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Information dependencies within product architecture: prospects of complexity reduction

A.H.M. Shamsuzzoha and Petri T. Helo
Department of Production, University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to help organizational managers to keep track of the information management needed not only for product design and development but also to track between different organizational levels. Design/methodology/approach The research objectives are achieved through implementing the concept in a case company, where various measures of information management are taken into consideration. This empirical study is conducted with a view to formulating and validating the information ow among product development (PD) participants. Findings The strategic management of information exchange transforms the nature of competition through reducing complexities in product design and bringing exibility into the production process. This achievement could orientate rms towards rapid and continuous growth of their PD strategies, which are essential for survival in a global business environment. Research limitations/implications This research was conducted through a single case study approach, which limits its scope for generalizing the concept. It would be more authentic if the approach was validated over multiple case studies. Practical implications Managing the information ow among PD participants has been considered to be an important issue in todays competitive business environment. It helps to formulate the design architecture, both at the product and organizational level. Originality/value The strategic management of information exchange transforms the structure of product architecture, which helps to reduce the complexities in product design and bring exibility into the production process. The presented approach shows the intrinsic relationships between rms resources and customers requirements, which could help product developers to improve their production exibility, overcome bottlenecks and achieve product customization. Keywords Product development, Product design, Information management Paper type Case study

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Received February 2010 Revised July 2010 Accepted September 2010

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management Vol. 22 No. 3, 2011 pp. 314-329 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1741-038X DOI 10.1108/17410381111112693

1. Introduction 1.1 Overview of the product development process The product development (PD) process is a collaborative network designed to drive increased productivity. Owing to increasing complexity the PD process entails a reconguration process, new product architectures and powerful information exchange tools to connect its network team. These strategic visions might play larger roles in focusing on product innovation without requiring additional capacity and capabilities from manufacturers. Manufacturers need a distributed information network along with up-to-date product and process architecture throughout a products lifecycle to meet todays manufacturing and PD challenges and anticipating those of tomorrow. Manufacturing rms today are facing the challenge of a changing business environment, where customization is required to manage efciently in terms of business

workow and production process (Pine, 1993). Customization optimizes the engineering process by coordinating and controlling access to valuable information from potential customers. This information exchange can be managed by appropriate engineering tools in order to access, control and formulate the required data within complex manufacturing lifecycles. The design data group supports the handling of unanticipated change that might occur at the early stage of the PD cycle. The integration of the customer in the production process creates value during the course of conguration, product specication and design strategy (Piller et al., 2004). Customer involvement at the early stage of the PD cycle can be seen as a fundamental principle of product customization, which supports and enables individual customers needs with near mass production efciency (Tseng and Piller, 2003). Product customization is characterized by a high intensity of information ow, which is processed by using adequate conguration tools (Zipkin, 2001). Designers have to interact with customers to obtain specic information in order to dene and translate the customers needs and desires into a denite product specication. 1.2 Information perspective to reduce PD complexity The generic strategy behind this perspective is based on the understanding of the importance of information exchange among PD participants such as customers, manufacturers, suppliers, distributers and retailers. Information management can be viewed as a system involving input as information and output as knowledge transfer. This view is regarded as the fundamental part of strategic business management from which basic inuences of innovations are evolved. Information management is considered as a complex process and required for knowledge transfer inside rms and for inter-rm interface (Macdonald, 1998; Nonaka and Teece, 2001). Firms need specic information modeling for managing the complexities which evolve with their PD processes. Information management inuences the organizational learning process through knowledge stock and information ow. Knowledge stock generally exhibits interpretation of information, beliefs about cause-and-effect relationships, or more specically know-how (Hubler, 1991). On the other hand, information ow enhances information acquisition, dissemination, interpretation, utilization and storing of information for the improvement of organizations (Kyriakopoulos and Ruyter, 2004). In addition to stored knowledge, information ow is equally important for product innovation (Moorman, 1995). In rms, both internal and external information ows are necessary for successful PD. Internal information exchange comes from internal experts, concurrent projects, the R&D department or sales department (Hubler, 1991). Conversely, external information ow refers to the extent to which the project team relies directly on external sources involving customers or lead users (von Hippel, 1988), supply chain partners (Day, 1994), alliances (Inkpen and Dinur, 1998) and outside experts or consultants (Hubler, 1991). Information exchange acts as a problem-solver that reduces development complexities, uncertainties and risks. It also improves the decision-making process and increases organizational effectiveness. Several aspects need to be taken into account before considering information modeling: information overload, tools or methods for information collections, among others. Large amounts of data may not be digested by the decision makers, which impacts negatively on the rms success. Unnecessary and confusing data or information should be avoided to build error-free information modeling.

