specific requirements of each phase of the product development. Three specific customer roles are identified and connected to the customer’s knowledge contribution and the timing of customer collaboration. The technical capability of the customer and the locus of initiative of the product development project are affecting the prerequisites for knowledge integration with customers. Research limitations/implications The study is performed from the perspective of supplier firms. The authors have not been able to capture the perspective of the customer in detail. As it is expected that both customers and suppliers benefit from a systematic knowledge exchange, future studies could examine knowledge contributions in both directions. Practical implications The findings can be used to devise effective approaches for collaborative product development with customers related to the customer’s knowledge contribution and the timing of customer collaboration and provide guidance to firms seeking to benefit from knowledge residing at customers. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to focus on the integration of customers’ knowledge in product development processes. This paper contributes to the customer–supplier collaboration literature by presenting further insight into customers’ knowledge contributions, the timing of customer collaboration in product development processes and the prerequisites for knowledge integration with customers.

Complexity and control: benchmarking of automobiles and electronic products

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 502-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takahiro Fujimoto ◽  
Young Won Park
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Structural Design ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Coordination Problem ◽  
Electronic Products ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mechanical Products ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Software Engineers ◽  
Product Development Processes

PurposeThe purpose of this exploratory paper is to analyze how complexity of an artifact affects designing processes of its mechanical, electric, and software sub‐systems.Design/methodology/approachBased on existing empirical research and frameworks of axiomatic design, product architecture, and product development process, the paper proposes a simple model of functional and structural design to examine how engineers' ways of thinking differ among mechanical, electric and software engineers.FindingsThis paper argues that products and artifacts tend to become complex (often with integral architecture) when customers' functional requirements become more demanding and societal/technological constraints become stricter, and that complex mechanical products are often accompanied by electronic control units with complex functions. This implies that designing complex mechanical products often requires intensive coordination among mechanical, electric and software engineers. This, however, is not easy, as engineers' way of thinking is often different among the three areas: mechanical engineers want to complete structural design information first to build prototypes; electrical and software engineers (the latter in particular) request complete functional information first.Research limitations/implicationsIn order to solve the above‐mentioned mechanical‐electrical‐software coordination problem, engineers need to share basic design concept of the product in question. Heavy‐weight product managers who infuse the product concept to the project members might be the key to this coordination. Companies may need to make sure that their product development processes are friendly to all of the three groups of engineers.Originality/valueAlthough designing complex artifacts has been a popular research theme since H. Simon's seminal work, issues of organizational coordination for developing complex products, with increasing managerial importance, need further research. With an empirical case of the automobile and electronic products, the present paper is unique in that it combines frameworks of product development processes, product architectures, and organizational capabilities.

scholarly journals A SCRUM AGILE INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 747-756
Author(s):  
H. Thiele ◽  
S. Weber ◽  
J. Reichwein ◽  
J. A. Bartolo ◽  
Y. Tchana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Agile Methods ◽  
Integrated Product Development ◽  
Integrated Development ◽  
Complex Products ◽  
Design Methodologies ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Requirement Changes ◽  
Product Development Processes

AbstractWith design methodologies, as Integrated Product Development, industry is continuously looking to improve their product development processes. Staying ahead concurrence forces them to deliver new and more complex products in shorter time. When it comes to fast delivery and requirement changes, product development can be inspired by agile methods. Although the application is difficult, the idea to implement these methods for development of products other than software comes out. To ease its implementation, this paper proposes to use IPD as a framework for agile product development.

AIERO: An Algorithm for Identifying Engineering Relationships in Ontologies

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Witherell ◽  
Sundar Krishnamurty ◽  
Ian Grosse ◽  
Jack Wileden
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Semantic Relatedness ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Causal Relationships ◽  
Knowledge Framework ◽  
Development Platform ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Product Development Processes

This paper introduces the development and application of semantic relatedness techniques towards improved knowledge management in product development processes through ontologies. As part of this work, several different semantic relatedness techniques are reviewed, including a meronomic technique recently introduced by the authors. An aggregate semantic relatedness measure, dubbed AIERO, is introduced to quantify underlying relationships between aspects of the product development process. To assess its applicability and accuracy, AIERO is tested using three separate, independently developed ontologies. The results indicate AIERO is capable of identifying and measuring relationships across a knowledge framework and can consistently produce results one would intuitively expect. Finally, a case study is presented to evaluate AIERO’s effectiveness in exposing underlying causal relationships across a product development platform. The results of this case study suggest that AIERO can uniquely quantify semantic relatedness between concepts, effectively enabling design engineers to systematically narrow the scope where causal relationships may exist between various domain concepts in the product development processes.

