Knowledge Base Repository
In addition to research papers, the Design Society is developing several valuable resources for those interested in the study of design. These include a repository of PhD theses, a library of case studies and transcripts of design activities, and an archive of our newsletters. Please note that these resources are accessible exclusively to Design Society members.
Design Parameter Management in Product Development Process
Jasmin Juranić
Type:
Year:
2021
Author:
Supervisor:
Neven Pavković
Institution:
University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture
Page(s):
149
Website:
Abstract:
Engineering designers in product development organisations face the increasing complexity of
engineering design activities. To accomplish the assigned activities, they reach for various tools
and methods in their daily work that support them in developing products, managing data and
communicating with other designers within a team or outside the team. Thus, design team
members need enhanced software support for design team collaboration, including the
management of design process dynamics, especially in critical situations.
The research reported in the thesis aims to improve a designer's working experience through
enhancements in computer supported collaborative work (CSCW). A more concrete research
aim has been formed as follows: to develop a model and software support that would enable
consistent updating and propagation of design information in teamwork in a manner that the
improvement does not require additional effort for engineering designers while performing
design activities.
The research has been conducted in line with Design Research Methodology stages and in such
a way is reported in this thesis. The literature review provided several major issues of current
techniques and support systems used in engineering design processes. The two most significant
for this work are that design activities are sometimes performed with outdated product
information and that critical situations burden the whole system, from a designer to
management. The research continued with the analysis of the empirical dataset. The dataset
consists of over 800 records that originate from meeting reports obtained from three longlasting
product development projects in an automotive company. The analysis results have
shown what types of design activities are most frequent, what types are most critical and how
designers are dealing with design activities. Based on the recognised activity type, an
engineering design activities taxonomy has been proposed.
The next natural step in the research was to use the knowledge obtained from the previous phase
and propose a novel CSCW enhancement. The goal of the enhancement has been set to semiautomatically
execute defined engineering design activities and thus support engineering
designers in their work. The enhancement is based on Coloured Petri Nets modelling language
(CPN). One CPN model has been created for each engineering design activity type. CPN
models are executed as part of the proposed framework for semi-automated execution of
engineering design activities.
The framework manages an activity life cycle and thus a CPN model life cycle, communication
with designers and all processes beneath the proposed enhancement.
The proposed framework and all belonging processes have been validated using two different
case studies. The case studies showed that the proposed enhancement has significant potential
to provide real-time updating and propagation of design information in teamwork. The main
contributions of the thesis are: 1. Definition of engineering design activity taxonomy, 2.
Proposal of the framework and process for semi-automatic execution of engineering design
activities, 3. CPN models that should enhance CSCW and design communication, and 4. MDM
modification for indicating necessary communication.
engineering design activities. To accomplish the assigned activities, they reach for various tools
and methods in their daily work that support them in developing products, managing data and
communicating with other designers within a team or outside the team. Thus, design team
members need enhanced software support for design team collaboration, including the
management of design process dynamics, especially in critical situations.
The research reported in the thesis aims to improve a designer's working experience through
enhancements in computer supported collaborative work (CSCW). A more concrete research
aim has been formed as follows: to develop a model and software support that would enable
consistent updating and propagation of design information in teamwork in a manner that the
improvement does not require additional effort for engineering designers while performing
design activities.
The research has been conducted in line with Design Research Methodology stages and in such
a way is reported in this thesis. The literature review provided several major issues of current
techniques and support systems used in engineering design processes. The two most significant
for this work are that design activities are sometimes performed with outdated product
information and that critical situations burden the whole system, from a designer to
management. The research continued with the analysis of the empirical dataset. The dataset
consists of over 800 records that originate from meeting reports obtained from three longlasting
product development projects in an automotive company. The analysis results have
shown what types of design activities are most frequent, what types are most critical and how
designers are dealing with design activities. Based on the recognised activity type, an
engineering design activities taxonomy has been proposed.
The next natural step in the research was to use the knowledge obtained from the previous phase
and propose a novel CSCW enhancement. The goal of the enhancement has been set to semiautomatically
execute defined engineering design activities and thus support engineering
designers in their work. The enhancement is based on Coloured Petri Nets modelling language
(CPN). One CPN model has been created for each engineering design activity type. CPN
models are executed as part of the proposed framework for semi-automated execution of
engineering design activities.
The framework manages an activity life cycle and thus a CPN model life cycle, communication
with designers and all processes beneath the proposed enhancement.
The proposed framework and all belonging processes have been validated using two different
case studies. The case studies showed that the proposed enhancement has significant potential
to provide real-time updating and propagation of design information in teamwork. The main
contributions of the thesis are: 1. Definition of engineering design activity taxonomy, 2.
Proposal of the framework and process for semi-automatic execution of engineering design
activities, 3. CPN models that should enhance CSCW and design communication, and 4. MDM
modification for indicating necessary communication.
Keywords:
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