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Error-free information modeling reduces PD lead-time and complexity, which positively affects the rms revenue earnings. 1.3 Inuence of architecture on the PD process In the PD process, the design architecture plays a crucial role in terms of productivity, variety management and developmental lead-time. This product architecture can be dened as the scheme by which the function of a product is allocated to physical components (Ulrich, 1995). It is typically embedded in the communication pattern among PD processes such as design, manufacturing and supply chain networks. The architecture inuences product performance and quality, PD management through variety, changes, component standardization and operational processes. It is considered as a structured approach that integrates design interfaces onto communication patterns for PD processes (Sosa et al., 2004). Based on operational strategies, product architecture can be divided into two types, namely, modular and integral architecture (Ulrich, 1995). As Ulrich (1995, p. 422) states:
[. . .] modular architecture includes a one-to-one mapping from functional elements to physical components of the product, and species de-coupled interfaces between components. An integral architecture includes a complex (non one-to-one) mapping from functional elements to physical components and/or coupled interfaces between components.

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Modular product architecture offers higher process exibility than integral architecture and acts as the base requirement for creating product variants through product platforms. On the other hand, integral product architecture offers higher design integrity and standardization between components and their functionalities. The selection of product architecture is practically related to the innovation process of a rm and is considered as an important decision-making process for organizational managers. It initiates the customization mechanism from both the sales and engineering perspectives (Du et al., 2001). Fixson (2005) has developed a multi-dimensional framework that enables comprehensive assessments of product architecture before implementing the PD process. This framework develops existing PD characteristics such as product platforms, product modularity and component commonality. The main objective of this assessment is to observe the impact of product architecture decisions between the extremes of modular and integral architecture on product, process and supply chain networks. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the research scope and objectives, while Section 3 presents a literature review on the generic theme of information exchange and tools for information management, the perspective of modularity and product platform. Section 4 presents the empirical research performed on a case company. The fundamental results from the case example are also illustrated in Section 4. The overall outcomes and lessons learnt from this research are discussed and concluded in Section 5. 2. Research scope and objectives The focus of this research is to integrate the essential features of information ow with the PD process. This perspective includes specic research challenges and problems, which have been identied as the research outcomes. The aim of the research is to provide new insight into and enhance knowledge in the area of PD as part of a better design approach through managing information ow.

