DESIGN PROCESS MODELING: TOWARDS AN ONTOLOGY OF ENGINEERING DESIGN ACTIVITIES

An ontology of engineering design activities, called the Design Activity Ontology (DAO), is developed in this research. The DAO models 82 information flows and 25 design activities. These activities cover phases of the design process from conceptual phase through detail design phase. The ontology provides a formalized and structured vocabulary of design activities for consistency and exchange of design process models. The DAO enables design processes to be modeled, analyzed and optimized. The DAO is constructed using information flows identified in current design literature, commonly accepted engineering design textbooks, and an existing activity ontology. Specifically, the DAO is an extension and refinement of the ontology proposed by Sim and Duffy. The DAO addresses several shortcomings of the Sim and Duffy ontology including: (1) lack of computational representation, (2) inability to construct process models from defined design activities, (3) redundant and semantically equivalent information flows, (4) complex information flows, and (5) inconsistent classification. These shortcomings are identified through Design Structure Matrix (DSM) modeling and analysis, and certain protocols for the analysis of the individual information flows. A total of 112 information flows and 26 activities from the Sim and Duffy ontology are reduced to 82 and 25 respectively. The DAO is implemented in the ProtŽgŽ using the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Description Logic (DL). The implemented DAO is analyzed using DL\u27s subsumption property through the Fact++ reasoner. Finally, the DAO is exercised through two demonstration examples: (1) the design of a trash truck and (2) the design of an automotive tail light installation fixture. Results from the example support the completeness of the ontology; ability to formulate design processes; and identify \u27dead-end\u27 information flows, information flows required in design but not generated and critical information flows

The development of a schedule reporting system for industrial projects

Background Beca is an engineering consulting company that provides professional services in the Asia Pacific region. One of the segments that Beca works within is the industrial sector. Within this segment, Beca has a joint-venture with Wood PLC, a global engineering company. This joint-venture, named Wood Beca, is focused on providing solutions for pulp and paper, wood products and bioprocess industries in New Zealand and Australia. In April of 2019, Wood Beca was commissioned by one of its paper and pulp clients for the management and design engineering of a programme containing nine projects. This programme aims to improve the wastewater treatment system in one of their paper mills. Project Scope The scope of this project was to develop the detailed schedules for this programme of projects, including resource allocation if applicable. After the development of the schedules, a routine of update and control was implemented. Then, a reporting system was developed to regularly inform the project team about the programme performance. The system included key performance indicators (KPIs) and visual tools to adequately track and inform the progress of the project