Yuji Kyoya

Priority assessment of software process requirements from multiple perspectives

Abstract The improvement of software processes involves the collection of software process requirements from various groups of stakeholders – each having their own perception of the process. Often stakeholders specify similar requirements in different ways. This results in the fact that different perceptions are related to each other. An effective technique is needed to incorporate the relationships between various stakeholders’ process requirements. This paper presents a Correlation-Based Priority Assessment framework (CBPA), which prioritizes software process requirements gathered from multiple stakeholders by incorporating inter-perspective relationships of requirements. This research uses a relationship matrix to analyze the impacts between requirements and to facilitate the integration. Higher stakeholder satisfaction is achieved by increasing the priorities of the software process requirements whose satisfaction can increase the satisfaction of other requirements from multiple perspectives.

Priority assessment of software requirements from multiple perspectives

The development of complex software systems involves collecting software requirements from various stakeholders. Often stakeholder perceptions conflict during the requirements elicitation phase. An effective technique to resolve such a conflict is needed. We presented a framework that prioritizes software requirements gathered from multiple stakeholders by incorporating inter-perspective relationships, which is not addressed by existing priority assessment techniques. We use a relationship matrix to analyze the impact between requirements and facilitate the integration process which assesses their priorities based on their relationships from multiple perspectives. It allows the development team to resolve conflicts effectively and concentrate their valuable time and resources on the critical few requirements from multiple perspectives that directly contribute to high customer satisfaction.

QFD application in software process management and improvement based on CMM

Capability Maturity Model (CMM) from Software Engineering Institute has been used successfully by many organizations for software process improvement. However, there exists a disconnection between business goals and maturity levels. A new framework using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is developed to deal with this problem. This framework serves three purposes: (1) it provides a connection between business requirements and CMM; (2) it proposed a methodology for the priority assessment of requirements from multiple perspectives; and (3) it helps identify a set of software process improvement actions based on business requirements and CMM.

Business-oriented software process improvement based on CMM using QFD

The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) from the Software Engineering Institute has been used successfully by many organizations for Software Process Improvement (SPI). Despite its great success, there exists a disconnect between business goals and maturity levels. A new framework using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has been developed to deal with this problem. This framework serves three purposes: (i) it establishes a connection between requirements from the business and Key Process Areas (KPAs) in CMM; (ii) it proposes a methodology for the priority assessment of requirements from multiple perspectives; and (iii) it helps identify a set of software process improvement actions based on business requirements and KPAs. Copyright

Analysis and design methodology for product-based services

Recently, manufacturing companies have been moving into service businesses in addition to providing their own products. However, engineers in manufacturing companies do not find creating new service businesses easy because their work-related skills, understanding of design processes, and organizational skills have been developed and optimized for designing products and not services. To design product-based services more effectively and efficiently, systematic design methodologies suitable for engineers are necessary. We have designed a product-based service design methodology called DFACE-SI. This methodology consists of five steps beginning with the generation of service concepts and ending with the description of service business plans. Characteristic features of DFACE-SI include visualization tools that can help stakeholders identify new opportunities and difficulties of the target product-based service. We also applied DFACE-SI to a pilot case study and illustrated its effectiveness.

Target Setting for Technical Requirements in Time-Stamped Software Quality Function

Technical requirements are hard to determine in software development. They are often specified subjectively in practice. Poorly determined technical requirements often lead to poor customer satisfaction, cost overrun, and delay in schedule, and poor quality. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is one of major engineering methods used to elicit customers needs and transforms them into technical requirements in industry. It has been applied to develop numerous products, including software systems, to improve their quality. However, target setting for technical software requirements is a complicated and challenging task in product development in Software Quality Function Deployment (SQFD). Current methods for target setting for technical software requirements do not consider their technical trends for a given timeframe. As a result, by the time of completion of a project the target values of technical requirements may not be competitive any more. In this paper, we first discuss benchmarking, primitive linear regression and target setting based on impact analysis to set targets for technical requirements in Software Quality Function Deployment (SQFD). We then develop a method of target setting for technical requirements by incorporating timeframe and the technical trend. It can help us to assess impact of both under-achieved and over-achieved targets. By incorporating the technical trend and the time of delivery of the product into target setting process, we can set targets for technical requirements that provide a competitive edge for our product over the competitors products and a high level of customer satisfaction.

Mixed-model assembly line scheduling using the Lagrangian relaxation technique

The increasing market demand for product variety forces the manufacturers to design a mixed-model assembly line on which different model products can be switched quickly to satisfy diversified demand. Scheduling is critical to generate a sequence of different products to meet due dates and to avoid possible component shortage or starvation. Because of the combinatorial nature of integer programming and large sizes of real problems, the scheduling for mixed-model assembly line has been recognized to be extremely difficult. In this paper, an optimization-base scheduling method for mixed-model assembly line is presented. The study is motivated by the design and implementation of a scheduling system for the compressor assembly lines of Toshiba. In the shop, an assembly line can be simplified as a single machine and the number of components can be supplied is limited within fixed length windows. A separable integer programming formulation is developed and a solution methodology based on a combined Lagrangian relaxation and heuristic can be applied to get near-optimal schedule. The method has been implemented using the object-oriented programming language C++, and numerical testing shows that the generated sequence will help on-time product delivery, low finished goods inventory and smooth usage of components.