Valuable information ow, basic conguration principle and different design approaches are presented in this research with a view to optimizing product variants for greater customer satisfaction. Therefore, this research has three objectives: (1) to investigate design architecture and display the component dependencies or information ows in a matrix format; (2) to examine the formation of suitable clusters/modules through clustering operation with a view to developing modular product architecture; and (3) to identify the dependencies and clusters between internal resources (components) and external offerings/solutions (customer requirements) in order to investigate the critical components. 3. Literature review 3.1 Theories of information exchange and strategic perspective Global competition and a distributed business environment make PD processes much more complex than ever. This complexity does not arise simply from the technical point of view, but also from the managerial point of view. Technical complexity could be managed through decomposing the designing process into more manageable smaller engineering tasks and assigning these tasks to individuals or teams (Kusiak and Park, 1990; Steward, 1991). On the other hand, managerial complexity, which is evolved from the information gap between organizations and different engineering disciplines, can be managed through project management tools, which interface the dependencies between design tasks and organizations departments (Yassine et al., 1999). The design complexities are normatively suppressed by proper execution of a design plan and structuring various information dependencies. Information dependencies are modeled according to the design plan, which shows the order of execution in which design tasks are performed. This planned execution order reduces the product design risk and magnitude of iteration between design tasks, which in turn explores opportunities for reducing the overall project cycle time. The number of design iterations, which causes lengthy cycle time, occurs due to the information gap between design elements. The development of a proper information modeling approach bridges the gap between design processes. The exchange of design information could be fragmented and released on a timely basis during the development processes (Yassine et al., 2008). Information processing among the design elements eases the decision-making process, as the information is considered as input, while the decisions are released as output. Each design activity collects the required information as input, which is analyzed internally for specic decision making before being released as output (Zhu, 2002). Before exchanging information between design elements, it is worthwhile studying how information is created, communicated and implemented during the development process, and what might be the possible impacts on design activities. Through understanding the possible impact and risk of information, better decisions could be made to develop quality products with higher efciency. 3.2 Information management tools and approaches There are various tools or methodologies available to manage design process information. Lawler (1976) introduced the directed graph approach, which is most popular for presenting the precedence relationships among design tasks.

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In this approach, nodes present different tasks, and their dependencies are displayed through directed lines connecting those nodes. Ross (1977) presented graph-based techniques known as structured analysis and design technique (SADT), where design information is captured through intra-task complexity. The dependencies of various tasks are also presented by using a matrix-based approach known as design structure matrix (DSM), introduced by Steward (1981, 1991). This matrix-based information exchange approach uses a binary form of dependency representation and is implemented within single domain. The DSM representation has been used and proven by many researchers (Eppinger et al., 1990; Steward, 1991; Kusiak and Wang, 1993), and can be implemented successfully for project management, concurrent engineering CE, etc. The dependency representation through matrix-based approach provides a concise and systematic mapping of design tasks, which is clear and easy to read whatever the sizes are. This tool has been successfully implemented in different elds of research such as design engineering (Pektas and Pultar, 2006; Shamsuzzoha, 2008, 2009; Tang et al., 2009), managing design knowledge (Tang et al., 2010), software engineering (Helo et al., 2010), project management (Danilovic and Browning, 2007), etc. An extension of the DSM tool named domain mapping matrix (DMM) is also widely used for representing the dependency pattern between two domains (Danilovic and Borjesson, 2001; Danilovic and Browning, 2007). Spinner (1989) presented the project evaluation and review technique (PERT) method that is a digraph representation of a project information ow, where the tasks or nodes are arranged along a time line. In the PERT method, three probabilistic times, namely optimistic, pessimistic and most likely, are presented in order to reect the uncertainty of task duration. Another technique critical path method, which is a variation of the PERT method, applies deterministic task duration with minimal uncertainty in the project completion time. The US Air Force developed the integration denition (IDEF) method, which originated from SADT (do we know what this is) to perform information modeling activities in support of computer-integrated manufacturing and CE (Mayer et al., 1992). IDEF3 is a method that provides a mechanism for collecting and documenting processes (Belhe and Kusiak, 1995). IDEF3 descriptions can determine the impact of an organizations information resources on the major operation scenarios of an enterprise. It captures all temporal information, including precedence and casualty relationships associated with enterprise processes. IDEF3 builds structured descriptions, which capture information about what a system actually does, or will do, and provides an organizations system views. 3.3 Complexity reduction: perspectives of modularity and product platform Generic business processes require suitable PD strategies in order to be exible and more productive. The trend towards creating a greater number of product varieties inuences rms to initiate accurate and appropriate product design architecture in order to stay competitive with higher customer satisfaction (Pine, 1993). In such a situation developing a module-based production system offers valuable insight for any rm. In modularity, modules are usually formed based on the functionalities and interdependencies of the components. These interdependencies are acted on as ows of information, which can be in the form of functionality, material, energy, force, etc.

