Model-Based Design Structure Matrix: Deriving a DSM from an Object-Process Model

Abstract

We investigate potential benefits of employing Design Structure Matrix (DSM) in the context of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) for the purposes of analyzing and improving the design of a product-project ensemble. Focusing on process DSM, we present an algorithm for bidirectional transformation frame between a product-project system model and its corresponding Model-Based DSM (MDSM). Using Object-Process Methodology (OPM) as the underlying modeling language, we examine and characterize useful and insightful relationships between the system model and its MDSM. An unmanned aerial vehicle case study demonstrates the semantics of and analogy between various types of relationships as they are reflected in both the OPM system model and the MDSM derived from it. Finally, we conclude with further research direction on showing how clustering of DSM processes can be reflected back as an improvement of the OPM model.