A multi-domain analysis framework for product development: The 'mediating links' of data, information, and knowledge in complex engineered product systems

The 21st century brings many new challenges in product development (PD) mainly due to a drastic increase in the scale and complexity of engineered systems. These large complex systems require the collaboration of functionally and geographically distributed resources within and outside organizational boundaries. These distributed resources present many communication, coordination, and integration problems and risks, which impede successful product development.;There are differences among researchers in not only the methodology used and assumptions made but also in the perception of how product development is executed. This lack of agreement is furthermore reflected in the diversity of organizations developing products. Consequently, it is difficult to develop a single theory amidst such differences. However, there seems to be a consensus in PD literature in identifying the three key domains of product development: people, processes/tasks, and product. The three domains are strongly related and glued together through various dependencies. After all, the development organization is executing the development process, which is implementing the product architecture. There is ample anecdotal evidence suggesting the existence of such relationships and possible 'misalignment' (or discrepancy) between them. However, there is no tool or theory that systematically links these domains together in a way that can help understand the interaction within and among these domains and how they impact overall product development activities and risks.;In order to provide discipline and transparency into the complex dynamics inherent in a distributed PD environment, this research proposes a novel network-based framework for enterprise-wide PD management. The approach taken in this research represents each domain as a network of interacting elements and the exchanges between the domains as the transformations of data, information, and knowledge. Knowledge creation is at the heart of product development. We propose that the product development process can be represented as a sequential progression: Data ⇒ Information ⇒ Knowledge ⇒ Product. This progression is due to the many activities amongst the developers and designers as they address requirements and challenges during the PD endeavor. Adopting a framework that considers data, information, and knowledge as entities that are acquired, created, and used within an organization, provide a unique perspective into the dynamic behavior of the PD system.;In this research, we investigate these three domains by proposing and examining the interrelationships among them to explain why and through what mechanism they relate to the PD system behavior. There is no description of their interactions and relationships that provides insight into why these relationships where intentionally designed or how they may have evolved overtime in order to deliver a particular product. This is an important description missing from PD research. We have modeled the exchanges (interactions and interdependencies) among the three key PD domains. We have demonstrated a procedure by which the interaction between the team networks and the process/task networks may influence the creation/formation of a product architecture network. Additionally, we have defined various metrics to quantify the PD risks in terms of network and domain relationships.;A comprehensive analysis and depiction of these relationships can help improve our understanding of how the connectivity of these domains impacts or drives one another. A better understanding of these interdependencies will also provide new insights into ways of managing the domains, ultimately resulting in improved development efforts and the associated products.