3D sketching for aesthetic design using fully free-form deformation features

This paper addresses the designers’ activity and in particular the way designers express an object shape in 2D sketches through character lines and how these lines form a basis for sketching shapes in 3D. The tools currently available in commercial CAS/CAD systems to manipulate the digital models are still not sufficiently suited to support design. In this paper, the so-called fully free-form deformation features (δ-F⁴) are introduced as a modelling method to take into account the curve-oriented stylists’ way of working. Both the advantages of a free-form surface deformation method and a feature-based approach are merged to define these high-level modelling entities allowing for a direct manipulation of surfaces through a limited number of intuitive parameters. Such features incorporate several characteristics designed to handle the uncertainties and/or inconsistencies of the designer's input during a sketching activity. In addition, a δ-F⁴ classification is proposed to enable a fast access to the desired shape according to its semantics and characteristics.     

Computer-aided embodiment design through the hybridization of mono objective optimizations for efficient innovation process

Current product lifecycle management (PLM) systems properly support the development of a product from the embodiment design stage to detail design and manufacturing phases; on the contrary, marginal support is provided to the earliest stages of conceptual design. Besides, the front end of product development is supported by an emerging technology, namely computer-aided innovation systems (CAI), which nevertheless are still poorly integrated with the following phases of the design process. The paper presents an original computer-based approach aimed at supporting embodiment design phases, which results very efficient for improving the interoperability of CAI and PLM systems and thus at extending the domain of application of these tools. The potential of the approach proposed by the authors is clarified through three exemplary case studies.     

Design for experience innovation: understanding user experience in new product development

In providing a better experience to users in terms of product usage, we focus on the important concept of a user-centred design (UCD), and explore a new approach to user experience (UX), with the effort to understand experience-driven innovation. Based on the conceptual framework of experiential network and the results of multiple case studies covering 643 successfully designed products or services providing an optimised UX, we categorise the UX context into the following four representative types: individualisation, combination, integration, and ecosystem. Furthermore, we identify the essential UCD concepts that reflect the core needs and expectations of users in each of the designed contexts, that is, specialty, usefulness, usability, and fluency. Finally, we discuss the dynamic concepts that help achieve a successful experience innovation. We expect these findings to play a crucial role in the development of novel design concepts or strategies, not only to better understand the needs of contemporary users, but also to better understand the dynamics of innovation.     

Improvement of a computer-based surveyor-training tool using a user-centered approach

This paper presents the experiences of improving an existing surveyor-training tool, called SimuSurvey, using a user-centered approach. As few users were involved during the initial development of SimuSurvey, many instructors and students were skeptical about the innovative application of SimuSurvey in actual surveying classes. To address this problem, we proposed and applied an iterative and incremental user-centered design method to redevelop the tool. Three hundred and forty-six users including 5 instructors, 4 surveying experts, and 337 students, with different backgrounds were introduced at different stages of the redevelopment process. After two iterations of complete redevelopment cycles with five intermediate prototype systems generated, a much improved version of the tool, namely SimuSurvey R2, was developed. From the final interviews with students and the field observation on user groups, SimuSurvey R2 has been shown to be more practical for use in actual surveying classes. In addition, the proposed user-centered approach and several techniques it employs, such as storyboards and content diagrams, paper-based prototyping, high-fidelity prototyping, and usability tests, have been found to be effective for improvement (or redevelopment) of software systems.     

Issues for integrating knowledge in new product development: reflections from an empirical study

With increased market pressures now imposed on companies there is a greater requirement for information and knowledge to be considered as fundamental resources; the need to rapidly provide high quality products of high performance and reliability is forcing companies to change the way in which they manage them. The goal of this paper is to identify the pertinent research issues that will need to be considered in order for knowledge (and information) to be successfully integrated into future product development. This will be achieved by presenting the key findings from empirical and simulation studies of information and knowledge access in engineering design, within a number of different design activities. In particular, this will show the extent to which engineers rely on their personal knowledge.     

Utilization of a systemic business process re-engineering method as a tool to improve software process quality

This paper suggests that a software process can be viewed as an instance of a business process. Therefore software process improvement might be achieved by applying the concepts of Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). BPR is introduced and the recent work of Jacobson, using object-oriented concepts to construct a BPR framework, is described. The paper critiques Jacobson's approach as being essentially reductionist, and presents an alternative approach, State-Behaviour Modelling (SBM), that utilizes systems principles in the analysis of problem situations, while generating object models. The application of SMB to model and improve a component of a software development process, is presented.     