These information dependencies need to be managed carefully in order to reduce the number of feedback loops and for the formation of the optimum number of modules required for developing modular products. In modularity, modules can be mixed and matched to create new variants of a product, which is the pre-requisite for gaining mass customization in the business areas (Fixson, 2007). Mikkola and Gassmann (2003) develop the modularization function depending on the number of components and the degree of coupling between modules. Modular design describes the best conguration of components or parts and as a key process feature it facilitates continuous improvement (Evans, 1963, 1970; Upton and McAfee, 2000). Modular product architecture reduces process complexity and manufacturing inventory, increases economies of scale and risk pooling, which in turn reduces the cost of production (Fixson, 2006). It increases the processing exibilities of machines and offers agility in the manufacturing system through integrating both product and process (Watanabe and Ane, 2004). Modular PD offers greater product variation and shorter developmental lead times through implementing platform-based PD (Simpson, 2004). The main benet from the product platform is that variants of a product can be derived either by adding, removing or substituting one or more modules to the platform, or by scaling the platform in one or more dimensions into specic market segments (Martin and Ishii, 2002). This strategy brings an important competitive advantage for a rm and provides benets of reduction in design effort and time-to-market. Robertson and Ulrich (1998) provided planning for the development of a robust product platform architecture, which includes taking into consideration marketing, design and manufacturing strategies. Claesson et al. (2001) modeled product platforms using congurable components from which designers could choose appropriate manufacturing and design strategies. 4. Empirical research This section describes the empirical part of the paper, which was carried out in a case company and was formulated to justify the study and to present how it could be implemented for the benet of the case company. The study method, deployment examples, experiences and research outcomes are discussed in the following sub-sections. 4.1 Research methodology To perform this research, a case study approach was employed to investigate information ows or dependencies within component levels of the PD process. The study followed the methodology shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, the research started by reviewing the literature in information processing, modularity and product platforms. Based on the literature, this empirical study involves information dependencies among the component levels and their consequences, the possible benets of modular architecture, and the clustering effects on customers requirements with product architecture. The required data were collected by interviewing, from weekly/bi-weekly meetings of managers, designers, engineers, from active participation in the companys daily assembly activities, and from the companys standard register. The goal of the technical meetings was to discuss and decide on the strategic initiatives which the business unit should be directed towards from the technology point of view. The very rst review meeting was mostly used to brief the status

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Literature review on information flow in component level, modularity and product platform

Weekly or bi-weekly meetings with managers, designers and engineers

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Structured interview with designers, engineers, managers and workers

Data collection (active participation and fromcase companys register)

Formation of modules for modular design (using DSM tool)

Figure 1. Research methodology

Clustering between customer offerings/solutions and product architecture (using DMM tool)

of the production oor, and problems, challenges and trends in the competitive environment. The generic target of the technology review meetings was much more ambitious: the discussions between designers and managers could lead to fruitful innovative decisions. The benets from these review meetings were observed to be worthwhile in revealing various problems and weaknesses to the case company. Therefore, specic improvements in engine architecture and the necessity of interface between customers needs and design architecture were suggested in order to cope with existing problems or bottlenecks. The case study research was formulated with a view to justifying the research scope and objectives and to illustrate how these could be implemented for the benet of the case company. The research was justied through intrinsic investigation and implementation of the research issues, namely, information perspectives, modular design strategies and clustering between the companys offerings/solutions with the existing component architectures applicable for developing customer-specic product. Various research perspectives were tested and veried through real data taken from the case company. Owing to the issue of condentiality, mostly sample data or data sets were implemented for this study purpose. In this study, we used two tools, namely: (1) PSM32; and (2) Multiplan Professional for the DSM and DMM, respectively. 4.1.1 The case company. The case study was carried out in Company A, Finland, in order to implement the theoretical concept of information ow on the component level and to achieve the modular design strategy in practice. Company A is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasizing technological innovation and total efciency, Company A maximizes the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.

