Ensuring Competitive product dlesign with Teamiworking Coordination

X B. Wang and P D F. Kilduff Tel: c44 113 233 3764x Fax: +44 113 233 3704

Dept. of Textile Industries Faculty of Engineering

University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT UK

E-mail: tex5xbw@sun.leer~s.ac.u1k

Ti1i.s p o p r r i t tcnipts to give an insight and overviews of the mcijor prohletns rind key issues involved in Prilicincing the product design processes. It argues that in order to i'ruly make the product tic\~eloprnerit process more productive then th t7 ernphasis should he placed upon effective temn\iwrking orgnnisntion. For this purpose, t i Team Working Coordination (TWC) system is proposed m tlic hctsiLs i r p m cvhich to realise this aim b y providing support to particular aspects qf' product design crnd processes mnnagenzent, namely: C~oncurrent Engineerirrg, Decision Support, Design Maticigernerit, Prodiict Management, and T m m Engineering.

Introduction

The product design process involves the coordinated organisation of multi- disciplinary groups, activities and information which continually evolve and change during the design process (Pourbabai 94). Historica.lly, different activities in the design process have been kept separate and interact through formal and inforimal communications, via paper medium or file transfers, resulting in considercable effort going into the resolution of inconsistencies, conflicts, and uncoordinated design activities. Therefore, the product developrnent process is becoming increasingly and inextricably linked to the whole organisation. Before multi-design tasks and dlesign activities can be effectively organised and coordinated within an organisation, there is a need to integrate the data of the product model and the design tools in (order to make effective use of the resources available. Suchi an environment can provide not only a basis upon which to develop multi-disciplhary design and dynamiic project team organisations but also consistent, coordinatedl and efficient product development.

The argument for ensuring competitive product de sign by teamworking techniques is that, to optimise design, activities should not only be carried out 'concurrently' bur. should also be structured in siuch a fashion as to achieve optimum performanlce (such as total life quality and coslt,s, cycle times, etc.). To achieve this, teamworking should focuse upon those issues diirectly relevant to the optimisation of the design process. For this purpose, a Teamworking Coordination (TWC) system is proposed far ensuring competitive advantage in product design.

Teamworking Coordination

TWC definition

This research defines that 'I'FVC (Teamworking Coordination) is a system for the organisation and management of multi-disciplinar!, design teams and activitilzs for concurrent product development within a business environment with the aim of improving business effecti veness (Wang & Kilduff 95).

In this definition, TWC is ill1 approach to product development where different design activities are carried out siinultaneously in an integrated, harmonious ma". It may also be seen as a management system for the coordinated organisation of multi- disciplinary groups, design activities, and product information. Therefore, TWC is aimed at supporting the product design performance and at controlling the complexity of the product, the design activity, resources, and decision miaking.

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TWC structure

According to recent research into design coordination in product development (MacCallum & Liu 94), i t is possible to identify four different aspects of teamworking coordination that form the TWC environment in product design: Product Aspects, Design Process, Design Resources and Design Teams. The corresponding activities associated with these factors are modelling, planning, controlling and coordinating, respectively. Thus, TWC can be viewed as four design activities with respect to four important design parameters.

Figure 1 shows the structure of TWC activities as a dynamic relationship between these aspects and activities. The decomposition of the TWC environment defines a many-to- inany mapping and inter-relationship of the team perspectives to product aspects, process and resources.

Product

__ manag. level coordination

Ij activities iiodelling

Figure 1 Structure of TWC Environment

Obviously, coordination between different team members and activities within the team is required in order to achieve design ob.jectives. This coordination includes: a ) planning and scheduling activities of actors; b) communicating changes between perspectives of team members; c) recognising inconsistencies in product aspects; d) negotiating between perspectives to remove inconsistencies; e) modelling product aspect and design process; f) controlling design resources, identifying and allocating; g) optimisation of design strategy; h) information organisation/riiapping; i ) dynamic introduction and withdrawal of team members and perspectives; j ) matching team members to perspectives and perspectives to aspects, and redefinition o f mappings; I;) forming and disbanding of groups of team members.