Advanced product planning: a comprehensive process for systemic definition of new product requirements

This paper reports results of research into the definition of requirements for new consumer products––specifically, electro-mechanical products. The research dealt with the derivation of design requirements that are demonstrably aligned with stakeholder needs. The paper describes a comprehensive process that can enable product development teams to deal with statements of product requirements, as originally collected through market research activities, in a systematic and traceable manner from the early, fuzzy front end, stages of the design process. The process described has been based on principles of systems engineering. A case study from its application and evaluation drawn from the power sector is described in this paper. The case study demonstrates how the process can significantly improve product quality planning practices through revision of captured product requirements, analysis of stakeholder requirements and derivation of design requirements. The paper discusses benefits and issues from the use of the process by product development teams, and identifies areas for further research. Finally, the conclusions drawn from the reported research are presented.

Computer-aided design method for the components made of heterogeneous materials

With rapid developments of high-tech in various fields, there appear more critical requirements for special functions of components/products, which can be satisfied only by using heterogeneous materials: composite materials, functionally graded materials, or heterogeneous materials with a periodic microstructure. However, currently there exists no systematic and effective method for designing components made of these heterogeneous materials. This paper develops such a computer-aided design method, under the guide of Axiomatic Design, which can apply the functions of current CAD/CAE software. With the design method, all the information about both configuration and materials of a heterogeneous component, needed for creating its CAD model, can be obtained.     

A distributed and interactive system to integrated design and simulation for collaborative product development

The goal of applying collaborative product development in industry has raised the need to develop software tools supporting system integration and group collaboration. Current methods and tools mainly focus on the collaborative creation of design components and assemblies. However, few of them support the collaborative work in developing simulation models so that proposed design concepts and solutions can be evaluated by integrating expertise from several disciplines. The purpose of this research is to develop a distributed and interactive system on which designers and experts can work together to create, integrate and run simulations for engineering design. To develop such a system, a number of issues, e.g. effectiveness and efficiency of modeling work, the re-use of models, interaction and cooperation, accuracy of simulation, collaborative operation on models, etc., need to be addressed. This paper describes an open architecture to developing simulations for engineering design in a distributed and collaborative environment, identifies a set of key issues raised in this architecture, and presents the techniques employed in our solution.     

Applying principles of mass customization to improve the empirical product development process

Applying methods of mass customization to the empirical process can improve product development process efficiency and reduce time and cost. Empirical methods are used to develop predictions of product behavior in conjunction with analytical methods or instead of analytical methods. These empirical methods represent a complete sub-product development process within the overall product development process. Application of process decomposition and planning used in mass customization can improve the efficiency, lower the time and cost of these empirical processes. This paper presents a method for applying principles of mass customization to the empirical sub-processes within a product development process. Two case studies are also presented to demonstrate the method.     

Computer aided innovation—State of the art from a new product development perspective

In this paper we present the state of the art in the field of computer aided innovation (CAI) from a new product development (NPD) perspective. Based on a holistic understanding of the innovation process and its support by ICT, we provide an overview of the emerging issue of CAI in the NPD field. In particular, the latest research on the concept of CAI, its categorization, potential benefits of CAI, trends in the CAI supply, and issues of CAI usage and implementation are discussed and summarized in this article. Current publications indicate that the emerging field of CAI has recently been getting more attention in the NPD area, but this research needs to integrate further the insights from other research areas in the CAI field. It must also make a better distinction between generic ICT and CAI to achieve a more specific and holistic perspective on CAI in the future.     

An overlapping process model to assess schedule risk for new product development

Faster time-to-market for new products is important for hi-tech corporations to gain premium pricing and higher sales volume. An activity overlapping strategy is a frequently used technique in practice for quicker product launch. However, complex interaction patterns between components and activities increase the chance of unanticipated iterations that may lead to late time-to-market. This paper presents an overlapping process model to analyze the impact of process structure on the lead-time of a complex development project. Information evolution and change sensitivity, which are two major factors for activity overlapping, are considered in the proposed model and a simulation algorithm is developed to analyze the impacts of process structure on the development lead-time. The example of a battle tank simulator project is used to illustrate the proposed approach. The computational experiment shows that the proposed approach allows project managers to design a better process structure to minimize the risk of being late-to-market.     

Kansei engineering as a powerful consumer-oriented technology for product development

Kansei engineering was founded 30 years ago, as an ergonomics and consumer-oriented technology for producing a new product. When a consumer wants to buy something, he/she will have a kind of feeling and image (kansei in Japanese) in his/her mind. If the consumer's feeling could be implemented in the new product, he/she would be more satisfied with the product. Kansei engineering aims at translation of kansei into the product design field including product mechanical function. This is why it is called the consumer-oriented aspect. There are many products in Japan which have applied kansei engineering. Recently, it has also been applied to construction products as well as to community design.     

“Open CAI 2.0” - Computer Aided Innovation in the era of open innovation and Web 2.0

This article examines current developments in the field of CAI. The field of CAI has been driven by two major recent developments. One being the technological possibilities in the software field commonly referred to as “Web 2.0”. The other being a strategic paradigm shift from closed to open innovation in many companies. Both developments lead to a new form of CAI which have been analyzed in detail and named Open CAI 2.0. This paper discusses the benefits and challenges for software providers and users arising from this new evolutionary step of CAI.     

