In product development, multiple aspects of engineering design methodology are integrated and interact with each other. For example, functions depend on components that realize these functions, and features of a product depend on product functions. The different aspects of product development are called “domains” in the following. To depict and optimize the structure of these domains, different methods have been developed. We adapt Malmqvist´s specification of methodologies to define the Multiple Design Structure Matrix that integrates intra- and inter-domain matrices. This methodology offers the possibility to analyze sets of multiple domains and derive further insight into the engineering design process by evaluating cross-domain relations. Although the coherent representation form offers new benefits for product design optimization, it also leads to big matrices that have to be filled and analyzed. To avoid costly filling processes and tedious matrix analysis, we developed an algorithm that points out important dependencies within the matrix and helps the designer to identify important parts in a MDSM using cross-domain relations between the different MDSM domains. First, we briefly describe the MDSM methodology for product design optimization and then present an algorithm for the evaluation of the cross-domain relations.     «

In product development, multiple aspects of engineering design methodology are integrated and interact with each other. For example, functions depend on components that realize these functions, and features of a product depend on product functions. The different aspects of product development are called “domains” in the following. To depict and optimize the structure of these domains, different methods have been developed. We adapt Malmqvist´s specification of methodologies to define the Multipl...     »