Product development processes: from deterministic to probabilistic, Part I Online publication date: Wed, 01-Feb-2006
by Faysal Khalaf, Kai Yang
International Journal of Product Development (IJPD), Vol. 3, No. 1, 2006
Abstract: The primary intent of any product design is to meet or exceed customer expectations. This intent can be achieved by following a prescribed product development process. The process is composed of key milestones and deliverables in each phase of product development and of product launches. Product development processes can incur an inherent lack of robustness during product design and application in the processes' capability to deliver the product on time. This paper approaches development process time deliverables from a probabilistic perspective. This shift away from assuming a deterministic behaviour of process deliverables uncovers all potential sources that could affect lack of robustness in designing and deploying product development processes. A mathematical relationship is presented to model the different relationships of total product delivery time and cost to change in various process milestone time requirements. Potential causes of lack of robustness are identified, and potential solutions are suggested.
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