Application of the Design Structure Matrix to integrated product development process

Abstract

A challenging aspect of managing complex product development process is the ability to account for iterations, which are inherent in the design process. A leading edge approach to account for iterations in development process is Design Structure Matrix (DSM). This thesis presents an application of DSM methodology to the project planning and management phase of an integrated product development process. The thesis starts by introducing the project management and planning phase of Raytheon's integrated product development process. It presents the DSM methodology applied to construct the baseline DSM model including the analysis performed. The thesis then describes the characterizations performed to augment the DSM capability to study the information exchange dynamics. To capture the hierarchical structure of the integrated product development process, the thesis employed a hierarchical DSM analysis tool, Arch. An improved process architecture is thus developed by applying DSM partitioning analysis. Finally, the thesis concludes by presenting the improvements gained and the proposed process for the project management and planning phase.