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Journal ArticleDOI

Applying the design structure matrix to system decomposition and integration problems: a review and new directions

01 Aug 2001-IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management (IEEE)-Vol. 48, Iss: 3, pp 292-306
TL;DR: This paper reviews two types of DSM, static and time-based DSMs, and four DSM applications, effective for integrating low-level design processes based on physical design parameter relationships and leads to conclusions regarding the benefits of DSMs in practice and barriers to their use.
Abstract: Systems engineering of products, processes, and organizations requires tools and techniques for system decomposition and integration. A design structure matrix (DSM) provides a simple, compact, and visual representation of a complex system that supports innovative solutions to decomposition and integration problems. The advantages of DSMs vis-a-vis alternative system representation and analysis techniques have led to their increasing use in a variety of contexts, including product development; project planning, project management, systems engineering, and organization design. This paper reviews two types of DSMs, static and time-based DSMs, and four DSM applications: (1) component-based or architecture DSM, useful for modeling system component relationships and facilitating appropriate architectural decomposition strategies; (2) team-based or organization DSM, beneficial for designing integrated organization structures that account for team interactions; (3) activity-based or schedule DSM, advantageous for modeling the information flow among process activities; and (4) parameter-based (or low-level schedule) DSM, effective for integrating low-level design processes based on physical design parameter relationships. A discussion of each application is accompanied by an industrial example. The review leads to conclusions regarding the benefits of DSMs in practice and barriers to their use. The paper also discusses research directions and new DSM applications, both of which may be approached with a perspective on the four types of DSMs and their relationships.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper provides a survey of all the architectures that have been presented in the literature so far, using a unified description that includes optimization problem statements, diagrams, and detailed algorithms.
Abstract: Multidisciplinary design optimization is a field of research that studies the application of numerical optimization techniques to the design of engineering systems involving multiple disciplines or components. Since the inception of multidisciplinary design optimization, various methods (architectures) have been developed and applied to solve multidisciplinary design-optimization problems. This paper provides a survey of all the architectures that have been presented in the literature so far. All architectures are explained in detail using a unified description that includes optimization problem statements, diagrams, and detailed algorithms. The diagrams show both data and process flow through the multidisciplinary system and computational elements, which facilitate the understanding of the various architectures, and how they relate to each other. A classification of the multidisciplinary design-optimization architectures based on their problem formulations and decomposition strategies is also provided, a...

868 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...Multidisciplinary Design Optimization:...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An analysis of change behavior based on a case study in Westland Helicopters of rotorcraft design; the development of mathematical models to predict the risk of change propagation in terms of likelihood and impact of change; and theDevelopment of a prototype computer support tool to calculate such information for a specific product.
Abstract: In redesign and design for customization, products are changed. During this process a change to one part of the product will, in most cases, result in changes to other parts. The prediction of such change provides a significant challenge in the management of redesign and customization of complex products where many change propagation paths may be possible. This paper reports on an analysis of change behavior based on a case study in Westland Helicopters of rotorcraft design; the development of mathematical models to predict the risk of change propagation in terms of likelihood and impact of change; and the development of a prototype computer support tool to calculate such information for a specific product. With knowledge of likely change propagation paths and their impact on the delivery of the product, design effort can be directed towards avoiding change to "expensive" sub-systems and, where possible, allowing change where it is easier to implement while still achieving the overall changes required.

732 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The goal of this paper is to review both the understanding of the field and the support tools that exist for the purpose, and identify the trends and possible directions research can evolve in the future.
Abstract: Product design is a highly involved, often ill-defined, complex and iterative process, and the needs and specifications of the required artifact get more refined only as the design process moves toward its goal. An effective computer support tool that helps the designer make better-informed decisions requires efficient knowledge representation schemes. In today's world, there is a virtual explosion in the amount of raw data available to the designer, and knowledge representation is critical in order to sift through this data and make sense of it. In addition, the need to stay competitive has shrunk product development time through the use of simultaneous and collaborative design processes, which depend on effective transfer of knowledge between teams. Finally, the awareness that decisions made early in the design process have a higher impact in terms of energy, cost, and sustainability, has resulted in the need to project knowledge typically required in the later stages of design to the earlier stages. Research in design rationale systems, product families, systems engineering, and ontology engineering has sought to capture knowledge from earlier product design decisions, from the breakdown of product functions and associated physical features, and from customer requirements and feedback reports. VR (Virtual reality) systems and multidisciplinary modeling have enabled the simulation of scenarios in the manufacture, assembly, and use of the product. This has helped capture vital knowledge from these stages of the product life and use it in design validation and testing. While there have been considerable and significant developments in knowledge capture and representation in product design, it is useful to sometimes review our position in the area, study the evolution of research in product design, and from past and current trends, try and foresee future developments. The goal of this paper is thus to review both our understanding of the field and the support tools that exist for the purpose, and identify the trends and possible directions research can evolve in the future.

