Product Complexity
Management/Monitoring
Creating a product with the most effective balance of
manufacturing and assembly difficulty.
General Overview
Analysis of Complexity
Measuring complexity is considered as a tool to support
assembly-oriented design and to guide the designer in creating a
product with the most effective balance of manufacturing and
assembly difficulty. The goal is to provide the designer with such
information throughout the design process so that an efficient
design is produced in the first instance.
Definitions of the term complexity can be found with so many
variations, that it is only valid within the appropriate situation,
making it nothing but an abstract estimation that heavily depends
on the context used.
This research presents some theoretical considerations and
suggested mathematical representations to evaluate the complexity
of designs. An ideal interpretation required for comparison of
variants of different complexities and the formulation of metrics
that can be used in conjunction with other measures. Figure 01.
Shows an approximate complexity taxonomy. This approximation can be
thought of as an approach to presenting the complexity measure as
product specific, where some hypothetical models are devised to
help assess the manufacturability of parts or at least to select
the most suitable manufacturing process to produce a specific
part.
Finally, a research agenda is presented for the development of
proposed metrics within the Designers’ Sandpit project. Special
attention was given to the manufacturability analysis, which is
after all, the original purpose of the analysis itself. The final
idea will be the implementation of some algorithms that will help
evaluate parts and select the most convenient manufacturing
process, ultimately giving an estimate of their manufacturing
cost.
Figure 01. Complexity Taxonomy
There are two big groups in the classification of
complexity:
- Assembly Complexity: Assembly is regarded as
the activity that accounts for most of the complexity of the
product itself. It can be further divided into 'structural
complexity' and 'sequence complexity'. The latter, assembly
sequence, has been studied for several years, in terms of
prediction and allocation of resources for the process of putting
all the components together. Such studies have produced means of
detecting sources of complexity as well as variables worth keeping
track of. Structural complexity, in contrast, presents itself as a
more elusive and subjective perception of the product.
- Component Complexity: A subdivision of the
product complexity, which has been extensively studied. Although,
all the variations of the components and their implications have
not been studied under the particular tag of "Component complexity"
at least several scoring systems have been devised for the
evaluation of the handling, insertion and alignment process.
As mentioned before Assembly is the activity that dictates most
of the complexity of the product itself. Complexity of the product
is, accordingly, more than the sum of the complexity of the
components, this being a holistic approach to product complexity
identification.
Static and Dynamic Complexity
The
framework for analysing complexity has also been subdivided in two
groups. Static and Dynamic complexity. Such view appeals
as a much more abstract notion altogether, but it is perhaps this
intangible condition that makes it more useful for a mathematical
representation of the complexity evaluation methodology.
COMPLEXITY METRICS FOR ...
Proactive DFA Implementation
Next in the list, for a succesful evaluation of complexity, is an
estimation of it in a suitable context, turning complexity into a
practical tool. (Ongoing work!)
PDM (Product Data Management) AOD (Assembly-Oriented Design) and
DFX (Design for X methods) through complexity management.
Complexity evaluation for a Proactive DFA integration with AOD and
PDM in the early stages of product development.