Establishing a New Digital/Virtual Product Development Process in Design Education
Abstract - Industrial Design lies at the interface between the aesthetic elements of styling and appearance, and the innovation which is driven by science and technology. It requires the application of knowledge from a multiplicity of interdependent disciplines. The teaching Industrial Design of at our university, favours the heuristic approach taking inspiration from the natural world[1], the creation of virtual models, and the optimisation of design through repetition, as well as empirical testing of the Gestalt finding. Creative intuition drives students' work at the university – based on knowledge, experience and skills – giving rise to strategic conceptual ideas, to be followed by preliminary design concepts and training in new, cutting edge product development processes.
Keywords:
Design students with sound knowledge of surface textures, materials and manufacturing technologies, as well as the ability to analyse sources of inspiration in nature and thereby envisage morphological strategic solutions[2], a major part of qualification involves professional skills in using Computer Aided Industrial Design (CAID) software and Rapid Prototyping technologies[3]. Graduates can contribute in a professional capacity to entire process chains (Concurrent or Simultaneous Engineering)[4].
Figure 1. Development lead-time in the automotive industry – from project start to roll-out
"Companies respond to these drivers and changing needs by developing new products and employing product development processes (PDPs) to coherently manage the risks inherent in their development. Well-designed PDPs reduce development time, create better products, generate profit, and increase market share."[5]
"New product development (NPD) has long been recognized as one of the corporate core functions. During the past 25 years, new product development has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued existence of firms. The rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past years and this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. IT improves NPD flexibility. New product development requires the collaboration of new product team members both within and outside the firm." [6]
Figure 2. Integrated virtual product development process
Numerous IT applications, which together facilitate Concurrent Engineering, enables various departments within an organisation and also external service suppliers to have continuous access to product development data.
Representative of these types of systems are Computer-Aided Design systems (CAD), which form the core element of digital product development.
"Today, the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) industry is a multi-billion dollar business with literally millions of engineers, architects, and drafters using these computer systems on a daily basis. The technology has clearly changed how many professions are practiced, predominately, but not in all cases for the better. [7]
CAD systems are surrounded by Computer-Aided Engineering systems (CAE), i.e. Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) or Digital Mock-up (DMU), by Computer Aided Industrial Design systems (CAID) for initial form finding or Virtual Reality (VR) for design reviews and immersive interactions. Data administration is controlled by Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) or Collaborative Product Commerce (CPC) systems which also manage the flow of electronic data throughout the entire life cycle of the product and which interact with enterprise resource planning systems (ERP).
Want to read more? Download the full paper (PDF - 3.3MB).*
*This paper has been provided for educational purposes may not be republished without permission from the author.
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing.
Martin Danzer
Head of CAID of scionic® I.D.E.A.L.
Computer Lab of Industrial Design
University of Art and Industrial Design
Hauptplatz 8, 4010 Linz, Austria
e: martin.danzer@ufg.ac.at
Keywords:
- Digital, virtual product development process
- New product development process
- Concurrent, simultaneous engineering
- Computer Aided Industrial Design
- Design Education
- CAID, CAD, CAM, CAE, FEA, CFD, VR
1. INTRODUCTION
In the commercial world of professional practice, study projects can be oriented towards large scale industrial production and even the design of entire systems, or they can alternatively, result in crucial advantages for small-and-medium-sized enterprises by enabling their products or components to attain technical or functional superiority in the globally competitive environment.Design students with sound knowledge of surface textures, materials and manufacturing technologies, as well as the ability to analyse sources of inspiration in nature and thereby envisage morphological strategic solutions[2], a major part of qualification involves professional skills in using Computer Aided Industrial Design (CAID) software and Rapid Prototyping technologies[3]. Graduates can contribute in a professional capacity to entire process chains (Concurrent or Simultaneous Engineering)[4].
2. THE DIGITAL/VIRTUAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
In recent years, the general parameters for the development of mass produced manufactured goods have been subject to a series of changes. To mention a few: international competition and globalisation, the world-wide distribution of development centres, a shortening of development lead-times (time-tomarket), and the increased complexity of the products themselves (variable options, etc).Figure 1. Development lead-time in the automotive industry – from project start to roll-out
"Companies respond to these drivers and changing needs by developing new products and employing product development processes (PDPs) to coherently manage the risks inherent in their development. Well-designed PDPs reduce development time, create better products, generate profit, and increase market share."[5]
"New product development (NPD) has long been recognized as one of the corporate core functions. During the past 25 years, new product development has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued existence of firms. The rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past years and this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. IT improves NPD flexibility. New product development requires the collaboration of new product team members both within and outside the firm." [6]
Figure 2. Integrated virtual product development process
Numerous IT applications, which together facilitate Concurrent Engineering, enables various departments within an organisation and also external service suppliers to have continuous access to product development data.
Representative of these types of systems are Computer-Aided Design systems (CAD), which form the core element of digital product development.
"Today, the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) industry is a multi-billion dollar business with literally millions of engineers, architects, and drafters using these computer systems on a daily basis. The technology has clearly changed how many professions are practiced, predominately, but not in all cases for the better. [7]
CAD systems are surrounded by Computer-Aided Engineering systems (CAE), i.e. Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) or Digital Mock-up (DMU), by Computer Aided Industrial Design systems (CAID) for initial form finding or Virtual Reality (VR) for design reviews and immersive interactions. Data administration is controlled by Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) or Collaborative Product Commerce (CPC) systems which also manage the flow of electronic data throughout the entire life cycle of the product and which interact with enterprise resource planning systems (ERP).
Want to read more? Download the full paper (PDF - 3.3MB).*
*This paper has been provided for educational purposes may not be republished without permission from the author.
About the author
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing.
Martin Danzer
Head of CAID of scionic® I.D.E.A.L.
Computer Lab of Industrial Design
University of Art and Industrial Design
Hauptplatz 8, 4010 Linz, Austria
e: martin.danzer@ufg.ac.at
ICSID | Establishing a New Digital/Virtual Product Development Process in Design Education
No comments:
Post a Comment