Analysis of Product Flexibility for Future Evolution Based on Design Guidelines and a High-Definition Design Structure Matrix

Abstract

The design of a product determines the flexibility of that product for future evolutions, which may arise from a variety of change modes such as new market needs or technological change. The energy, material, and information exchanged between components of a product along with the spatial relationships and movement between those components all influence the ability of that product’s design to be evolved to meet the new requirements of a future generation. Previous work has produced a set of guidelines for product flexibility for future evolution that have been shown to improve the ability of a design to be adapted when new needs arise. Although these guidelines are conceptually easy to understand, it is difficult to assess the extent to which a product follows the guidelines. This paper presents a systematic method to analyze the flexibility for future evolution of products based on selected guidelines. The High-Definition Design Structure Matrix is presented as a product representation model which captures sufficient interaction information to highlight potential design improvements based on the aforementioned guidelines. An interaction basis is used to facilitate the consistency and comparison of HD-DSM models created by different examiners and/or for different systems. The selected guidelines are interpreted in terms of the HD-DSM by creating analysis processes that relate to the characteristics described by the guideline. Two similar power screwdrivers are compared for flexibility for future evolution based on a quantitative analysis of their respective HD-DSMs.

The Repeatability of High Definition Design Structure Matrix (HDDSM) Models for Representing Product Architecture

“…On the BOM, identifying characteristics of the components such as material and color are noted. After completion of the BOM, each participant followed the HDDSM modeling process described by Tilstra et al [5]. The process requires the examiner to carefully consider the input and output flows for each component.…”

“…A key distinction of the HDDSM is the format and process through which it is created. The HDDSM allows the resolution of the model to be continually increased by merging subsystem HDDSM models into a system level model [5]. For example, a HDDSM could be separately made for the DC motor in the cordless drill and then merged into the drill HDDSM shown in Appendix B.…”

“…This reliance on subjective information makes it difficult to compare products that have been examined by different experts, and also makes it unreasonable to compare products that vary in complexity and functional purpose. New methods hope to avoid these problems by creating evolvability analysis processes that operate on the HDDSM model and do not require expert knowledge of market trends and other qualitative factors [5]. The first step in creating a more objective measure of design evolvability is having a product model that is more independent of the specific examiner creating it.…”

“…In short, design methodology research would benefit from an architectural model of a product that is based on physical, observable traits of the design rather than on expert interpretation. The High Definition Design Structure Matrix (HDDSM) proposed in previous work, was specifically designed to have these benefits [5]. The HDDSM is standardized on an Interaction Basis so that it can be used for a wide variety of products (Appendix A).…”

Seeing Complex System through Different Lenses: Impact of Decomposition Perspective on System Architecture Analysis

“…Typical guideline in project management is to reach an “acceptable” level [Haugan, ; Miller, ]. In the systems architecture research, this problem is identified by Tilstra, Seepaersad, and Wood [, ], who suggest that architecture development can benefit from finer system decomposition. Most works implicitly assume that the system will be decomposed by people who are familiar with the system, and that they will decompose it in an identical manner to one another.…”