In 2009, the companys net sales totaled e5.3 billion, with 19,000 employees. The company has operations in 160 locations in 70 countries around the world. The main product of case Company A is diesel engines used in the power plant business for generating electrical energy, and in the ship industry for producing electrical energy and power for driving the propeller. The capacities of the different diesel engines are from 2,880 to 9,000 kW, with six to 18 cylinder V or line engines according to customers requirements. The engines have a cylinder bore of 320 mm, piston stroke 400 mm and speed of 720-750 rpm. Most of the engines are customized and delivered according to specic customer orders. 4.2 Capturing and analyzing component interactions/dependencies: modular perspective To fulll the rst two research objectives, we collected data for high-level component architecture from case Company A, and the dependencies of the components with each other are shown in Figure 2. From Figure 2, we could visualize the complex network representation of the components/modules, which is quite difcult to capture, especially when the component architectures are displayed in the lower level. From this network representation it is also difcult to look for specic dependencies required for improvements or to nd bottlenecks in the design architecture. Keeping this limitation in mind, we implemented matrix-based methodology with the DSM tool, which is relatively simple to use and visualize the dependency pattern or information ow within the product architecture. The DSM tool can be outlined as a tool or methodology to display compact, matrix representation of design architecture or a project network (Steward, 1981; Browning, 2001).

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Air pipes Air block Fuel pipe with damper Conventional/ common rail Leak fuel system Fuel pump

Insulation box main parts Starting air system Injection pump Fuel pipes Fuel injection Accumulator Tappet Cam shaft

Exhaust system

Charge air system

Charge air cooler Pulsation damper

Exhaust gas and charge air system

Charge air cooler

Exhaust system

Turbocharger Connecting box Dependencies of components/modules Valve tappet Exhaust gas valves Cylinder head equipment Automation system Inlet gas valves UNIC

Cylinder head

Engine block Oil nozzle Sensors Lubricating oil module Lube oil filter Over speed trip module Governor Thermometer Shutdown mechanism Flywheel Starter motor Booster Solenoid valve

Water pump

Cylinder liner Water pipes Cooling water system

Piston ring

Lubricating oil system Control oil pump

Piston

Air vent system Sample components interactions set

Source: Company As standard register

Thermostat valve Main bearing

Control system Big end bearing

Connecting rod

Crank shaft Thrust bearing Gear train Sump Common base plate

Figure 2. Network representation of the case companys component architecture

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The DSM is a square matrix with identical rows and columns, where the rows and columns are named and ordered identically. All the components of a product architecture are assigned along rows and corresponding columns by using DSM. The dependencies of the components with each others are represented by placing marks (such as 0, 1, X, etc.) within the matrix. The marks in a single row represent all the components whose output is required to perform the fabrication/assembly of the component corresponding to that row. In a similar fashion, reading down a specic column reveals which component receives information/dependency from the component corresponding to that column. Marks above the diagonal depict information fed back to earlier listed components (i.e. feedback mark) and indicate that an upstream task is dependent on a downstream component. In order to display the interdependencies among components leveling the matrix format, we have implemented a component-based DSM tool PSM32 from the company Problematic, the USA (www.problematics.com/download.asp). This tool can accommodate a large number of design elements and their interdependencies in a convenient way. It can be used quite easily to display the iterations or feedback loops within the design architecture. It manages the design architecture through clustering, which results in optimum clusters or modules that are required for a smoother assembly process. These clusters provide insights into how to manage complex architecture through increasing interactions within modules and reducing interactions between modules. Figure 3 shows the matrix representation of the case companys engine component architecture, which is presented early in a network format in Figure 2. From Figure 3, we could observe 30 components along the rows and corresponding columns, where the information ows or dependencies on each other are presented by the mark 1. For instance, the component Inlet gas valves (number 15) depends on the components Camshaft (number 11) and Cylinder head equipment (number 17), respectively, in order to be fabricated or assembled. In order to reduce the feedback loops or iteration numbers/times, we need to perform the clustering operation within the component architecture in Figure 3. In clustering, the rows and corresponding columns are rearranged in such a way that the upper diagonal marks are brought back as close to the diagonal line as possible. This results in the formation of ve modules, as shown in Figure 4. These modules contribute to the modular design architecture, which is an essential strategy for protable business in terms of reduced lead-time, higher productivity, more design exibility and lower manufacturing/assembly cost. From this dependency or information ow pattern among the engine components it is comparatively easy to look for design improvement or nding bottlenecks within the design architecture. The way of module formation guides the case companys designers in terms of developing common or standard components and/or initiating the adoption of modularization decisions as a whole. The developed modules also enhance the possibility of adopting platform-based PD from which variants of engine types can be produced to fulll most of the potential customers needs. From this study it is noticed that the case companys engine architecture is not fully, but only partly, modular, which can be improved further based on the outcomes of this research. It is also noticed that the companys management could consider modular product platform strategies, from which it can benet in several ways such as technology changeover, option to expand sales by adding a new feature, etc.

