Key concepts in modeling product development processes
System Engineering, 9 (2):
104-128 (2006)Abstract
This paper provides a foundation for modeling the set of activities
and their relationships by which systems are engineered, or, more
broadly, by which products and services are developed. It provides
background, motivations, and formal definitions for process modeling
in this specialized environment. We treat the process itself as a
kind of system that can be engineered. However, while product systems
must be created, the process systems for developing complex products
must, to a greater extent, be discovered and induced. Then, they
tend to be reused, either formally as standard processes, or informally
by the workforce. We distinguish and clarify several important concepts
in modeling processes, including: product development versus repetitive
business processes, descriptive versus prescriptive processes, activities
as actions versus deliverables as interactions, standard versus deployed
processes, centralized versus decentralized process modeling, �as
is� versus �to be� process modeling, and multiple phases in product
development. We also present a basically simple yet highly extendable
and generalized framework for modeling product development processes.
The framework enables building a single model to support a variety
of purposes, including project planning (scheduling, budgeting, resource
loading, and risk management) and control, and it provides the scaffolding
for knowledge management and organizational learning, among numerous
other uses.
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