Models of products and design processes are key to interacting with engineering designs and managing the processes by which they are developed. In practice, companies maintain networks of many interrelated models which need to be synthesised in the minds of their users when considering issues that cut across them. This article considers how information from product and design process models can be integrated with a view to help manage these complex interrelationships. A framework highlighting key issues surrounding model integration is introduced and terminology for describing these issues is developed. To illustrate the framework and terminology, selected modelling approaches that integrate product and process information are discussed and organised according to their levels and forms of integration. Opportunities for further work to advance integrated modelling in engineering design research and practice are discussed.

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Research on changes in design has focused on changes in the product domain. However, because the product’s design process may change as well, this article suggests a comprehensive method to support modelling and analysing changes in the process domain (DPCs). After developing the concept for the Design Process Change Method (DPCM) based on requirements derived from literature and industrial practice, the DPCM is detailed and computationally implemented using the framework of the Applied Signposting Model. The DPCM enables design teams to conduct various useful analyses, which enhance the understanding of DPC effects on process performance, support process execution through suggesting mitigating reactions to DPCs, and support process planning through identifying and prioritising the ‘right’ DPCs. The method’s application is demonstrated based on the fan sub-system preliminary design process of Rolls-Royce PLC.

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Research on changes in design has mainly focused on the product domain, which is the manifestation of the design process. This article investigates changes in the process domain, which describes the execution of coordinated and concurrent design activities through interdisciplinary teams. More specifically, this article focuses on changes in the iterative behavior of activities as one of the key levers determining the performance of complex concurrent design processes. In activity network-based models of design processes, the occurrence of such behavior is often expressed probabilistically through iteration-likelihoods. First, the impact of iteration-likelihood changes on the effort and duration of both individual activities and the overall design process is examined through stochastic analysis. Consequently, a method for the investigation of such changes is developed, which grounds on an experimental approach using Monte Carlo simulation of activity network-based process models. The method is applied to the design process of a high-speed machining device for the manufacturing of planetary-ball-bearing housings. This analysis results in a two-dimensional criticality ranking of potential iteration-likelihood changes and in the identification of the most affected individual activities. The article concludes with managerial implications for process planning and improvement and discusses which design activities need to be targeted by project management to prevent and react to critical iteration-likelihood changes.@en

Research on changes in design has focused on engineering changes, i.e. changes in the product domain, which is the manifestation of the design process. This article takes a different perspective and investigates changes in the process domain, which is characterised by the coordinated execution of design activities with complex interdependencies. Design process changes (DPCs) comprise various types of perturbations, e.g., delays in activities, changes in customer requirements on design parameters or the addition of new activities to the process plan. This article derives a definition for DPCs, investigates their characteristics, including reasons, types and consequences, and examines existing methods to model and manage DPCs. The research is based on a systematic literature review, which is supported through an on-going industrial case study. Given both the frequent occurrence and potentially severe impacts of DPCs on process performance a set of substantial research gaps are identified and promising directions for future research on DPCs are derived.

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While product models and process models have a long standing transiting, there are few models that integrate the two type of models. Those that exist are research systems, which even if validated in industry do not have a broad uptake to date. This paper develops an integrated framework for product and process models based on the purpose the models are put it building on a model of Browning and Ramasesh. Selected integrated model are classified according to the framework. This revealed the no model to date gives equal weight to product and process models.

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