Mogens Myrup Andreasen

Design co-ordination for concurrent engineering

This paper is the outcome of discussions directed at research issues in supporting design coordination. Design coordination is described as a high-level concept of the planning, scheduling, representation, decision-making and control of product development with respect to time, tasks, resources and design aspects. The need and hypothesis for supporting design coordination is given, and major bottlenecks, related research problems and associated questions are presented. The paper concludes that, while the primary objective of concurrent engineering would seem to be directed at considering aspects of design simultaneously, design coordination provides the means of integrating and controlling disparate activities, i.e. design coordination is a vehicle for the realization of concurrent engineering.

Design models in mechatronic product development

Abstract Design models are important tools in mechatronics design. Based on well-known types of design models, like flow chart, design sketch, function model and prototype, this article describes important terms associated with modelling and proposes a model morphology as a convenient system for categorizing. In the early phases of product development, modelling is a way of buying information of the final product, and thereby diminishing the risk of making false decisions. However, mechatronics design is a complex activity involving the different fields of mechanics, electronics and software, and the article suggests that new design models describing the total mechatronic product in the initial design phases are needed. Based on the model morphology, it is possible to discuss properties of such models.

45 Years with design methodology

This is not an article! With this evident contradiction inspired by René Magrittes painting of a pipe, I will underline the special conditions I was given by the editor. The intention is that I shall review my own work and career, to articulate key ideas and to tell what I see as future challenges in my area. Therefore the use of ‘I’ is in a non-traditional form. The object of this article is the authors Weltanschaung concerning design and designing as it has developed over a 45 years period as teacher and researcher. Three dimensions are treated in an attempt to answer the following questions: how can we establish rigour and strong foundation for researching design? How to explain to industry what they are doing, and how to create industrial support? And what to tell the students about designing? I will focus upon the dislocations which have led to the development of the current state and what we see as a comprehensive school of designing. Details about established results can be found in the literature; I will focus upon the questions, thoughts, problems and beliefs behind the answers, and unsolved or non-clarified aspects. The article follows three lines of development, labelled Theory of Technical Systems, Engineering Design and Product Development, and our attempts to create a totality out of design philosophy, Domain Theory, Theory of Properties and our understanding of product development. Together they are the main part of ‘our school’, namely the foundation of the group ‘Engineering Design and Product Development’ at the Technical University of Denmark; the ‘Copenhagen School’ as our friends often refer to us. The conclusion attempts to balance in a joint model what I see as the role of design research in the worlds of teaching and practice, and where I see the challenges for the future.

The Concept of Dispositions

SUMMARY Dispositional mechanisms are chains of relationships in the course of a production sequence. Improper dispositions can lead to degraded or excessively expensive products, while good dispositions can lead to ideal conditions in other areas of the company, and to optimal products. There is a need to isolate dispositional relationship in order to be able to use this very powerful rationalization tool in industry. A number of examples from industrial practice, together with experience from the areas of Design for Assembly, Design for Manufacture and Design for Cost, show that there exist certain important rules for making decisions. These disposition rules knit together different areas of the company, and have great influence on the results of R&D and on the costs which arise in the individual departments. Because of the advantageous effects associated with these factors, there is a need to investigate and isolate dispositional mechanisms, and to show how to handle them in industrial circumstances. Th...

Two approaches to synthesis based on the domain theory

The domain theory is described in this chapter. By a strict distinction between the structural characteristics and the behavioural properties of a mechanical artefact, each domain, i.e., transformation-, organ-, and part-domain, becomes a productive view for design of mechanical artefacts. The functional reasoning within each domain and between the domains seems to be ruled by the function-means law (Hubka’s law). On the basis of the domain theory and the function-means law we present two formal approaches to the synthesis of mechanical artefacts, namely a design-process-oriented approach and an artefact-oriented approach. The design-process-oriented synthesis approach can be seen as a basic design step for composite mechanical artefacts. The artefact-oriented approach has been utilised for the development of computer-based design support systems.

