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，更好的方法，如并行工程和系统思维，改进了产品开发过程。这些工具大大提高了小型工程的生产力，因为小型团队使用相同的设计工具，快速沟通并快速解决问题，即，协调很容易。然而，许多人合作的大型工程仍然存在问题。主要问题是不能按时交货。研究表明，丰田等公司通过产品开发优势获得的竞争优势，主要来自不同开发团队之间的更好协调。** 拟议的研究将开发机制，通过专注于及时完成设计任务，特别是在多合作伙伴项目中，更快地交付产品。研究表明，航空航天和国防项目的设计人员将不到一半的时间用于增值活动。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、过程模型及以代理人为基础的模拟，来研究产品开发过程中的时效性。目前的协调理论只从成本的角度来量化协调，即，通信网络的成本+信息交换+网络效率。拟议的研究将制定方法来衡量协调在时间方面的好处。问题不在于复杂项目中的工作量持续增加，而在于时钟在运行，而任务没有及时交付。** 将使用基于代理人的模型来研究各项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、资源的结构以及支助技术的使用。将从公司获得产品开发过程中的数据，以建立模型并验证结果。敏捷方法是为了改进软件产品的交付而创建的。该研究将研究敏捷方法，以确定哪些特性允许这些技术有效并按时交付产品，以及哪些特性允许这些方法在软件开发之外使用。研究的成果将是协调理论，可以衡量效益的基础上的时间，协调机制，可以促进项目合作伙伴之间的及时信息交流，以及协调机制的属性和减少产品开发周期之间的联系。总的来说，将有一个更好的了解如何信息交流以及新产品开发过程和组织结构的设计，导致更好的项目交付。对工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.