Descriptive Study II

The last stage, Descriptive Study II, consists in evaluating the prescribed approach and tools by validating them against the criteria through additional case studies and preferably in a realistic design context. It is difficult for many design research projects to successfully cover this stage because the resources, settings and readiness of the tools or methodologies are rarely available to benchmark the proposal within an industrial context and without disrupting established practices too much. In this thesis, as a business consultant and architect into the transformation of the PLM processes and supporting tools of a lean manufacturer of complex aerospace systems, the author has unique opportunities in terms of business process modelling as well as software rapid prototyping and testing. It is then possible for the author to prototype and simulate advanced processes and methodologies leveraging customized instances of the existing operational PLM virtual product management platform. The second pilot simulation presented in chapter 6 forms the main part of descriptive study II. The study consists in a pilot simulation of the proposed product structuring model through the exploration of three design alternatives of an aircraft pylon in the context of a realistic enterprise PLM platform. Figure 3.6 illustrates the proposed pilot study.

Figure 3.6: Engine Firewall design options (product configurations)

A team composed of the author, one system engineer, one development and test engineer, one product definition integrator, three designers (interns) and one CAD/DMU specialist participate in the simulation. The figure below illustrates the context of the validation. The exhibit shows a configurable BOM, synchronized with the related configurable DMU (lightweight view for non CAD authoring) as they are being loaded by the author in one advanced version of the enterprise PLM platform.

Figure 3.7: Dataset in the simulation environment (fuselage, engines and nacelles not shown) - Courtesy of Dassault Systemes, 3DEXPERIENCE 2017x

To recapitulate, the table below shows the thesis organisation in relation to DRM as applied.

Table 3.1: Thesis chapters in relation to DRM sequence Thesis

Chapter Chapter Title DRM Chapter Description

1 Introduction Research background, motivation, main

objective, thesis structure.

2 Literature review

Research clarification

Comprehensive literature review of lean thinking and lean product and process development.

Evidence-based systematic literature review of SBCE (1987-2017).

Synthesis

Research opportunities.

3 Methodology

Research objectives, questions, hypotheses and criteria.

Research paradigm and methodology.

Research validation.

Table 3.1 (Cont.): Thesis chapters in relation to DRM sequence Thesis

Chapter Chapter Title DRM Chapter Description

4 Design prototyping and the of gaps and proposal of a methodology to support collaboration during prototyping

Simulation of the proposed product structuring methodology by leveraging a commercially available PLM platform (Pilot simulation II).

7 Conclusions and recommendations

Summary of the findings, contributions, applications and recommendations for future research.

An iteration path was followed while applying the design research methodology as depicted in Figure 3.3. The two pilot simulations were performed using two separate commercially available and major aerospace industry PLM platforms. This was done on purpose in order to independently assess the proposed methodologies, infer PLM platform-neutral conclusions and allow for triangulation in the research.

The thesis is structured towards the definition of the role, the construction and evaluation of the components of the proposed LVS model and the integration of the components into a whole.

The thesis is simultaneously aligned with the DRM sequence presented in this section.

The research may similarly be structured in relation to other existing design research frameworks like the spiral of applied research framework by Eckert et al. (2003). However, this framework, for example, is suitable for large research projects that involve a number of researchers working on several themes over an extended period of time, which is not the case here, and therefore the reason why the DRM framework was preferred.

3.4 Conclusion

Based on the research objectives, inquiries, hypotheses and the involvement of the author in a community seeking for change towards lean product lifecycle management, the research is designed as a mixed quantitative-qualitative type, proceeding through a mixed conceptual-participatory action research and by choosing a mixed ethnomethodology-research-based/model-based/pilot simulation approach. As far as qualitative research is concerned, the use of reliability, validity and furthermore triangulation (to test the first two) are common in quantitative research but this is not straightforward in the qualitative research paradigm as the concepts may bear different meanings (Golafshani, 2003; Maxwell, 2012). Golafshani explains that reliability and validity can be conceptualized as trustworthiness, rigor and quality in qualitative research paradigm, focusing on the output of the research, the methods and the researcher as the instrument of the research. In other words, it is through precision, consistency, credibility, confirmability, applicability and transferability that a qualitative research can achieve reliability and validity by eliminating bias and increasing the researcher’s trustworthiness in its proposals (Golafshani, 2003). Then triangulation is perceived to be a validity procedure that relies on multiple methods of data collection and data analysis, leading to a more valid, reliable convergence to the themes, categories and interpretations formed in a study (Creswell & Miller, 2000). The current research is designed to meet the qualitative research criteria as just described.

One example worth citing in this summary is the triangulation that results from performing pilot simulations in two separate commercially available and major aerospace industry PLM platforms in order to independently assess the proposed methodologies and infer PLM platform-neutral conclusions. The approach followed in chapter 2 for the literature review and, especially the design and conducting of an evidence-based systematic review of SBCE, also exemplifies the commitment. The remaining part of this thesis work fulfills the criteria in the same vein.

Besides the epistemological stance and research paradigm, an overarching Design Research Methodology (DRM) is selected to conduct the design research. From this standpoint, the use of success criteria for action research in design, as initially advocated by Blessing and Chakrabarti (2009) has been criticized because success criteria are believed to focus the study on (sometimes invalid, unreliable) metrics, disregarding unanticipated influences by simply paying too much attention to the so-thought measurable premises (Eckert, Clarkson, & Stacey, 2004; Reich, 1995).

Success criteria are believed to be “of limited utility in evaluating the success of introducing new tools, methods and procedures into design processes in industry” (Eckert et al., 2004). According to the authors, the most useful criteria for success is the advancement of knowledge i.e.

understanding design, and the perception of value in new procedures and methods by practitioners in industry. These criteria are retained for the current research. Chapter 2, for example, has previously been evaluated against the first criterion, which evaluation demonstrated success through two main contributions: (1) the proposal of a new SBCE dual analysis framework combined with an evidence-based systematic review methodology and; (2) the advancement of theoretical and practical understanding of LPD and SBCE from the larger to the most significant aspects. The remaining part of this thesis work provides additional contribution to understanding of LPD and SBCE and furthermore, entails valuable proposal for the practice of LPD and SBCE in industry through the CCS model and the construction of the LVS model.

CHAPTER 4 DESIGN PROTOTYPING AND THE DIGITAL PRODUCT