The design ontology: foundation for the design knowledge exchange and management

The article presents the research of the nature, building and practical role of a Design Ontology as a potential framework for the more efficient product development (PD) data-, information- and knowledge- description, -explanation, -understanding and -reusing. In the methodology for development of the ontology two steps could be identified: empirical research and computer implementation. Empirical research has included domain documentation analysis (Genetic Design Model System developed by Mortensen 1999), identification of the key concepts and relations between them, and categorisation of the concepts and relations into taxonomies. As an epistemological foundation for the concepts formalisation, The Suggested Upper Merged Ontology (SUMO) proposed by IEEE, was reused. As the result of the previously described process, the ontology content has been categorised into six main subcategories divided between physical and abstract world. As a next step the computer thesaurus has been created. Using the thesauri, the knowledge evolved during the PD has been described, and the set of the created concepts and relations instances has been used for the ontology model consistency checking and refinement. The Design Ontology was evaluated through test product examples and based on this evaluation and proposed implementation framework further research steps are proposed.

Conceptual Design. Interpretations, Mindset and Models

Maximisingreader insights into the theory, models, methods and fundamental reasoning of design, this book addresses design activities in industrial settings, as well as the actors involved. This approach offers readers a new understanding of design activities and related functions, properties and dispositions. Presenting a design mindset that seeks to empower students, researchers, and practitioners alike, it features a strong focus on how designers create new concepts to be developed into products, and how they generate new business and satisfy human needs. Employing a multi-faceted perspective, the book supplies the reader with a comprehensive worldviewof design in the form of a proposed model that will empower their activities as student, researcher or practitioner. We draw the reader into the core role ofdesign conceptualisationfor society, for the development of industry, for users and buyers of products, and for citizens in relation to public systems. The book also features original contributions related to exploration,conceptualisationand product synthesis. Exploring both the power and limitations of formal design process models, methods, and tools viewed in the light of human ingenuity and cognition, the book develops a unique design mindset that adds human understanding to the list of methods and tools essential to design. This insight is distilled into useful mindset heuristics included throughout the book

Improving Design Methods' Usability by a Mindset Approach

The designer’s procedural mode of applying a tool has been investigated in our research projects concerning different DFX and Mechatronic tools. An important part of the mental framework leading to the execution of a tool is the so-called mindset of the designers. The mindset consists of several interrelated elements like interpretation of the task, the context, understanding the theory behind the method, mastering proper use of the method, and ability to judge the appropriateness and results of the method. We have observed, that this mindset is often absent from those who use the tool in practice or has a weak form compared to what is expected by the toolmaker.

Perceiving Design as Modelling: A Cybernetic Systems Perspective

The creation and use of models is central to engineering design, to the extent that designing might be perceived as a propagation from model to model and modelling may be described as the language of the designer (the terms product model and artefact model are used synonymously throughout this chapter). Given this, how should design activities be coordinated and how should the design process be regulated? This chapter suggests that a cybernetic perspective may help to understand designing as a self-regulated modelling system and help to reach a better understanding of the effectiveness of models and modelling as used in design. This perspective emphasises the role of models in progressing the design and design process evolution. In particular, it suggests that most models in design fulfil a synthetic role. For instance, when designers sketch a mechanism, then formalise and analyse it, they are on one level analysing, but stepping back they are synthesising something that did not previously exist. What makes a model a good model thus lies not so much in goodness of fit, meaning how accurately it represents observations made, but rather the degree to which it informs decision-making that turns out to add value for a given purpose and context. Implications of a cybernetic perspective that could guide effective modelling in design are discussed.

Domain Theory, Its Models and Concepts

Domain Theory is a systems approach for the analysis and synthesis of products. Its basic idea is to view a product as systems of activities, organs and parts and to define structure, elements, behaviour and function in these domains. The theory is a basis for a long line of research contributions and industrial applications especially for the DFX areas (not reported here) and for product modelling. The theory therefore contains a rich ontology of interrelated concepts. The Domain Theory is not aiming to create normative methods but the creation of a collection of concepts related to design phenomena, which can support design work and to form elements of designers’ mindsets and thereby their practice. The theory is a model-based theory, which means it is composed of concepts and models, which explains certain design phenomena. Many similar theories are described in the literature with differences in the set of concepts but assumingly all valid. The Domain Theory cannot be falsified or proven; but its value may be seen spanning from its range and productivity as described in the article.