Computer-supported conflict resolution for collaborative facility designers

Fundamental in engineering design is the notion that collaboration is useful to reduce total project development time and increase design quality. A critical element of collaborative design is the resolution of conflict situations that result naturally from the interaction of cooperating designers, particularly when they are widely dispersed. A multi-approach method for computer-supported resolution of conflict situations in collaborative facility design is introduced. The method is based on social sciences theories used to solve human conflicts. FDL-CR, an extension of the Facility Description Language (FDL) with conflict resolution capabilities provided by the new tool, is the major development in this research. It provides fast identification of the conflict situation, diagnostics of conflict parameters, access to the conflict information by all conflicting parties and mechanisms for conflict resolution. The usefulness of FDL-CR is evaluated with a design case study where a neural-fuzzy inference system is developed to validate the conflict resolution method through the confrontation of conflicting parties. Computer-supported confrontation of conflicting parties was effective when other approaches, such as third-party mediation and persuasion, failed to provide conflict resolution. The new tool is viewed as an essential component of virtual design and manufacturing, and in general e-work.