Tailoring the development process according to the context of the project

Abstract

As part of a research project on design methodology, the authors have developed a framework to facilitate the tailoring of the product development process according to the context of the project. In the first part of this paper, the reader is introduced to the framework. The second part presents two case studies conducted during the Management of Product Development course at the University of Twente. The case studies were intended to validate deployment of the framework to facilitate the selection and/or tailoring of the development process of a chosen product. This depends on the circumstances surrounding the product and the organisation that develops it.The first case study analyses the development process proposed by students for a product they chose, without exposure to the framework. In contrast the second case study analyses the proposed development processes of a group of students after they were exposed to the framework. This paper presents the differences observed in the proposed development processes when the major variables that influence this process are highlighted. Keywords:Engineering design and development, development process INTRODUCTION 1.Models of the product development life cycleIn order to improve the quality and efficiency of the development process, researchers in the field of design research have modelled the life cycle of the product development process since the 1960's. Within the engineering fraternity models range from the simple models such as the one by French [1] to very complex models, for instance, the model for systems engineering [2]. The model described in the guideline number 2221 of the Society of German Engineers (VDI) [3] is a typical example of average complexity. Generally these models are characterised by the following [4]

Interface modeling and analysis during production ramp-up

“…4 lists several case characteristics in order to have a better understanding of the context in which the research is set and to enable a precise discussion of its results. These characteristics are general characteristics concerning the production environment and the NPD project context [28,29].…”

An empirical study on Green BPM adoption: Contextual factors and performance

“…Alternatively, Weitlaner and Kohlbacher 35 found evidence for both organization size and sector. Moreover, organization size and sector also appear as contextual factors in other disciplines 38–41 …”

“…Moreover, organization size and sector also appear as contextual factors in other disciplines. [38][39][40][41] Empirical context-aware research has also been conducted for Green BPM, albeit limited. For instance, Levina 42 conducted an online content analysis of 78 case studies to derive the context, methods, and effects of green initiatives across industries.…”

Enhancing the effectiveness of design tools in synthetic environments

“…Collaboration in a team is an emergent process during the product development project, a learning process relying on the quality of information exchange (Citera, McNeese et al, 1995). The composition of the team depends on the type of project (du Preez, Lutters, & Nieberding, 2009), and there is no limit in the number of involved stakeholders, any person that has an interest in and influence on a product development cycle can be considered as a stakeholder. Not each stakeholder has to be a (active) member of the team, in some cases a stakeholder has a certain interest in the project but will not participate in the development (e.g.…”

“…The various tasks in product development are increasingly interrelated and the amount of information to be managed herein is expanding. According to du Preez (du Preez, Lutters, & Nieberding, 2009) there are four different factors that influence the product development process; project, organisation, product and personnel. Each of these factors contain multiple variables, as visualised in figure 2.2.…”