Development Processes and

Organizations
EGR 7020 - Systems Engineering and Analysis

Designing a STOP Sign

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Definition
Process
A sequence of steps designed specifically to transform some set of
inputs into an appropriate set of outputs

Product development process

Sequence of steps specifically defined by some enterprise and
employed to conceive, design, realize, and commercialize some
product or products

Processes should be tailored to the organization

Processes should have some freedom for change
within the organization
Business Process Reengineering
Concept of examining and analyzing some process in detail with
the express purpose of improving that process

Why are Processes Useful

Quality assurance
Phases and checkpoints must be passed
These phases and checkpoints have historical precedence
Passing each phase and checkpoint increases the chance of
getting a quality product

Coordination

Process communicates expectations of team members

Provides a means to plan resource expenditure
Provides a means to schedule product team activities
A master schedule of what is needed, when it is needed, and by
whom is it needed

Planning
Natural set of milestones
An anchor for the entire schedule
4

Why are Processes Useful

(cont.)
Management
Progress assessment
Managerial intervention alarm

Improvement
Documentation of process experience provides means of
assessing viability of process in practice
Variances (i.e., problems) can be documented with respect to the
process
Improved processes can be formulated based on new historical
data

Example to consider: Doctoral process

The product produced, the Ph.D., is the result of time honored
milestones, which are examined and adapted by the institute

A Generic Product Development

Process
Six phases listed
Each phase produces output for subsequent phases
Process actually circular in practice
Some organizations include field monitoring as a phase
Field monitoring data feeds into the planning phase

Definitely an information-based process as well as a

physical product producing process
Text is focused on design activities
Realize there are myriad supporting processes linked to the
developmental process

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Planning

Phase 0
What is the corporate strategy and does it apply?
Consideration of market objectives
Mission statement for the development effort

Target market
Goals
Assumptions
Key constraints

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Planning
Marketing
What is the market
What segments are targeted

Design
Technologies for product and any processes
Building on current platforms or new technologies

Manufacturing
Consider impacts/constraints on process
Supply chain impacts

R&D technology transitions applicable

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Concept Development
Identify and target the market
Identify the potential alternative concepts
Initial viability of alternatives
Economic analysis
Product justification
Form and feature specification

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Concept Development
Marketing
Customer needs
Competitive products (benchmarking)

Design
Examine alternatives
Build and examine prototypes

Manufacturing
Cost assessment; capital investment
Production feasibility

Patent and other legal issues

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

10

Concept Development (cont.)

This phase requires lots of coordination
Useful to examine in more depth
Why the dashed arrows?

Identify
Customer
Needs

Establish
Target
Specifications

Generate
Product
Concepts

Select
Product
Concept(s)

Test
Product
Concept(s)

Set
Final
Specifications

Plan
Downstream
Development

Development
Plan

Perform Economic Analysis

Benchmark Competitive Products
Build and Test Models and Prototypes

Exhibit 2-3: Many front-end activities comprising the concept development phase

11

Concept Development in Detail

Identify customer needs
Needs organized hierarchically and prioritized

Establish target specifications

Target, minimum and maximum values
Provide basis of design and cost

Concept generation
Creatively explore the complete solution space

Concept selection
Weed out the weak; keep the promising

Concept testing
Are needs met, is market sufficient, will customers accept product

12

Concept Development in Detail

(cont.)
Setting final specifications
Decide the actual values team will build to

Project planning
Develop the detailed schedule
This drives things like budget, personnel, and other planning

Economic analysis
Build the product cost model
Basis for various trade-offs among alternatives and within
alternatives

Benchmarking
Where will new product stand with respect to the competition

Modeling and prototyping

Lots of uses
13

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
System Level Design

Define the product architecture

Decompose system into components and sub-components
Assembly scheme and assembly flow diagrams
Define product geometry layout
Define component specifications

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

14

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
System Level Design
Marketing
Plan for product options
Extended product family defined

Design
Examine alternative architectures
Define sub-systems and interfaces between systems

Manufacturing
Identify suppliers
Define the final assembly scheme

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

15

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Detail Design
Complete specification