Component versus component (DSM)

Crankshaft Main bearing Thrust bearing Lubricating oil system Fly-wheel Cylinder liner Piston Piston ring set Connecting rod Big-end bearings Camshaft Cooling water system Valve tappet Cylinder head Inlet gas valves Exhaust gas valves Cylinder head equipment UNIC Starting air system Leak fuel system Engine block Fuel injection system Overspeed trip device Starter motor Water pipes Pulsation damper Fuel pump Spash guard Injection pump Turbocharging system

Information dependencies

Crankshaft 1 1 1 1 1 1 Main bearing 2 1 Thrust bearing 3 1 Lubricating oil system 4 1 Fly-wheel 5 1 Cylinder liner 6 1 1 1 Piston 7 1 Piston ring set 8 1 1 Connecting rod 9 1 1 Big-end bearings 10 1 Camshaft 11 1 1 Cooling water system 12 1 Valve tappet 13 1 Cylinder head 14 1 Inlet gas valves 1 15 1 Exhaust gas valves 16 1 1 Cylinder head equipment 17 1 1 1 UNIC 18 Starting air system 1 19 indicates that Inlet gas Leak fuel system 20 valves have a dependency Engine block 21 1 1 1 1 Fuel injection system 22 over camshaft 1 1 Overspeed trip device 23 Starter motor 24 1 Water pipes 25 1 Pulsation damper 26 Fuel pump 27 Splash guard 28 Injection pump 29 Turbocharging system 30

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Component dependency by 1 DSM tool

1 1 1 1 1

1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Figure 3. DSM representation of the case companys component architecture (un-clustered)

4.3 Capturing and analyzing interactions/dependencies between component architecture and solutions The third and nal objective is investigated and fullled through implementing the DMM tool, which is used to bring the relationships between component architecture and solutions for customer in a compact way, as shown in Figure 5. DMM is a rectangular two-dimensional matrix tool used to represent and analyze dependencies and relationships between two different domains (Danilovic and Borjesson, 2001). This tool provides a clear representation of complex systems and visualizes the interactions across two different domains, where the rows represent the nodes of one domain and the columns represent the nodes of another domain. The DMM tool Multiplan Professional from the company RedTeam, Sweden (www.redteam.se/products.asp) is used to map the dependency pattern or information ow between the companys 218 higher level engine components and 70 solutions for customer orders. The rows in Figure 5 shows the potential solutions/offerings, while the columns display part of the component list. The interactions/dependencies within the two domains are also displayed with mark 3, which represents the highest strength of dependency. There could be a low dependency mark 1 and medium dependency level mark 2 as well. In order to nd the most important or critical components that satisfy

Cylinder head equipme n

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Figure 4. Proposal for modules with optimal interaction (clustered)

Crankshaft Main bearing Thrust bearing Fly-wheel UNIC Starting air system Overspeed trip device Pulsation damper Splash guard Injection pump Turbocharging system Cylinder liner Piston Piston ring set Connecting rod Camshaft Cooling water system Cylinder head Inlet gas valves Exhaust gas valves Cylinder head equipment Engine block Water pipes Big-end bearings Starter motor Lubricating oil system Valve tappet Leak fuel system Fuel injection system Fuel pump

