A structural matrix-based modelling for designing product variety

Abstract

The design process is an important stage in new product development. An information model is a useful tool for analysing and improving a complex design process and product architecture because it allows the designer to visualise information flow. Based on graph theory and the weighting concept, this paper presents a quantified design structure matrix, which is a systematic planning method of optimising design priorities and product architecture for managing product variety from an informational structure perspective. Focusing on product variety and the design process in concurrent engineering, the planning model is divided into two phases: global planning and local planning. The proposed method helps designers optimise design planning and plan better design strategies for product variety. It can be applied in developing future generations of a product based on an existing product. A case study is used to illustrate this method. The results verify that designers can concurrently create variant design solutions in a product family that can meet different market needs without extra effort being spent on redundant design loops.

Keywords:

• new product development
• graph theory
• concurrent engineering
• quantified design structure matrix

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the R&D division of the ST&T Electronic Company for their assistance in developing the examples presented in this paper. Proposed product 2 in Figure 18 won a Germany 2007 iF Product Design Award (Ko and Li 2007) for the ST&T Electronic Company.