Applied signposting

Abstract

Companies which develop complex products are under constant pressure to produce better designs and to do so in less time, with lower cost and in more rational fashion than before. Achieving these goals often requires more than technical advancement; the processes by which products are developed must also be improved. Process improvement can be achieved in many ways, including the development of more robust plans, the introduction of better procedures and of new tools. In each case understanding the design process and its likely behavior is an essential prerequisite. When working with complex products this can pose a considerable challenge. In this paper we present a modeling framework which can support design process improvement activities ranging from process description to simulation and automation. The framework is implemented in the extensible software package 'P3', which has been applied to support process improvement projects in industry and academia. Four such studies in a UK aerospace company are discussed to illustrate the approach.