Improving the Timeliness of Product Development Processes

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Better information tools, such as CAD, CAE, and PLM, have improved product design, and better methods, such as concurrent engineering and systems thinking, have improved product development processes. These tools have greatly increased productivity for engineering-in-the-small, since small teams use the same design tools, communicate quickly and resolve issues fast, i.e., coordination is easy. However, engineering-in-the-large, where many people collaborate, is still problematic. The main issue is not being able to deliver on time. Researchers have shown that the competitive advantage that Toyota and others have gained by their superiority in product development mostly comes from better coordination among the various development groups. ******The proposed research will develop mechanisms that deliver products faster by focusing on the timely completion of design tasks, especially in multi-partner projects. Studies have shown that designers in aerospace and defence projects spend less than half of their time on value-added activities. Therefore, companies are searching for new mechanisms for faster task completion. The research will use coordination theory, process models and agent based simulation for the study of timeliness in product development processes. Present coordination theory only quantifies coordination in terms of cost, i.e., the cost of the communication network + information exchange + network effectiveness. The proposed research will develop methods to measure the benefits of coordination in terms of time. The issue is not that effort continues to increase during a complex project, but that the clock is running while tasks are not delivered in a timely manner. ******Agent based modelling will be used to study the dynamic interdependency among activities: the timing of activities, the rate of information exchange, the structure of resources, and the use of support technologies. Data from product development processes will be obtained from companies to build models and validate results. Agile methods were created to improve the delivery of software products. The research will study agile methods to determine what features allow these techniques to be effective and deliver products on time, and what characteristics would allow the methods to be used outside software development.******The outcomes of the research will be coordination theory that can measure benefits based on time, coordination mechanisms that can facilitate timely information exchange among project partners as well as demonstrated links between the attributes of coordination mechanisms and the reduction of cycle times for product development. Overall, there will be a better understanding of how information exchange as well as the design of NPD processes and organizational structures lead to better project delivery. Benefits to industry will be simple methods that help them deliver products on time.