A multiple perspective product modelling and simulation approach to engineering design support

The competitive market requires better products designed and made in a shorter time with higher quality and lower cost. The speed of launching products onto the market and more importantly the quality of the products become increasingly important factors for a new product to become successful. With rapid advancement in computing power both in terms of hardware capability and software functionalities, product engineering designers are now better equipped to create and make new and novel products than ever before. Engineering designers have so far benefited from computer systems to aid their various design activities. Yet, at the same time, they still feel the inadequacy of these systems in coping with the increasing pressure for them to produce better products in a shorter time. Without committing further expense to develop super-computer design support systems, how the current systems are being best used becomes an important issue and research avenue for investigation. This paper describes an innovative design process model for computer based engineering design through an integrated and coherent use of these CAD systems. The design approach based on the computer multiperspective modeling and evaluation derived from the above design process model can provide comprehensive and integrated design support for various engineering design activities. The pragmatic approach derived in this research promotes the novel use of existing systems in an integrated yet manageable manner. Examples of how these systems have been used are described in the paper to illustrate the benefits