Integrated Product/Process/Rational Modelling (KIM)

Research Theme: Service Design

Currently many engineering companies are experiencing a paradigm shift from product manufacturer to capability provider. This transition introduces a range of issues and this project is specifically concerned with the need for design information to be recorded in a manner suitable for access over long product lifecycles. Integrated models of product, process and rationale suggest a means by which design information can be recorded whilst also incorporating a level of transparency within the design process.

Motivation

Traditionally, an engineering design process is concerned with formal product models, such as CAD models, with only occasional informal documentation regarding the engineering activities by which the design has been created and the underlying rationale employed. Product models are essential for the manufacture of a product but provide little insight for service engineers who may need to retrace or audit the reasoning and decision-making that has taken place during the design process. It is proposed that a richer representation of the design may be obtained by combining product models with formal descriptions, both of the processes by which the product has been designed and of the rationale applied in those processes.

Objectives

  • To understand the role and requirements of product, process and rationalemodels within the design process.
  • To understand the information needs over long product lifecycles.
  • To develop integrated product, process and rationale models that will enablethe capture of design information.

Method

This project will combine both a theoretical and practical approach. Theoretical investigations and industrial interviews will be conducted in order to gain insight into the use of models in the design process, and the information needs of design and service engineers. The knowledge gained from these investigations will be used to inform integrated product/process/rationale models of design, which will in turn form the basis of tools and techniques for the automated capture of the design process.

Acknowledgements

Support provided by:

This project is part of the EPSRC sponsored Knowledge Information Management Project.