The DFX shell: A generic framework for applying 'Design for X' (DFX) tools

The 'Design for X' (DFX) shell is a generic platform which can be easily extended or tailored to develop a variety of DFX tools quickly and consistently. Resulting DFX tools share a high degree of commonality and consistence essential for rapid implementation, integration and trade-off analysis. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how DFX tools basically work through a general procedure. Seven steps are involved, each corresponding to a major DFX function and addressing associated important issues. This DFX procedure is then placed in a wider context of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) to maximize its effectiveness in transforming product development from a problem-prone sequential engineering environment to a problem-free concurrent engineering environment.