583 citations


Cites background from "Applying the design structure matri..."

  • ...Browning [243] reviews the application of DSMs in four areas: Component-based system architectures, people or teambased organizations, activity-based processes, and parameterbased design relationships, and concludes that DSMs ‘‘facilitate intelligent system decomposition and integration analysis’’....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A survey on related modeling and optimization strategies that may help to solve High-dimensional, Expensive (computationally), Black-box (HEB) problems and two promising approaches are identified to solve HEB problems.
Abstract: The integration of optimization methodologies with computational analyses/simulations has a profound impact on the product design. Such integration, however, faces multiple challenges. The most eminent challenges arise from high-dimensionality of problems, computationally-expensive analysis/simulation, and unknown function properties (i.e., black-box functions). The merger of these three challenges severely aggravates the difficulty and becomes a major hurdle for design optimization. This paper provides a survey on related modeling and optimization strategies that may help to solve High-dimensional, Expensive (computationally), Black-box (HEB) problems. The survey screens out 207 references including multiple historical reviews on relevant subjects from more than 1,000 papers in a variety of disciplines. This survey has been performed in three areas: strategies tackling high-dimensionality of problems, model approximation techniques, and direct optimization strategies for computationally-expensive black-box functions and promising ideas behind non-gradient optimization algorithms. Major contributions in each area are discussed and presented in an organized manner. The survey exposes that direct modeling and optimization strategies to address HEB problems are scarce and sporadic, partially due to the difficulty of the problem itself. Moreover, it is revealed that current modeling research tends to focus on sampling and modeling techniques themselves and neglect studying and taking the advantages of characteristics of the underlying expensive functions. Based on the survey results, two promising approaches are identified to solve HEB problems. Directions for future research are also discussed.

535 citations


Cites background or methods from "Applying the design structure matri..."

  • ...Some reviews pertaining to the decomposition can be found in the literature (Browning 2001; Li 2009; Papalambros 1995; Papalambros and Michelena 1997, 2000)....

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  • ...For DSM, Browning (2001) found that mostly clustering and sequencing algorithms are used....

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  • ...DSM is a square matrix that has identical row and column listings to represent a single set of objects (Browning 2001; Li 2009)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper integrates several important characteristics of PD processes into a single model, highlighting the effects of varying process architecture and yielding several managerial insights, including: how rework cascades through a PD process, trading off cost and schedule risk, interface criticality, and occasions for iterative overlapping.
Abstract: To gain competitive leverage, firms that design and develop complex products seek to increase the efficiency and predictability of their development processes. Process improvement is facilitated by the development and use of models that account for and illuminate important characteristics of the process. Iteration is a fundamental but often unaddressed feature of product development (PD) processes. Its impact is mediated by the architecture of a process, i.e., its constituent activities and their interactions. This paper integrates several important characteristics of PD processes into a single model, highlighting the effects of varying process architecture. The PD process is modeled as a network of activities that exchange deliverables. Each activity has an uncertain duration and cost, an improvement curve, and risks of rework based on changes in its inputs. A work policy governs the timing of activity execution and deliverable exchange (and thus the amount of activity concurrency). The model is analyzed via simulation, which outputs sample cost and schedule outcome distributions. Varying the process architecture input varies the output distributions. Each distribution is used with a target and an impact function to determine a risk factor. Alternative process architectures are compared, revealing opportunities to trade cost and schedule risk. Example results and applications are shown for an industrial process, the preliminary design of an uninhabited combat aerial vehicle. The model yields and reinforces several managerial insights, including: how rework cascades through a PD process, trading off cost and schedule risk, interface criticality, and occasions for iterative overlapping.

502 citations


Cites methods from "Applying the design structure matri..."

  • ...A design structure matrix(DSM) can also be used to represent a process [14], [35], [73]....

