Design core competence diagnosis : A case from the automotive industry.

International audience1990's have been marked by significant changes both in the strategic management field, with the development of competence-based management and the use of the concept of valuecreating network, and in the design management field, with the diffusion of matrix-based tools that help to manage the interdependencies between three domains of design projects: product, process, and organization. Few researchers have helped to link these two fields. However, design managers need to use these fields closely together in order to enhance the firm's sustainable competitiveness. Indeed specialists of engineering management have already underlined that design organizations are responsible for the development of lines of products that have to satisfy distinctive stakeholders' requirements. Thus, design organizations strongly contribute to the firm's core competence. In this paper, we outline a method for diagnosing design core competence. We intend to couple strategic management concepts and design management concepts to represent and evaluate design core competence in relation to the product, process, and organizational architectures. The proposed method aims to highlight crucial design organizations, which should require particular managerial attention. The method has been researched and constructed in collaboration with a car design office, and applied in the case of a new robotized gearbox design

Conception complexe et ingénierie système.

S'il est une tendance admise en matière de dynamique technique de longue période, c'est bien celle de la complication croissante des « objets techniques » [SIM 58] voulus, conçus, produits et utilisés par l'Homme. Pour s'en convaincre, il suffit de procéder à une comparaison facile et de mettre en rapport une plaque de métal - objet banal du XIX° siècle - avec un téléphone portable – objet banal de notre époque - de même dimension et masse. Il ne fait alors aucun doute que celui-ci répond à plus nombreuses fonctions que celle-là. Il permet en effet de communiquer des messages par la voix, l'écrit ou l'image, de photographier, de filmer, de jouer, d'avoir l'heure, de gérer ses rendez-vous, etc., si bien, d'ailleurs, que sa compréhension par l'utilisateur relève de plus en plus du pensum [MOR 07]. Pour assurer toutes ses fonctions, il intègre de nombreux composants, matériels et logiciels, relevant, qui plus est, de domaines techniques et scientifiques éloignés : télécommunications, électronique, énergie, traitement du signal, logiciel enfoui et interface homme-machine, etc. Du fait de cette densité fonctionnelle particulièrement élevée, il ne peut donc pas se comprendre comme un simple composant, mais comme une véritable architecture multiphysique. Il exhibe aussi différents comportements : il répond aux commandes venant de l'utilisateur lorsque celui-ci appuie sur ses touches ou effleure son écran, il cherche les émetteurs les plus proches, il vérifie l'état de la batterie, il vibre ou sonne, etc. Enfin, il est à la fois produit en masse et varié, ce qui suppose un système de production et une chaîne logistique particulièrement compliqués

Propagating product architecture decisions onto the project organization : a comparison between two methods.

International audienceConcepts like product architecture and modularity have been introduced in order to limit the effects of technological change on complex product design. Researchers have highlighted that product architectures and design organizations (projects, teams...) are strongly interrelated. However, little research has analyzed this relationship. System architects and design managers need a method that helps them to simulate the mapping of the product architecture onto the project organization by propagating choices and then assessing alternatives. In this paper, two propagation methods are presented and compared. The first one is based on a fuzzy process, which is proposed by the authors. The second one is based on a matrix approach. Both are applied to define new robotized gearbox architectures. A sensitivity analysis is conducted. It is concluded that in new product development situations or in re-engineering projects, system architects could use these methods in the early design stages to forecast the more appropriate design project organization