Agent Based Middleware to Coordinate Distributed Development Teams in the Rapid Product Development

Author(s):  
Michael K. Diederich ◽  
Jens Leyh
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 541-550
Author(s):  
K. Duehr ◽  
M. Hirsch ◽  
A. Albers ◽  
N. Bursac

AbstractThe advantages of distributed development teams help companies to address megatrends like globalization and individualization. However, development teams are facing challenges according to increasing requirements on communication processes. This approach provides a methodology to identify and address improvement potentials in communication processes of distributed product development by including the dimensions technology, organization and human involved in the development process. The validation of the methodology's process steps was carried out together with a machine tool manufacturer.


Author(s):  
Qize Le ◽  
Jitesh H. Panchal

Traditional product development efforts are based on well-structured and hierarchical product development teams. The products are systematically decomposed into subsystems that are designed by dedicated teams with well-defined information flows. Recently, a new product development approach called Mass Collaborative Product Development (MCPD) has emerged. The fundamental difference between a traditional product development process and a MCPD process is that the former is based on top-down decomposition while the latter is based on evolution and self-organization. The paradigm of MCPD has resulted in highly successful products such as Wikipedia, Linux and Apache. Despite the success of various projects using MCPD, it is not well understood how the product architecture affects the evolution of products developed using such processes. To address this gap, an agent-based model to study MCPD processes is presented in this paper. Through this model, the effect of product architectures on the product evolution is studied. The model is executed for different architectures ranging from slot architecture to bus architecture and the rates of product evolution are determined. The simulation-based approach allows us to study how the degree of modularity of products affects the evolution time of products and different modules in the MCPD processes. The methodology is demonstrated using an illustrative example of mobile phones. This approach provides a simple and intuitive way to study the effects of product architecture on the MCPD processes. It is helpful in determining the best strategies for product decomposition and identifying the product architectures that are suitable for the MCPD processes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2475-2484
Author(s):  
T. Chatty ◽  
J. Faludi

AbstractHow do employees perceive the impact of incorporating sustainability considerations into their product development practice? In this case study, we observe how these perceptions can be shifted by teaching workshops on how to apply sustainable design methods in practice. We compare the trends for different methods on various dimensions such as creativity, design process time, product marketability etc. Results show an overall shift towards positive perception for all the methods on a majority of factors, indicating a way to ease the adoption of sustainable design into industry practice.


Author(s):  
Jens Jorgensen ◽  
David Havens ◽  
Paul Salvatore ◽  
Alvaro J. Rojas Arciniegas ◽  
Marcos Esterman

Product development teams are facing continued pressure to develop more products in less time and with fewer resources. Platform-based developed is commonly seen as a solution to increase capacity of the product development pipeline. This research identified enablers and barriers to successful platform-based product development. This was achieved through a comprehensive literature review of the current state of the art and an exploratory case study of product development practices within a business-to-business environment from companies with significantly different cultures and experiences with platform-based product development. Key enablers identified in this research include institutionalizing systems engineering, development and communication of product development roadmaps, augmentation of phase gate review process and critical parameter characterization. Operational recommendations from this research are considered to be possible to implement without significant changes to existing processes and organizational structures.


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