Estimating the process cost of implementing engineering change alternatives

Requirement changes can arise at many points throughout the product life-cycle. Meeting these changed needs necessitates engineering changes to the design. There are various methods and tools to understand such engineering changes in terms of the knock-on effects which could propagate through the system and require change to many other elements of the design. However, there is currently little support to help designers and managers evaluate proposed changes in terms of the total process cost of implementing them and executing any knock-on rework which may occur. Such support would be useful since there are often multiple ways to implement a requirement change, and it is thus important to identify the most cost-effective option prior to beginning its implementation. This paper proposes the basis of a model-based approach to provide such support. The approach is illustrated by discussing its application to the example of bicycle design. Further work to enhance and implement the approach is outlined.

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