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: This paper presents a meta-modelling framework for modeling uncertainty in the value of money and the net present value technique, and some examples show how this framework can be applied to product development economics.
Abstract: Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Development Processes and Organizations Chapter 3 Product Planning Chapter 4 Identifying Customer Needs Chapter 5 Product Specifications Appendix Concept -Scoring Matrix Example Chapter 6 Concept Generation Chapter 7 Concept Selection Appendix A Concept-Screening Matrix Example Appendix B Concept-Scoring Matrix Example Chapter 8 Concept Testing Appendix Estimating Market Sizes Chapter 9 Product Architecture Chapter 10 Industrial Design Chapter 11 Design for Manufacturing Appendix A Material Costs Appendix B Component Manufacturing Costs Appendix C Assembly Costs Appendix D Cost Structures Chapter 12 Prototyping Chapter 13 Robust Design Appendix Orthogonal Arrays Chapter 14 Patents and Intellectual Property Appendix A Trademarks Appendix B Advice to Individual Inventors Chapter 15 Product Development Economics Appendix A Time Value of Money and the Net Present Value Technique Appendix B Modeling Uncertain Cash Flow Using Net Present Value Analysis Chapter 16 Managing Projects Appendix Design Structure Matrix Example

6,707 citations


"Applying the design structure matri..." refers background in this paper

  • ...They captured the frequency and direction of information flow between the product development teams (PDTs) in the project (Fig....

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  • ...However, DSMs also face some specific...

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  • ...Product architecture is the arrangement of functional ele-...

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Book
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: The authors describe in detail how managers in a wide range of companies and industries - small, medium and large, North American, European and Japanese - transformed their business by applying the principles of lean thinking.
Abstract: If The Machine That Changed the World is a description of the Toyota system in the industry of its origin, Lean Thinking is a generalization of the basic concepts so they can be applied to any company in any industry. The authors begin by summarizing the five inherent principles in any lean system: 1 correctly specify value so you are providing what the customer actually wants, 2 identify the value stream for each product family and remove the wasted steps that don't create value but do create muda (waste), 3 make the remaining value-creating flow continuously to drastically shorten throughput times, 4 allow customer to pull value from your rapid-response value streams as needed (rather than pushing products toward the customer on the basis of forecasts), and 5 never relax until you reach perfection, which is the delivery of pure value instantaneously with zero muda. (The first part of Lean Thinking devotes a chapter to each of these principles.) In the second part, the authors describe in detail how managers in a wide range of companies and industries - small, medium and large, North American, European and Japanese - transformed their business by applying the principles of lean thinking. Chapters are devoted to Pratt and Whitney, Wiremold, Lantech in North America, Porsche in Germany, and Showa Manufacturing in Japan. Lean Thinking has sold more than 300,000 copies in the English language hard-cover version alone, because it's an indispensable companion for every manager making the lean journey.

5,071 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...Therefore, process models must capture flow (an important aspect of Lean principles and value streams) [23], [24], [119]....

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Book
01 Jan 1980
TL;DR: Deaton and Muellbauer as mentioned in this paper introduced generations of students to the economic theory of consumer behaviour and used it in applied econometrics, including consumer index numbers, household characteristics, demand, and household welfare comparisons.
Abstract: This classic text has introduced generations of students to the economic theory of consumer behaviour. Written by 2015 Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton and John Muellbauer, the book begins with a self-contained presentation of the basic theory and its use in applied econometrics. These early chapters also include elementary extensions of the theory to labour supply, durable goods, the consumption function, and rationing. The rest of the book is divided into three parts. In the first of these the authors discuss restrictions on choice and aggregation problems. The next part consists of chapters on consumer index numbers; household characteristics, demand, and household welfare comparisons; and social welfare and inequality. The last part extends the coverage of consumer behaviour to include the quality of goods and household production theory, labour supply and human capital theory, the consumption function and intertemporal choice, the demand for durable goods, and choice under uncertainty.

3,952 citations


"Applying the design structure matri..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Product architecture is the arrangement of functional ele-...

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Book
01 Jan 1961
TL;DR: In this article, the third edition of the Third Edition, the authors present a survey of the state of the art in MANAGEMENT CONDUCT, focusing on the following:
Abstract: PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION 1. INTRODUCTION PART ONE: THE EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES 2. THE ORGANIZATION OF INNOVATION 3. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY, AND THE SCOTTISH COUNCIL'S SCHEME 4. THE MARKET CONTEXT PART TWO: ORGANIZATION AND CHANGE 5. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS 6. MECHANISITIC AND ORGANIC SYSTEMS OF MANAGEMENT 7. WORKING ORGANIZATION, POLITICAL SYSTEM, AND AND STATUS STRUCTURE WITHIN THE CONCERN 8. THE LABORATORY AND THE WORKSHOP 9. INDUSTRIAL SCIENTISTS AND MANAGERS: PROBLEMS OF POWER AND STATUS PART THREE: DIRECTION AND THE SHAPING OF MANAGEMENT CONDUCT: 10. THE MEN AT THE TOP 11. THE SHAPING OF WORK RELATIONSHIPS 12. THE CODES OF PRACTICE IN MANAGEMENT CONDUCT REFERENCES INDEX.

3,169 citations