During the conceptual design phase the basic working principle or concept of a product is defined. The selection of a specific concept is a very important step in the development process because this decision has multiple effects on the following phases and the final product. In this early stage the field of solutions should be as wide as possible. To achieve this and to handle complexity at the same time it is common to use the method of factorization. A complex system is divided into separate manageable sub-problems which can be solved individually. The consistent combination of partial solutions leads to the overall solution (concept). Thereby a high number of theoretical concepts can be created out of a small number of sub-problems and solutions. This high number has to be reduced so that the selection of an optimal concept is possible. The presented approach provides a systematic assistance in the selection of an overall concept by consequently eliminating inconsistent solutions and identifying promising combinations.     «

During the conceptual design phase the basic working principle or concept of a product is defined. The selection of a specific concept is a very important step in the development process because this decision has multiple effects on the following phases and the final product. In this early stage the field of solutions should be as wide as possible. To achieve this and to handle complexity at the same time it is common to use the method of factorization. A complex system is divided into separate...     »