Towards new challenges for innovative management ... - Erima - Estia

Managing collaboration for improving design co-ordination
ERIMA07’ Proceedings
C.Merlo 1,2,* , J.Legardeur 1,2 , G.Pol 1,3 , G.Jared 3
1 ESTIA/LIPSI, Bidart, France
2 IMS – LAPS/GRAI, Bordeaux, France
3 SIMS/Cranfield University, Cranfiled, UK
* Corresponding author: c.merlo@estia.fr, (33) 5 59 43 84 33
Abstract: This paper focuses on the co-ordination of engineering design through the collaboration point of
view in order to help managers controlling design processes. We focus on the organisation and process
aspects to facilitate collaboration between designers and to foster the co-ordination of design projects by
integrating the product, process and organisation points of view (PPO model). Indeed, results of the
collaborative design activities directly depend on relationships between design actors. Our aim is to allow
project managers enhancing and controlling different types of collaborative processes in order to prescribe
emerging collaboration between different experts. We propose then a method for storing and analysing
collaborative processes in situ, in order that such processes can be formalised and re-used by project
managers. This method is supported on a dedicated and implemented tool, called CoCa. A case study into
an SME, designing and manufacturing innovative mechanical products, has been achieved to evaluate the
possible feedback to design co-ordination and especially by managing collaborative processes through PLM
systems workflow technology.
Keywords: Design co-ordination, design process management, PLM systems, workflows, collaboration
I. Introduction
Many studies have tried to identify the best practices and strategies developed by enterprises
(Balbontin et al. 2000) in order to improve the development of new products taking into account
environmental challenges, market and customer characteristics, marketing process, product
characteristics, new product development process, organizational characteristics and corporate
culture, learning practices, and performance. On the one hand (Coates et al. 2000) suggest that
task management, scheduling, planning, and resource management are the most important
issues when it comes to operational co-ordination. On the other hand the performance of the
collaboration between co-design partners (Martinez et al. 2001), (Giannini et al. 2002) and also
with suppliers offers the possibility of gaining fast access to specialist knowledge and capabilities,
and of spreading and sharing costs and risks, and of better exploitation of the expertise of the
partners (Wognum et al. 2002).
The coordination and the control of engineering design refer to a global approach to the
development of new products. It implies the need to identify the different situations occurring
during the design process and adequate resources to satisfy the initial objectives. The progress
control of the design process can be defined as the understanding of existing design situations (in
the real world) in order to evaluate them and take decisions that will modify and improve the
future process.
43