Knowledge integration and sharing for collaborative molding product design and process development

This study presents a systematic approach to developing a knowledge integration and sharing mechanism for collaborative molding product design and process development. The proposed approach includes the steps of (i) collaborative molding product design and process development process modeling, (ii) an ontology-based knowledge model establishment, (iii) knowledge integration and sharing system framework design, (iv) ontology-based knowledge integration and sharing methods development, and (v) ontology-based knowledge integration and sharing mechanism implementation. The mechanism can support collaborative molding product design and process development by providing functions of knowledge integration and sharing. Results of this study facilitate the knowledge integration and sharing of collaborative molding product design and process development to satisfy the product knowledge demands of participants, and thus increase molding product development capability, reduce molding product development cycle time and cost, and ultimately increase molding product marketability.     

Community based innovation: How to integrate members of virtual communities into new product development

Online consumer groups represent a large pool of product know-how. Hence, they seem to be a promising source of innovation. At present, except for open source software, little is known about how to utilize this know-how for new product development. In this article we explore if and how members of virtual communities can be integrated into new product development. We explain how to identify and access online communities and how to interact with its members in order to get valuable input for new product development. This approach we term “Community Based Innovation.” The Audi case illustrates the applicability of the method and underscores the innovative capability of consumers encountered in virtual communities. Johann Füller is assistant professor in marketing at Innsbruck University School of Management and board member of HYVE AG, a company specialized in virtual customer integration. He received his Ph.D. in business administration at the Innsbruck University School of Management. Johann holds a degree in mechanical engineering, and industrial engineering and management. His research interests are in the field of innovation creation in online communities and in virtual consumer integration into new product development. Michael Bartl is member of the management board at the HYVE AG in Munich, Germany, specialised in Customized Innovation and Product Design. He finished his Ph.D. Thesis in Business Administration at the Otto Beisheim Graduate School of Management (WHU) obtained his Dipl. Kfm. from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and his B.A. (Hons) from the University of Westminster London. Holger Ernst is professor at WHU—Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany where he holds the Chair for Technology and Innovation Management. He is currently visiting professor at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. His main research interests are in the fields of technology and innovation management, intellectual property management, new product development and entrepreneurship. He has published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, International Journal of Management Reviews, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Research Policy and R&D Management. He consults multiple European organizations in the area of technology, patent and innovation management. Hans Muhlbacher is Professor of Business Administration at the Innsbruck University School of Management. He has been President of the European Marketing Academy and currently is the Associate Editor for International Business of the Journal of Business Research. All along his career he has extensively taught internationally at business schools such as ESSEC or universities such as Emory University, Tulane University, or Paris Pantheon-Assass. His main research interests are in the field of strategy formation, branding, and innovation.     

Input design as a tool to improve the convergence of PEM

The Prediction Error Method (PEM) is related to an optimization problem built on input/output data collected from the system to be identified. It is often hard to find the global solution of this optimization problem because the corresponding objective function presents local minima and/or the search space is constrained to a nonconvex set. The shape of the cost function, and hence the difficulty in solving the optimization problem, depends directly on the experimental conditions, more specifically on the spectrum of the input/output data collected from the system. Therefore, it seems plausible to improve the convergence to the global minimum by properly choosing the spectrum of the input; in this paper, we address this problem. We present a condition for convergence to the global minimum of the cost function and propose its inclusion in the input design. We present the application of the proposed approach to case studies where the algorithms tend to get trapped in nonglobal minima.     

软件研发中的项目质量管理过程研究

重点介绍了软件研发中的项目质量管理知识体系,涉及软件质量计划编制、软件质量保证、软件质量控制等过程。     

Iterative design and testing within the software development life cycle

The activity of testing begins during system development and spans all subsequent phases. Some system development lifecycles describe testing which is performed after the coding phase, but this may cause the software to be delivered without sufficient testing. In this paper, we present a software system development lifecycle model, called the Test design Stages Processed model (TSP model), in which we emphasize that iterative test design stages should be incorporated at each phase of the software development lifecycle. When a phase is completed, testing of the phase should also be completed at that time. Within this paper we have added unit, integration and system testing processes into BoochÕs micro–design process to generate a new designs and test model. This shows the process of iterative and incremental software development. Comparing this with our model, we explain how the TSP model can be used for developing and testing an object-oriented software system.     

METKIT: training in how to use measurement as a software management tool

A Science is as mature as its measurement tools. Louis PasteurThe main purpose of this paper is to present the results of the ESPRIT project METKIT, a three-year collaborative technology transfer project in the field of software engineering measurement. METKIT was concerned with developing a set of integrated training courses that show how to implement process improvement programmes and use measurement as a powerful management tool. METKIT can be used by an organization to enable them to provide in-house training to their managers and software developers to enable them to understand control and then improve software development.