Title: A framework to support collaboration during prototyping and testing

Authors: Boris Toche; Grant McSorley; Robert Pellerin; Clement Fortin

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, 2500 ch. De Polytechnique, Montréal, QC, H3T 1J4, Canada ' School of Sustainable Design Engineering, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Ave, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 4P3, Canada ' Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, 2500 ch. De Polytechnique, Montréal, QC, H3T 1J4, Canada ' Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, 3 Nobel Street, Moscow, 143026, Russia

Abstract: The modern perspective on product lifecycle and the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies have opened a new era in product development and information sharing throughout the product life. The product development process relies on cross-functional activities involving different domains of expertise using specialised tools. However, current PLM technologies in general are not able to manage well the cross-functional activities and their configuration management is often left to asynchronous operations carried out with decoupled independent applications, which result in hand-offs, scatter, errors, delays, extra costs and waste. Within the product development process, the testing team is responsible for the planning and building of prototypes in order to test products. In this paper, the characteristics of product lifecycle related information are investigated, with a focus on prototyping and testing aspects. A framework based on complementary product structures is developed, along with an illustrative case study, to demonstrate how results from testing activities can efficiently interface with other value streams, offer relevant feedback to product designers, and maintain the detailed product configuration as the design evolves in a concurrent engineering environment.

Keywords: product lifecycle management; PLM; collaborative engineering; concurrent engineering; physical prototyping; virtual prototyping; digital mock-up; DMU; bill of materials; BOM; product structure; product testing; change management; configuration management; aerospace engineering.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLM.2017.090329

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 2017 Vol.10 No.4, pp.348 - 374

Received: 07 Feb 2017
Accepted: 06 Nov 2017
Published online: 12 Mar 2018 *

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