Integration analysis of product decompositions

This paper describes a methodology for the analysis of product design decompositions. The technique is useful for developing an understanding of the "system engineering" needs which arise because of complex interactions between components of a design. This information can be used to define the product architecture and to organize the development teams. The method involves three steps: 1) decomposition of the system into elements, 2) documentation of the interactions between the elements, and 3) clustering the elements into architectural and team chunks. By using this approach, development teams can better understand the complex interactions within the system, thus simplifying the development process for large and complex projects. arranged in chunks. The choice of product architecture has broad implications for product performance, product change, product variety, and manufacturability. Product architecture is also strongly coupled to the firm's development capability, manufacturing specialties, and product strategy. Selecting the proper architecture of the product is an extremely influential decision which must be made during the concept development and system-level design phases of the project; the architecture defines the sub-systems upon which the team will work for the bulk of the development effort. In product development, analysis of the product decomposition provides valuable insight into the structure of the problem and the choice of architecture. The integration analysis presented in this paper considers the interactions which occur between the elements of the decomposition. The building blocks (called chunks) which result from integration analysis can be used to define the product architecture and to structure the development teams. Examples of architecture and team structure can be found in any highly engineered product. In the automobile industry, development programs include hundreds or thousands of team members. It would be impractical to design the entire vehicle at once (too complex); nor would it be possible to develop the thousands of components one at a time (too slow). The vehicle is decomposed into a few major systems: body, powertrain, chassis, interior, climate control, electrical, and trim. Each of these major systems is in turn decomposed into a large number of sub-systems, resulting in hundreds of interconnected pieces with names like: passenger restraint system, fuel delivery system, remote entry system, etc. Finally, these sub-systems are decomposed into component parts which are designed and tested individually and together. The decomposition of the vehicle into sub-systems and components facilitates the rapid development of the individual pieces, yet this strategy does not address the needs for integration of the components' functions during the development process.