A comprehensive approach to complex system product development : operations management tools applied to automotive design

The research is based on observations made over a two-year period with the Closures Systems Integrators or CSIs (supervisory engineers who coordinate attribute balance and system decisions for conflicting door attributes) at a North American automobile manufacturer, focusing on organizational and technical improvements in product development. The product development (PD) process for vehicle side doors forms the case study. A Design Structure Matrix model was made of the process by which important closures attributes are managed through PD, Stamping, Manufacturing and Plant Teams. The attribute delivery process is very tightly coupled with many interactions and conflicts between the attributes, and careful system integration and interface management are essential. The study highlights the need for standardized designs and processes to create time for these system-level tasks, along with better knowledge and resource management. Critical inputs for system attributes are identified and it is shown that a lot of rework occurs if these inputs are changed. The Datum Flow Chain method is developed as a way to communicate data, help with assembly decisions and manage interfaces between component owners.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Noor, Muhammad Jehanzeb, 1982-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Daniel E. Whitney and Janice A. Klein.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39885

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/39885