Geometry
Materials
Tolerances
Unique parts

Process and tooling plan

Control documentation produced
CAD/CAM files
Product specifications
Process plans

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

16

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Detail Design
Marketing
Marketing plan developed

Design
Choose materials
Assign tolerances
Produce requisite documentation

Manufacturing
Piece part production processes
Tooling (to include long lead time tooling)
Quality control specification

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

17

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Testing and Refinement
Testing on pre-production versions of product
Alpha-version
Production intent parts
Will product function and meet customer needs

Beta-version

Parts from actual production processes

Possibly a tailored assembly process
Customer performance evaluation (operational test)
Identify performance and reliability issues

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

18

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Testing and Refinement
Marketing
Promotion launch (e.g., Coming in 2015, CES, Trade Shows!)
Field testing
Develop the sales plan (advertising?)

Design
Reliability testing
Performance testing
Obtain regulatory releases

Manufacturing
Get suppliers ramped up
Refine fabrication and assembly processes
Conduct any training

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

19

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Production ramp-up
Produce product with intended production processes
Identify and resolve production problems (not already found)
Prepare for full product launch

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

20

Generic Product Development

Process Examined
Production ramp-up
Marketing
Set up early products with key customers

Design
Evaluate early production products
How close is actual to predicted

Manufacturing
Begin operation of full system
Implement the on-line quality monitoring process

Planning
Planning

Concept
System-Level
Concept
System-Level
Development
Design
Development
Design

Detail
Detail
Design
Design

Testing
Testingand
and
Refinement
Refinement

Production
Production
Ramp-Up
Ramp-Up

21

Product Development Context

Market-Pull products
Based on a market opportunity (e.g. sporting goods, tools)
Technology-Push products
Find a market for a technology (e.g. 4G, 3D, 4K)
Must have clear advantage and better than alternatives
Platform products
Built around some existing platform (e.g. consumer electronics)
Process intensive products
Product cannot be separated from the process to produce it (e.g. snack foods)
Customized products
Built to satisfy specific orders (e.g. motors)
High risk products
Technical or market uncertainties create high risk (e.g. pharmaceuticals)
Quick built products
Rapid modeling and prototyping many design-build test cycles (e.g. software)
Complex systems
Systems can be decomposed into several subsystems and components (e.g. airplane)

22

Variations on Product
Development Process Flows

23

Organizational Structures
The organizational structure must be appropriate for
the organization and the product development
process in place
Poor organizational structures can lead to
inefficiencies in all aspects
Linkages within the organization based on:
Reporting relationships
Financial arrangements
Physical layout

Need to differentiate between functions and the

product

24

Organizational Structures
Functional organization
All personnel have similar capabilities
A product general manager coordinates across
offices
Increased bureaucracy

Each group has its own budget

Members might work on various projects
Might even have back ups on projects

General manager responsible for product but

not really for the personnel vested in creating
that product
Necessary structure when personnel are limited
Maximizes personnel utilization
Group retains functional corporate knowledge

25

Organizational Structures (cont.)

Project organization
Personnel are aligned by project
General manager responsible for product and
now owns the hammer on the members of
the team
Individual expertise might be underutilized
May not be enough work for full-time
Project structure limits (prevents) work on
other projects

Less functional identity; more product identity

Harder to retain functional expertise
Much harder for smaller companies to
incorporate this
Do not have enough personnel or sometimes
enough work

26

Organizational Structures (cont.)

Matrix organization
Personnel now report to two masters
In reality, one master is more important

Owning group assigns personnel to the project

Strong project links called a heavyweight matrix organization
Project manager owns the resources and evaluates the people
Current names: IPT, PDT, DBT

Strong functional links called a lightweight matrix organization

Project manager now a coordinator
Resources remain within functional groups

27

Issues in Organizational
Structure
How important are project decisions
Functional alignments difficulty in project decisions

How important is functional continuity

Functional alignments better suited to retaining corporate
experience

How critical is personnel utilization

Is there enough work for a functional group to be assigned fulltime
Does the organization care if a person is under utilized

How quickly must the product be produced

Product alignments centralize authority
Always the quicker approach

28

Development Processes and

Organizations
EGR 7020 - Systems Engineering and
Analysis

Questions?