scholarly journals How Do Digital Engineering and Included AI Based Assistance Tools Change the Product Development Process and the Involved Engineers

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 2567-2576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Bickel ◽  
Tobias C. Spruegel ◽  
Benjamin Schleich ◽  
Sandro Wartzack
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Plausibility Check ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Digital Engineering ◽  
Product Development Processes

AbstractCurrent trends in product development are digital engineering, the increasing use of assistance tools based on artificial intelligence and in general shorter product lifecycles. These trends and new tools strongly rely on available data and will irreversibly change established product development processes. One example for such a new data driven tool is the plausibility check of linear finite element simulations with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). This tool is capable of determining whether new simulation results are plausible or non-plausible according to numeric input data. The digitalization and the increased use of data driven tools employing algorithms known from Artificial Intelligence also shifts the roles of many involved engineers. This paper describes and highlights this transition from current product development processes to a data driven / simulation driven product development process. Particularly, the shifts and changes of different roles and domains are illustrated and an example for changing roles in the design and simulation department is described. Furthermore, required adjustments in the design process are derived and compared to the current status.

Mobilizing resources in product development by organizational interfaces across firms, units and functions

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoria Sundquist ◽  
Lisa Melander
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
System Integration ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Network ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Product Development Processes

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how various organizational interfaces between firms, units and functions, and the interplay between them, are developed and mobilized in product development processes. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical framework is based on the industrial network approach, including interactive resource development and the concept of organizational interfaces. A single case study is conducted at a world-leading industrial tool manufacturer, illustrating how resources are combined over time, crossing boundaries of firms, units and functions in the development of a hand-held digitalized tool for quality assurance in the production of cars. Data have been collected through semi-structured interviews, with additional data in the form of project reports, internal documents and practices for external collaboration. Findings In addition to inter-organizational interfaces, the study identifies a typology of scouting, embarking and integration interfaces at unit level (geographically spread units of one multinational corporation) and interpretation and reciprocal interfaces at function level. The conclusions show that these interfaces affect the outcome of three aspects of the product development process: product characteristics and functionality features, system integration and organizational network extent. Existing interfaces serve as a platform for developing interaction further and provide the interfaces with new content, thus moving between different types of interfaces. Product development processes also involve new interfaces where there was no previous interaction between the parties. Research limitations/implications This research has implications for the interplay between interfaces in cases involving multiple external and internal actors in resource combining efforts. Practical implications External interactions between firms influence and impact internal activities and resources. Managers need to be aware of the complex interdependencies between external and internal interfaces and resources. Managing organizational interfaces is about both exploiting established interfaces and developing new ones. Consequently, existing interfaces may be activated differently to align with new interaction purposes, which, in turn, requires efforts to combine resources according to the new conditions. Originality/value Previous research contains a typology of organizational interfaces between customers and suppliers. The study expands on this research by identifying internal interfaces between units and functions.

CO-CONSTRUCTING THE BRAND AND THE PRODUCT

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 319-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN K. CHRISTIANSEN ◽  
CLAUS J. VARNES ◽  
BIRGITTE HOLLENSEN ◽  
BIRGITTE C. BLOMBERG
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Branding Strategies ◽  
Network Process ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Process Perspective ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Product Development Processes

How do brand and product development processes interact? How do brands and branding strategies influence product development? Moreover, does a branding strategy facilitate or impede the development process? So far, research on product development has focused on the development of new products and services, whereas research on marketing and especially branding has emphasized what types of line extensions to create rather than on how to integrate brands and product development processes. The present models of the product development process mostly distinguish between the process of innovation and that which follows, and also distinguish between the company as a sender and the user as a receiver of the communicated values. In the present study we suggest an alternative understanding of the innovation process: A network process perspective (NPP) as derived from the actor network theory (ANT), is used to explore the co-created relationship between the new product development process and branding. The network process perspective is used to analyse and understand the innovation process and represents a constructivist theory that departs from an ontological assumption that the 'world' is the relations and networks among heterogeneous human and non-human actors and that these networks are not per se stable, but are created, negotiated and dynamic. This theory is especially suitable for comprehending 'branding' where the 'ing' underscores the dynamic nature of this concept and to explore the dynamics in innovation. The empirical analysis identified four incidents as critical to the co-construction of the product and the brand in two companies. The effects are measured using the framework provided by Kapferer. The present analysis indicates that branding and innovation processes are interrelated in more subtle and complex ways than indicated in prior research on the subject. It further shows that even with well-organized marketing departments, consistent branding strategies and skilled project managers, the product development process is not easily managed. The brand and the branding strategies are non-human actors among other actors in the process, and it requires skill, persistence and energy if the 'brand' wants to become an influential 'actor'. Sometimes, the processes may even be reversed.

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