New product design as well as design revision to remedy defects is complicated by an inability to precisely predict product performance. Designers often find that they are confident about the performance of some design alternatives and uncertain about others. Similarly, alternative design changes may differ substantially in uncertainty, potential impact, and cost. This paper describes a method for including the effects of uncertainty in the evaluation of economic benefits of various design change options. The results indicate that the most profitable change option sequence depends not only on relative costs but also on the relative degree of uncertainty and on the magnitude of the potential design defects. The method demonstrates how design change alternatives can be compared using the engineering design of a beam. Finally, the validity of some common engineering change heuristics are discussed relative to their associated, quantitatively determined limits.
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June 2003
Technical Papers
An Economic Design Change Method
Christoph Roser,
Christoph Roser
Toyota Central R&D Labs, Nagoya, Japan
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David Kazmer,
David Kazmer
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
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James Rinderle
James Rinderle
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Christoph Roser
Toyota Central R&D Labs, Nagoya, Japan
David Kazmer
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
James Rinderle
Contributed by the Design Theory and Methodology Committee for publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received December 1999; revised June 2002. Associate Editor: J. Cagan.
J. Mech. Des. Jun 2003, 125(2): 233-239 (7 pages)
Published Online: June 11, 2003
Article history
Received:
December 1, 1999
Revised:
June 1, 2002
Online:
June 11, 2003
Citation
Roser, C., Kazmer, D., and Rinderle, J. (June 11, 2003). "An Economic Design Change Method ." ASME. J. Mech. Des. June 2003; 125(2): 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1561040
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