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Research in Engineering Design

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01-07-2015 | Original Paper

Managing and supporting product life cycle through engineering change management for a complex product

Authors: Eswaran Subrahmanian, Christopher Lee, Helen Granger, The n-dim group

Published in: Research in Engineering Design | Issue 3/2015

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Abstract

This paper reports a case study of design and engineering change management in the design and manufacture of automated train systems in a company. The paper uses a combination of surveys and interviews to map the information flow processes in the design and engineering processes. Based on the interviews and data collected on information flow and communication processes, the paper identifies the sources of engineering changes in the design process. Further, the paper takes cognizance of the change in the organizational structure of the company’s engineering change processes to evaluate the engineering change notice (ECN) policies and its application in the company to identify the cause of errors in the engineering change process itself. Based on the analysis, the paper describes a support system that incorporates a novel, context-based ECN generation and workflow routing support system that is intended to reduce the cognitive load of the design engineer. The goal of the system is also to measure the causes of ECN to aid and improve managerial action.

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We have used the name Atrain to anonymize the name of the company.

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Title: Managing and supporting product life cycle through engineering change management for a complex product
Authors: Eswaran Subrahmanian
Christopher Lee
Helen Granger
The n-dim group
Publication date: 01-07-2015
Publisher: Springer London
Published in: Research in Engineering Design / Issue 3/2015
Print ISSN: 0934-9839
Electronic ISSN: 1435-6066
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00163-015-0192-1

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