Improving the Timeliness of Product Development Processes

更好的信息工具，如CAD、CAE和PLM，改进了产品设计，而更好的方法，如并行工程和系统思维，改进了产品开发过程。这些工具极大地提高了小型工程的生产率，因为小型团队使用相同的设计工具，快速沟通，快速解决问题，即协调很容易。然而，在许多人协作的情况下，整体工程仍然存在问题。主要问题是不能按时交付。研究人员表明，丰田和其他公司通过其在产品开发方面的优势获得的竞争优势，主要来自于各个开发小组之间更好的协调。*拟议的研究将制定机制，通过关注及时完成设计任务，特别是在多方合作项目中，更快地交付产品。研究表明，航空航天和国防项目的设计师将不到一半的时间花在增值活动上。因此，公司正在寻找新的机制来更快地完成任务。本研究将运用协调理论、过程模型和基于智能体的仿真来研究产品开发过程中的时效性。现有的协调理论仅从成本的角度对协调进行量化，即通信网络成本+信息交换成本+网络效能成本。拟议的研究将制定从时间角度衡量协调效益的方法。问题不是在一个复杂的项目期间继续增加工作，而是时钟在运行，而任务没有及时交付。*将使用基于主体的建模来研究活动之间的动态相互依存关系：活动的时间安排、信息交流的速度、资源的结构和支助技术的使用。产品开发过程中的数据将从公司那里获得，以建立模型并验证结果。创建敏捷方法是为了改进软件产品的交付。这项研究将研究敏捷方法，以确定哪些功能允许这些技术有效并按时交付产品，以及哪些特性将允许在软件开发之外使用这些方法。*研究的结果将是可以基于时间衡量收益的协调理论，可以促进项目合作伙伴之间及时信息交换的协调机制，以及协调机制属性和产品开发周期缩短之间的联系。总体而言，将更好地理解信息交流以及新产品开发流程和组织结构的设计如何导致更好的项目交付。对行业的好处将是帮助他们按时交付产品的简单方法。

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.