Knowledge-Based Concurrent Product Development Process Management System and Its Implementation

Abstract

Concurrent engineering is a systematic approach to integrate concurrent design and its related processes. Its objective is to shorten the product development cycle, improve the product quality and reduce the product cost. Product development process management is one of the key enabled technologies for the implementation of concurrent engineering. The main purpose of the study on knowledge-based concurrent product development process management is to explore the theory and methods on process modeling, monitoring, analysis, reengineering and so on, and to integrate the knowledge processing into the lifecycle of the product development including mainly the acquisition and usage of design history and domain knowledge. Modeling the product development process is the first step of product development process management. A method for the knowledge-based multi-view process modeling is present. The rule-based mechanism for process implementation is discussed. The method for acquisition of design history and domain knowledge is presented. The multi-agent based architecture of knowledgebased concurrent product development process management system is developed and used successfully during the life cycle of a new type of railway rolling stock development in a Chinese enterprise, QQHR Railway Rolling Stock Company.