DESIGN FOR LONGEVITY - A FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT THE DESIGNING OF A PRODUCT\u27S OPTIMAL LIFETIME

Extending the lifespan of products and parts is seen as a solution in the transition towards a circular economy. There are many proposed design approaches argued to facilitate this. However, extending the lifespan of products and parts is not always desirable, and product developers should instead strive to design for a specific longevity; the product\u27s optimal lifetime. The latter in turn depends on many various contextual factors, and this paper has identified the three main contextual factors as; the user, the business, and the resource efficiency. Considering these three appropriately can help product developers to define their product\u27s optimal lifetime. Altogether, these components promote the mindset of Design for Longevity. Specifically, as extracted from this paper: “Design for Longevity aims at designing products with an optimal lifetime, where optimal means taking the user, the business and the resource efficiency perspectives into account when designing the life of a product”. A Design for Longevity framework is proposed and evaluated in this paper, and it is concluded that the proposed Design for Longevity framework can support product developers to implement the Design for Longevity mindset

Lessons Learned from Student Satisfaction Surveys of CDIO Project Courses

The paper reports on a study of student satisfaction in CDIO project courses. The aims are to\ua0investigate if there are statistically significant differences in levels and variation of student\ua0satisfaction metrics between CDIO project courses and “traditional” courses, and to identify\ua0possible causes for these differences. The study was carried out at Chalmers University of\ua0Technology and focused on courses in its mechanical, automation and industrial design\ua0engineering programs. In these programs, about 20 CDIO project courses and 235 traditional\ua0courses are offered each year. In the study, student satisfaction and some other quantified\ua0metrics collected from Chalmers’ course evaluation system are compared for the two groups\ua0of courses. Further, the paper examines in more detail selected CDIO project courses, with\ua0high and low student satisfaction ratings. The results of the study provide support for the\ua0hypothesis that there are significant differences in ratings. A number of causes are identified\ua0and discussed, including course leadership, perceived workload, assessment, and freedom\ua0to select task

Design automation for customised and large-scale additive manufacturing : a case study on custom kayaks

Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers the potential to increase the ability to customise large-scale plastic components. However, a substantial amount of manual work is still required during the customisation process, both in design and manufacturing. This paper looks into how the additive manufacturing of mass customised large-scale products can be supported. Data was collected through interaction with industrial partners and potential customers in a case study regarding the customisation of kayaks. As a result, the paper proposes a model-based methodology which combines design automation with a user interface. The results point to the benefit of the proposed methodology in terms of design efficiency, as well as in terms of displaying results to the end user in an understandable format

Requirements Management in Theory and Practice – From Requirements Formulation to Product Concept

Product development in the automotive industry is typically characterised by cross-functional teamwork. At the same time, the organisation and development culture are in many ways component-oriented, and, indeed, highly advanced from the point of view of component development. As a result, most components themselves are relatively mature. However, product concepts and systems are often assemblies of traditional components. This means that there is an evident potential in moving the central point of the development process towards early phases, to focus on concept and system design, and thus bring about more efficient product integration. Furthermore, it is essential for a car manufacturer, or other industrial companies dealing with complex products, to have the ability to develop products in which a large number of product features and properties have to be incorporated. Besides, competition will continually force companies to reduce development and product costs while the product value as seen by the customer has to increase. Furthermore, in a marketplace which is flooded with similar products, innovation and product renewal are of vital importance for securing the long-term survival of the operations. In this complex development context, and with this competitive market situation, it is more important than ever to support the development of attractive and innovative products, while adequately considering relevant requirements in a cost-efficient way. Reflecting these opportunities, which can be seen as strategic, there is an increased need for knowledge on concept development and requirements management, as well as an increased interest in using structured work procedures, such as systematic design methods presented in academia. However, although the industrial needs and the application potential are evident, few methods and tools presented in academia have been widely adopted in industry. Thus, it is highly relevant to possess knowledge of how to apply new methods and tools, as well as knowing about potential effects. It also desirable to develop methods and tools that are more considerate of industrial needs. In line with the scope presented and a multidisciplinary research approach used, the knowledge that emerged in this research project extends from descriptive to prescriptive, and from contextual to general. More specifically, the project contributes a deeper understanding of practical product development with a focus on system design and requirements management, as well as design methodology and support tools to design multi-technology products, including experiences from their application in industrial, cross-functional teams. Furthermore, recommendations and guidelines are formulated, including improvement proposals to suit the needs of the automotive industry or other industrial sectors dealing with complex products. Specific phenomena identified might, in addition, point out directions for future product development research and theory development. The conclusions drawn indicate that the research matter is not just a choice of black or white. The general conclusion is that structured approaches, including systematic design methodology and related computer-based tools, essentially support concept development and requirements management, but always have to be applied in a flexible way and be adapted to the situation at hand. In addition, the risk of formalistic influences has to be attended to, for the benefit of fruitful co-operative development. Keywords: Automotive industry, concept development, requirements management, design methodology, product modelling, teamwork, distributed product development

Balancing Properties while Synthesising a Product Concept – A Method Highlighting Synergies

The paper presents a systematic design method allowing use of vague information available in the early concept stages. The method constitutes decision support in cross-functional work, and focuses attention on synergies between sub-solutions in order to facilitate overall performance and performance/cost ratio. The method does not guarantee the ultimate concept, since all possible combinations are not studied, and factors not included in the method may affect the overall performance, but it produces an effective concept solution using minimal resources. The team members involved in the industrial application are of the opinion that the method encourages creativity, provides essential support for consideration of overall product solutions and property balance, and supports cross-functional co-operation

Requirements Management in Theory and Practice – From Requirements Formulation to Product Concept