1 2 3 5 18 19 23 26 28 29 30 6 7 8 9 11 12 14 15 16 17 21 25 10 24 4 13 20 22 27

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Big-end bearing upper half Big-end bearing lower half Connecting rod upper part Connecting rod lower part mshaft Cylinder head equipment Cover for indicator valve Bearings for gear wheels Shut-down mechanism Bearing for ca haft Exhaust gas valves Intermediate gear Bearing cover fo Regulating shaft Inlet gas valves

Drilling of engine block

PTO-shaft equipments

Domain mapping matrix

Engine block

Fittinng screws for flywheel

Thrust bearing

Piston ring set

Cylinder head

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Main bearing

Valve tappet

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1 Application 2 Engine installation (only marine engines) 3 Cylinger configuration 4 Engine speed mode 5 Design stage 6 Cylinder output( kW/cyl.) 7 Classification 8 Engine area classification(only if pump drive) 9 Engine mounting 10 Installation 11 Emission optmization 12 PTO shaft 13 PTO shaft output (kW) 14 Frequency 15 Voltage for electric motors (V) 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3

3 3

Figure 5. Screen shot of case companys engine dependency matrix between customers preferences and components (un-clustered)

16 Voltage for solenoids (VDC) 17 Speed (rpm) 18 Rotation direction 19 Fuel 20 Fuel system 21 Fuel feed pump 22 Stand-by connection 23 Fuel system with return pipe 24 common rail 25 Oil sump 26 Sump depth 27 Oil level (oil dipstick) 28 Separator oil pipes with valves 29 Stand-by connection

Solutions or offerings

3 3 3

Interactions between components and solutions

Covers 3 3

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Shim

Fuel pump

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UNIC

most of the solutions for customer demands, we have to cluster the contents in Figure 5 by rearranging the rows and columns according to the level of dependencies between solutions and components. As a result of clustering two clusters were formed, one of which is partly shown in Figure 6. From Figure 6, we could look for the most important or valuable components needing special care during the design and maintenance phase. This clustering principle opens up the decision-making process with respect to design bottlenecks and possible improvements. The visualization and analysis of the two domains by DMM methodology formulate the case companys overall planning process. The companys designers and managers would benet from this analysis from various perspectives, such as nding critical components, balancing the component costs with solutions for the customer, the tooling or resource requirements for further improvements of the existing design architecture, etc. The overall dependencies or information ows between the component level and customer demand or desire are required to track the developmental work within case Company A. The lessons learnt from this case example could also be implemented in a similar way for any industrial establishments in the future. 5. Discussion and conclusions In this research, we have focused mainly on how information ow in the business environment iterates within PD processes in order to achieve customized product. To cope with todays trends towards customization or individualization, information ow is presented as a dynamic way to build relationships among designers, engineers and customers. From this research study, we have noticed that along with the information
3 42 156 162 170 39 119 118 76 78 84 86 100 122123127 153 165166 128 193 197 144 146148 152 41 116 97 141 139 158 HT-water pipe form TC-bracket to pump cover Lub.oil pipes between aut.filter and cent.filter Water pipe form punp cover to lub.oil cooler Water conncetions,pump cover-TC bracket

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Drilling of engine block

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DMM Output

49 Direction of exhaust gas outlet 48 Wastegate arrangement 7 Classification 41 Turbocharger 42 Turbocharger type 5 Design stage 54 Automation level 1 Application 43 TC location 3 Cylinder configuration 24 Common rail 19 Fuel 25 Oil sump 29 Stand-by connection 35 Stand-by connection (LT-water) 11 Emission optimization 18 Rotation direction 21 Fuel feed pump 23 Fuel system with return pipe 32 Stand-by connection (HT-water) 34 Engine driven pump (LT-water) 39 Oversize LT-water pump-flow rate 38 Oversize LT-water pump 44 Air inlet to TC 56 FAKS sensors 47 Aircooler 30 Additional external lube oil cooler 55 Cylinder liner temp. sensors

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Cluster of solutions versus components

3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Insulation between TC and insulation box 3 3 3 3 3

