Towards a Methodology for Appropriate Acquisition of Design Software in Concurrent Engineering Design Organisations

Concurrent Engineering (CE) attempts to process as many product development tasks in parallel as possible while at the same time maximising the use of downstream life-cycle knowledge at early stages of the design process. An effective implementation of this strategy can reduce the duration of design projects, save development costs, and provide better quality products. The successful management and execution of CE projects within such a highly distributed, knowledge intensive environment requires an appropriate selection of Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) software as well as Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools for product and process modelling and analysis, and includes tools for such functions as data management, decision-making and communications between stakeholders. Because such tools and technology play a significant role in the successful implementation of CE, an important challenge to modern industry is the ability to quickly and accurately assess and acquire the most appropriate software tools to support product development. A framework that utilises the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique and incorporates the unique requirements of the CE product development domain is proposed