Modelling effective Product Development systems as Network-of-Networks

Whilst Product Development is the basis of engineering, increasingly complex products have a tendency to also increase the complexity of the Product Development process, and in many cases the process is not truly understood. There are many tools that have been developed for managing complexity, but few that are specific to Product Development and fewer still that provide pragmatic analyzes that can be used by decision-makers. This paper develops a methodology to apply a Network-of-Networks approach to data collected from a Product Development organization and provides an accompanying pragmatic analytical framework that can be used by decision-makers on all levels. It then uses an Agent-Based modelling approach to represent the knowledge diffusion within Product Development. This allows a microscopic analysis to complement the macroscopic analysis of the Network-of-Networks approach. This will allow an organization to analyze its current practices on both macro and micro scales, model dynamic changes to the structure of the organization and understand its internal dynamics, with respect to development teams and the design process. This will illuminate the complex system dynamics in Product Development that would otherwise be viewed of as unexpected consequences to a system intervention. This understanding will give greater ability to make suitable, risk-mitigating decisions.