Fastening equipment for lub.oil module

Equipment for pump cover connections Exhaust system after TC

Equipment if without LT water pump

Oil pipe for pressure regulating valve

Bracket for LT-pipe and lub.oil pipe

Insulation for exhaust outlet casing

HT-water pipe form standby pump

Turbocharger fastening equipment

Lub.oil pipe from el.driven pump

Lube oil outlet (from oil sump)

Equipment for connecting box

Equipment for LT water pump

HT-water pipe from air cooler

Vibration mesurements points

Drain pipe form air receiver

Cover fox hotbox end cover

Turbocharger bracket

Covers for air duct

Charge air system

Charge air cooler

Water pump LT

LT-water pipes

Pump cover

Water pipes

3 3

3 3 3

Figure 6. Screen shot of case companys engine dependency matrix between customers preferences and components (clustered)

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perspective, rms are also lagging behind with appropriate product design and development measures, which are the base requirements for enhancing productivity and customer satisfaction. Available measures such as modularity, product platform, product variants, etc. are widely implemented by rms, although there are limited rules or methodologies for applying these strategies efciently. The basic scope and objective of this research was to understand the generic concept of information perspective among design architecture that affects the decision-making process of a company in terms of modular design, platform-based PD, and potential solutions for customers, etc. Throughout this study the analytical issues of product architecture and its consequences for PD strategies and customizations were investigated. The basic concepts of module formation and its usability and benets for potential market growth were discussed. The modeling concept of product modularity, which is one of the basic strategies for developing customized product quickly and economically, was presented. This phenomenon enhances production exibility, which inuences business capability at a higher level. Through the presented case example, it was fairly easy to understand the basics of modular design approach. It is believed that organizational managers would benet from adopting the presented approach of modularity with a view to scheduling their overall PD processes. This paper also contributes to making a balance between market potential and companies design philosophy. It makes a tradeoff between rms external pressures such as product variety, customer solutions, product costs, etc. with internal capabilities such as available resources, capacity constraints, production lead-time, etc. From the empirical study, we also investigated how dependencies or information ows between component architecture and solutions for valuable customers inuence the case companys business environment. After a clustering operation, the developed clusters help designers to identify the companys most valuable components, which need to be carefully designed and implemented within the overall engine development process. These valuable or critical components demand special attention as they are used to satisfy most of the customers requirements efciently and economically.
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Watanabe, C. and Ane, B.K. (2004), Constructing a virtuous cycle of manufacturing agility: concurrent roles of modularity in improving agility and reducing lead-time, Technovation, Vol. 24, pp. 573-83. Yassine, A.A., Falkenburg, D. and Chelst, K. (1999), Engineering design management: an information structure approach, International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 37 No. 13, pp. 2957-75. Yassine, A.A., Sreenivas, R.S. and Zhu, J. (2008), Managing the exchange of information in product development, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 184, pp. 311-26. Zhu, Z. (2002), Evaluating contingency approaches to information systems design, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 22, pp. 343-56. Zipkin, P. (2001), The limits of mass customization, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 81-7. About the authors A.H.M. Shamsuzzoha has been working as a Researcher in the Department of Production, University of Vaasa, Finland, since April 2007. He received his PhD in Industrial Management from the University of Vaasa, Finland in 2010. He received his Master of Science (Mechanical Engineering) degree from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. Currently his research activities are devoted to the integration of the DSM tool in the PD process. His major research interest lies in the area of PD and logistics. He has published several research papers in international journals and conference proceedings. A.H.M. Shamsuzzoha is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: ahsh@uwasa. Petri T. Helo is a Research Professor in the Logistics Systems Research Group at the University of Vaasa, Finland. He received his PhD in Production Economics from the University of Vaasa, Finland in 2001. He is also involved in developing logistics information systems at Wapice Ltd, as a partner. His research addresses the management of logistics processes in supply demand networks, which take place in electronics, machine building and food industries. His areas of expertise include agile manufacturing, technology management and system dynamics. He has published several research papers in prestigious international journals and conference proceedings.

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