Aspects of product design processes

Concurrent engineering

Concurrent engineering (Carter and Baker 92) is considered to encompass aspects of product development which are directed at conducting engineer ing ac t iv i t i e s concurrently. That is, its focus is on the formalisation, integration and managemenr of previously disparate engineering activities, disciplines and aspects which can be carried out concurrently rather than sequentially. Thus, concurrent engineering is considered to address:

DFX (Design for ‘X’) takes into account life phase systems and product life concerns which need to be formalised and supported for designing the product (Olesen 92)

DFX Management is directed at consideration of X issues at the correct tinie and for the correct reasons and ensures that one aspect of X does not conflict or overturn, where undesired, a previous decision in connection with anothcr X .

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Life Cycle Issues addresses aspects covering the complete life of the product, such as use, establishment, maintenance, decommissioning.

Provident Design focuses upori being able to anticipate future issues, trends, problems, or aspects of the product requiring consideration (Andreasen and Olesen 90).

Design management

Design management focuses upon issues related to the effective management of the design activities in order to fulfil not only the product’s but also the design prlocess’ requirements. Specific activities rntist be carried out within an overall product development plan while ensuring that business, customer and regulatory constraints are fulfilled. Resources must be utiilised to their full potctmtial in order to produce appropriate solutions and achieve specified design tasks within the design constraints. Some relevant issues are:

Re-using desiEn process and desisn activity experiemx provides a basis upon which to evolve and enhance design management.

Planning. scheduling and con[kcA as with project management in general, are key elements to effective design rrianagement and must ble fully integrated.

Process modelling provides a formalisation of the enterprise’s design activity arid hence a basis upon which to optimise the design process.

Resource management must enisure the availability oif not only the right people, with the right expertise, skills, psychological nature and experience but also the facilities, tools and environment to fulfil appropriate tasks at the right time.

Task management centres upori the logical breakdown of the required work to be done in order to fulfil the desiign requirements and constraints. It also provides thc basis for determining the required resources, times and activities which are required to evolve the product’s development.

Product management

Product management addresses all1 aspects related to the product’s modelling and support during its development. The product generally ievolves from an abstract solution to a defined specification. During this process various designers require different models of the product to help solve their problems, where each modcl is inextricably inter-related with other models. Aspects which need to considered are, fot- example:

Configuration management plays a key role in the concurrent product development. Issues which need to be sufficiently addressed are the formation/synthesis of models and the management of different types of models. different models used within different diisciplines, a d the effects of one coniponent/part change upon tlhe other configuration elements and product mndels as a whole.

Design re-use and standardisat& can provide a good starting point or basiis for helping to solve many design problems. The role of design re-use and standardisation needs to be rnclre fully understood and formalised i t ] order to clearly identify its role within ithe product development process.

Integration and control is presently a topical issue a!; many models of the product are disparate. However, it shoulld be noted that the integration and control of previously disparate models elo8es not ensure that the:y will necessarily enhance

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design productivity. Rather, it is their management as a holistic entity which will provide the basis for effective product management.

Viewpoint management is necessary where numerous designers require, interact with and change different viewpoints of the product. Although, different models of a product may be required, individual designers also have their own required viewpoint(s) to meet their particular task requirements.

Team engineering

Team engineering concentrates upon the human aspects of the design process. Multidisciplinary design teams, each with their own particular areas of expertise and way of working, need to be formed, disbanded and re-organised in order to meet the ever changing need of the product development process and new product introduction. In particular issues which need to be addressed are:

Team formation, assessment and enhancement all significantly affect the product development process. These elements of teamworking must be carried out within the context of the overall product development process and the enterprise’s long term development /business strategy.

Integration of teams is necessary in order for teams to know their qualities, capabilities and responsibilities and how they relate to other teams within the product development process and the enterprise in general. However, integration must be supported with effective coordination which is considered here as a prerequisite for the full functionality of the team to be realised.

Communication and negotiation support and management needs to be supported to ensure acceptable resolution of conflicts, issues and problems, given the design constraints.

Decision support

Decision support is concerned with developing all the necessary support to make effective decisions. During the design process multiple decisions need to be made, for numerous reasons and involving various participants, in order to progress the design to a successful conclusion. To achieve support a number of key issues must be addressed, such as:

Authority. responsibility and control for/of the decisions must be clearly identified and coordinated.

Conflict resolution needs to be carried out effectively and the consequences upon all aspects of the design must be fully realised and supported.