Product development in the automotive industry is typically characterised by cross-functional teamwork. At the same time, the organisation and development culture are in many ways component-oriented, and, indeed, highly advanced from the point of view of component development. As a result, most components themselves are relatively mature. However, product concepts and systems are often assemblies of traditional components. This means that there is an evident potential in moving the central point of the development process towards early phases, to focus on concept and system design, and thus bring about more efficient product integration.Furthermore, it is essential for a car manufacturer, or other industrial companies dealing with complex products, to have the ability to develop products in which a large number of product features and properties have to be incorporated. Besides, competition will continually force companies to reduce development and product costs while the product value as seen by the customer has to increase. Furthermore, in a marketplace which is flooded with similar products, innovation and product renewal are of vital importance for securing the long-term survival of the operations. In this complex development context, and with this competitive market situation, it is more important than ever to support the development of attractive and innovative products, while adequately considering relevant requirements in a cost-efficient way.Reflecting these opportunities, which can be seen as strategic, there is an increased need for knowledge on concept development and requirements management, as well as an increased interest in using structured work procedures, such as systematic design methods presented in academia. However, although the industrial needs and the application potential are evident, few methods and tools presented in academia have been widely adopted in industry. Thus, it is highly relevant to possess knowledge of how to apply new methods and tools, as well as knowing about potential effects. It also desirable to develop methods and tools that are more considerate of industrial needs.In line with the scope presented and a multidisciplinary research approach used, the knowledge that emerged in this research project extends from descriptive to prescriptive, and from contextual to general. More specifically, the project contributes a deeper understanding of practical product development with a focus on system design and requirements management, as well as design methodology and support tools to design multi-technology products, including experiences from their application in industrial, cross-functional teams. Furthermore, recommendations and guidelines are formulated, including improvement proposals to suit the needs of the automotive industry or other industrial sectors dealing with complex products. Specific phenomena identified might, in addition, point out directions for future product development research and theory development.The conclusions drawn indicate that the research matter is not just a choice of black or white. The general conclusion is that structured approaches, including systematic design methodology and related computer-based tools, essentially support concept development and requirements management, but always have to be applied in a flexible way and be adapted to the situation at hand. In addition, the risk of formalistic influences has to be attended to, for the benefit of fruitful co-operative development.Keywords: Automotive industry, concept development, requirements management, design methodology, product modelling, teamwork, distributed product development

Requirements-Driven Product Innovation - Methods and Tools Reflecting Industrial Needs

Product development in the automotive industry is typically characterised by cross-functional teamwork. At the same time, the organisation and development culture are in many ways component-oriented and indeed, highly advanced from the point of view of component development. As a result, most components themselves are relatively mature. However, there is more room for change and thus improvement when it comes to product integration. There is also potential in moving the central point of the development process towards early phases, to focus on concept and system design. Furthermore, it is essential for a car manufacturer, among others, to have the ability to develop products in which a large number of features and properties have to be incorporated. Besides, competition will continually force companies to reduce costs while the product value as seen by the customer has to increase. In addition, in a market which is flooded with similar products, innovation and renewal are vital importance for securing the long-term survival of the operations.Considering these opportunities, which can be seen as strategic, there is an increased need for knowledge on structured work procedures for concept development and requirements management, including potential effects in use. It is also desirable to develop approaches that are more considerate of industrial needs. In line with the scope presented and a problem-oriented, multidisciplinary research approach used, the knowledge that emerged from this research extends from descriptive to prescriptive:Experiences about product development and requirements management in current industrial practice, as well as recommendations reflecting insights.A product modelling concept supporting systematic design in general and requirements traceability in particular.A systematic method for balancing properties while synthesising a product concept. The balancing philosophy adopted is to meet the overall products desired performance profile as efficiently as possible, by selecting and integrating sub-solutions that harmonise; meaning synergies.A reason-based approach for an innovation-oriented requirements and/or design review. This approach reflects the intention to facilitate further requirement and solution reflection and development, rather than just assessing the status in relation to a predefined criteria set-up.Experiences about method and tool applicability in cross-functional teams.The conclusions drawn indicate that the research matter is not just black or white: Structured approaches, including systematic design methodology and related computer-based tools, essentially support concept development and requirements management, but they always have to be applied in a flexible way and be adapted to the situation at hand. Specifically, the risk of formalistic influences has to be attended to, for the benefit of fruitful co-operative development work. Moreover, a requirements-driven process has evident benefits in communicating a common target in a complex context, keeping the main theme throughout the project, and inherently to highlight purpose in design. However, this puts demands on the requirements management itself: To formulate requirements truly driving value, and to allow that requirements are active and evolving objects that continuously capture knowledge gained. This is particularly important with innovation in mind

Balancing Properties while Synthesising a Product Concept – A Method Highlighting Synergies

The paper presents a systematic design method allowing use of vague information available in the early concept stages. The method constitutes decision support in cross-functional work, and focuses attention on synergies between sub-solutions in order to facilitate overall performance and performance/cost ratio. The method does not guarantee the ultimate concept, since all possible combinations are not studied, and factors not included in the method may affect the overall performance, but it produces an effective concept solution using minimal resources. The team members involved in the industrial application are of the opinion that the method encourages creativity, provides essential support for consideration of overall product solutions and property balance, and supports cross-functional co-operation

Requirements as a means to drive innovation - a reason-based perspective

Requirements and their management is a focused issue in industrial product development, as well as in systematic design methodology presented in literature. Reflecting current industrial practice ? typically involving a strong focus on efficiency issues such as the use of standard components, development lead-time, and productivity ? there is a risk that the consideration of innovation and product value is suppressed. This paper presents possible factors that facilitate the creation of innovative products. These factors, condensed, form a basis for a reason-based method that confronts requirements and solutions with innovation and value issues. A possible application of the proposed method is demonstrated using an industrial product development case