Coordination and complexity: an experiment on the effect of integration and verification in distributed design processes

Design Science

article

Ferdinand Wöhr¹  Ekin Uhri¹  Simon Königs¹  Jakob Trauer²  Max Stanglmeier¹  Markus Zimmermann² 

[1] BMW Group, Department of Total Vehicle Development;Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Laboratory for Product Development and Lightweight Design

关键词: Distributed design;    Product integration;    Design processes;    Parameter design;   

DOI  :  10.1017/dsj.2022.26

学科分类：肠胃与肝脏病学

来源: Cambridge University Press

【 摘 要 】

The continuous integration and verification of components is essential in distributed design processes. Identifying the optimal integration and verification frequency, however, can be challenging due to the complexity of product development. Especially the effect of human decision-making in partially isolated development scenarios is difficult to consider. Thus, we performed an experimental study based on the following three steps: first, an extension of the existing parameter design framework, which is used to conduct experiments under laboratory conditions, in which human subjects solve quantitative surrogate design tasks. Second, a series of experiments in which 32 subjects divided into groups of two solved 229 parameter design tasks with a varying integration and verification frequency. And, third, a statistical analysis of the results with respect to development time, coupling strength and process costs. According to our results, development time can be reduced by up to 71%, if the integration and verification frequency is doubled. If process costs are also considered, the optimal frequency can be subject to a conflict of goals between reducing development time and minimising process cost.

【 授权许可】

CC BY|CC BY-NC-SA|CC BY-NC-ND