A methodology for quantitative estimates for the work and disturbance transformation matrices

Abstract

Modern design projects are typically undertaken concurrently in a virtual enterprise network of expert design and manufacture agents. The general need for agile response in turbulent environments is well documented and has been analysed at the manufacture phase. This paper proposes a framework to enable the simulation and analysis of an agile design methodology. This framework models the occurrence of an unexpected local event in a concurrent design project and how it propagates to the global project. The redistribution of the design work can be controlled within the virtual enterprise and the total redistribution impact can be measured. A four-level classification scheme for the severity of unexpected events is proposed. A trial design experiment is conducted, and a first-order quantitative analysis is performed based on Work Transformation Matrices (WTM) and a novel Disturbance Transformation Matrix (DTM). A design negotiation process based on the WTM/DTM is proposed.

Keywords:

• distributed design
• axiomatic design
• planning and workflow methodology
• collaborative design tools
• concurrent engineering