Integrated modelling of product- and process-related information

DSM 2012 Proceedings of the 14th International DSM Conference, Kyoto, Japan

Year: 2012
Editor: Onishi, M.; Maurer, M.; Kirner, K.; Lindemann, U.
Author: Albers, A.; Braun, A.; Salomon, S.
Series: DSM
Institution: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Section: Project and Process Management
Page(s): 239-251
ISBN: 978-3-446-43354-0

Abstract

Today’s product engineering is exposed to an increasing complexity and may be interpreted as a sociotechnical system with a variety of diverse elements and subsystems. In this paper we introduce an approach of modelling both process- and product-related information in one integrated model, thus creating explicit relations. We aim at supporting design processes by modelling this information transparently and examining the interdependencies – e.g. between process and product. Our modelling approach is based on a hierarchic Design-Structure-Matrix (DSM), enabling us to describe and most notably to analyse these interdependencies. We argue that this transparency allows the development of concrete support tools for product engineering. We implemented our approach into the software environment Cambridge Advanced Modeller (CAM) in order to apply the theoretic approach to real design processes. This implementation is used to evaluate the presented concept of supporting product engineering processes and to discuss potential benefits in a first test.

Keywords: Product engineering process, complexity, modelling, DSM, iPeM, C&C-A, CAM