IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reensy/v91y2006i12p1521-1534.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Supporting change processes in design: Complexity, prediction and reliability

Author

Listed:
  • Eckert, Claudia M.
  • Keller, René
  • Earl, Chris
  • Clarkson, P. John

Abstract

Change to existing products is fundamental to design processes. New products are often designed through change or modification to existing products. Specific parts or subsystems are changed to similar ones whilst others are directly reused. Design by modification applies particularly to safety critical products where the reuse of existing working parts and subsystems can reduce cost and risk. However change is rarely a matter of just reusing or modifying parts. Changing one part can propagate through the entire design leading to costly rework or jeopardising the integrity of the whole product. This paper characterises product change based on studies in the aerospace and automotive industry and introduces tools to aid designers in understanding the potential effects of change. Two ways of supporting designers are described: probabilistic prediction of the effects of change and visualisation of change propagation through product connectivities. Change propagation has uncertainties which are amplified by the choices designers make in practice as they implement change. Change prediction and visualisation is discussed with reference to complexity in three areas of product development: the structural backcloth of connectivities in the existing product (and its processes), the descriptions of the product used in design and the actions taken to carry out changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Eckert, Claudia M. & Keller, René & Earl, Chris & Clarkson, P. John, 2006. "Supporting change processes in design: Complexity, prediction and reliability," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 91(12), pages 1521-1534.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:reensy:v:91:y:2006:i:12:p:1521-1534
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2006.01.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0951832006000378
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ress.2006.01.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tyson R. Browning, 2002. "Process integration using the design structure matrix," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(3), pages 180-193.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yu-jie Zheng & Yu Yang & Na Zhang, 2020. "A model for assessment of the impact of configuration changes in complex products," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 501-527, February.
    2. Li, Ruimeng & Yang, Naiding & Yi, Hao & Jin, Na, 2023. "The robustness of complex product development projects under design change risk propagation with gray attack information," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Young‐Don Shin & Sang‐Hyun Sim & Jae‐Chon Lee, 2017. "Model‐Based Integration of Test and Evaluation Process and System Safety Process for Development of Safety‐Critical Weapon Systems," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(3), pages 257-279, May.
    2. Eun Suk Suh & Michael R. Furst & Kenneth J. Mihalyov & Olivier de Weck, 2010. "Technology infusion for complex systems: A framework and case study," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(2), pages 186-203, June.
    3. Tyson R. Browning & Ernst Fricke & Herbert Negele, 2006. "Key concepts in modeling product development processes," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(2), pages 104-128, June.
    4. Bahram Hamraz & Nicholas H. M. Caldwell & P. John Clarkson, 2013. "A Holistic Categorization Framework for Literature on Engineering Change Management," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 473-505, December.
    5. Holly A. H. Handley & Alexander H. Levis, 2003. "Organizational architectures and mission requirements: A model to determine congruence," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(3), pages 184-194.
    6. Rudolf Smaling & Olivier de Weck, 2007. "Assessing risks and opportunities of technology infusion in system design," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, March.
    7. Yu-Jie Zheng & Yu Yang & Na Zhang & Yao Jiao, 2016. "A Supernetwork-Based Model for Design Processes of Complex Mechanical Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-25, October.
    8. Durugbo, Christopher & Tiwari, Ashutosh & Alcock, Jeffrey R., 2013. "Modelling information flow for organisations: A review of approaches and future challenges," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 597-610.
    9. Brian M. Kennedy & Durward K. Sobek & Michael N. Kennedy, 2014. "Reducing Rework by Applying Set‐Based Practices Early in the Systems Engineering Process," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 278-296, September.
    10. M. D. Guenov & S. G. Barker, 2005. "Application of axiomatic design and design structure matrix to the decomposition of engineering systems," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 29-40.
    11. Sarah M. Bonzo & David McLain & Mark S. Avnet, 2016. "Process Modeling in the Operating Room: A Socio‐Technical Systems Perspective," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 267-277, May.
    12. Zheng, Zhuang & Shafique, Muhammad & Luo, Xiaowei & Wang, Shengwei, 2024. "A systematic review towards integrative energy management of smart grids and urban energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    13. Ali A. Yassine & Luke A. Wissmann, 2007. "The Implications of Product Architecture on the Firm," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 118-137, June.
    14. Pedro Parraguez & Steven Eppinger & Anja Maier, 2016. "Characterizing Design Process Interfaces as Organization Networks: Insights for Engineering Systems Management," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 158-173, March.
    15. David M. Sharman & Ali A. Yassine, 2004. "Characterizing complex product architectures," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 35-60.
    16. Tyson R. Browning, 2003. "On customer value and improvement in product development processes," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 49-61.
    17. Jason E. Bartolomei & Daniel E. Hastings & Richard de Neufville & Donna H. Rhodes, 2012. "Engineering Systems Multiple‐Domain Matrix: An organizing framework for modeling large‐scale complex systems," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 41-61, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reensy:v:91:y:2006:i:12:p:1521-1534. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/reliability-engineering-and-system-safety .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.