Consistency and inconsistencv management must ensure that particular variables within the product model will be required to be inconsistent at particular times of the product’s development and at other times consistent.

Effective communications will enhance decision making, promote conflict resolution, integration and coherence of decisions.

Information integration is a basic requirement for effective decision support and one in which considerable effort has been directed.

Knowledge, Information and Date (KID) management is a key component for decision support. KID act as inputs to the decision making process and continually change, become outdated, and are most relevant for particular decisions.

Probability and risk assessment is an element in decision making and one in which adequate computer support needs to be developed.

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Design processes support

The system of TWC discussed in this paper is aimed to provide a means to achieve a quantum leap in the performance of the product development process by deve:loping mechanisms which support the effective coordination of life cycle issues, product development, and design activitics with respect to product aspects, design process, resources, and teams. Thus, TWC is seen as the means to support the integration and optimisation of the particular aspects of product DES1G.N processes.

It is envisaged that a number of direct benefits can be realised with the development of the TWC system to support the aspects of product development. The main expected benefits are:

a corporate understanding and !strategy of the Product Development and Concurrent Design;

an explicit model of the key factors and relations in ‘I‘WC which can be used for the optimisation of the product development cycle with respect to time and resource utilisation;

a methodology upon which to ensure that DFX issues are considered at the right time for the right reasons, and which will reduce rework and ensure appropriate consideration of X issues during the product development process. Such a riiethodology can ensure that iimportant design issues are not overturned at a later date;

an understanding of the management of DFX considerations in order to optimise their effectiveness and a meairis to ‘balance’ DFX issues;

a significant reduction in re-work through right-first-time practice and iteration control supported by effective iuse of the TWC methodology;

a reduction in on-recurring engineering costs;

more effective utilisation of ire:;ources and reduced product development cljcle time;

an insight into the human aspects of TWC. This insight will give valuable direction to the development of a man;igement approach that w i l l optimise both productivity arid job satisfaction;

a basis upon which to inform designers and teams 01’ their role, measuring their effectiveness within the design process and presenting performance graphsltrends

a basic understanding of TWC issues and their role i n the Product Developmeni. will help to advance the techmlical and scientific level of the engineers and managers within the enterpri5e

H y supporting the identified product development aspects it is believed that thle TVVC system provides the means to enhance competitive advilntage in product development.

Conclusion

The Teamworking Coordinatioii (TWC) system has be1::n proposed as the means to support key aspects of product tkvelopment: Concurrent Engineering, Decision Support, Design Management, if’rloduct Moinagement, aind Teani Engineering. Each of these aspects have been elaborated upon with a view of‘ highlighting the support provided by the TWC.

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To ensure competitive product design it is suggested that tools/means such as TWC should be evaluated upon identified requirements to ensure that they are capable of meeting the business as well as technical needs of enterprises. An example, of such an evaluation has been presented and a number of conclusions reached, namely (Wang and Kilduff 96):

TWC can make the greatest impact on reducing the product cycle time and hence the time to market: and

Decision support and design management are the best means to meet the identified requirements, which will in turn contribute to shorter time to market, improved quality and customer satisfaction, and Competitive costs.

References

Andreasen, M M, and Olesen, J ( I 990) ‘The concept of dispositions’, Engineering Design, I ( ] ) , 1990.

Carter, D E, and Baker B S (1992), Concurrent Engineering, Addison-Wesley, USA, 1992

MacCallum, K J , and Liu, X ( 1 994), ‘Model for computer supported design coordination in CE’, IME Conference on Computer Aided Production Engineering, London, Dec. 1994

Olesen, J (1 992) ‘Concurrent Development in manufacturing -- based on dispositional mechanisms’, PhD thesis, Institute for Engineering Design, Technical University of Demark, 1992.

B Pourbabai and M Pecht, Management of design activities in a concurrent engineering environment, International Journal of Production Research, 32(4):821-832, 1994.

Wang X B and Kilduff P (1995) ‘Structuring A Teamworking Coordination Environment in Product Design and Development’, Presentation for the conference of restructuring manufacturing, Manchester, UK I 1 -1 2 Oct 1995

Wang X B and Kilduff P (1996) ‘Ensuring continous improvement with concurrent design and teamworking coordination in R&D processes’, Presentation for the conference of R&D Management. Enschede, The Netherlands, 6-8 March 1996.

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