A structured approach for analysis of design processes

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for analyzing and improving design processes. The methodology presented uses a directed graph and the corresponding incidence matrix to represent a design process or the relationship between constraints and variables in a design problem. A qualitative analysis approach (critical analysis and concurrency analysis) Is used to analyze the process structure and improve it without considering the time aspect. The analysis explores a process structure as well as enhances concurrency of the design process. The critical analysis determines potential activities that may delay a design project and provides suggestions for improvement of the design process. A process with higher degree of concurrency is obtained and therefore the product development time should be reduced. Two examples from electronics illustrate the approach proposed.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>