Research

In manufacturing, the conceptual design and detailed design stages are typically regarded as sequential and distinct. Decisions made in conceptual design are often made with little information as to how they would affect detailed design or manufacturing process specification. Many possibilities and unknowns exist in conceptual design where ideas about product shape and functionality are changing rapidly. Few if any tools exist to aid in this difficult, amorphous stage in contrast to the many CAD and analysis tools for detailed design where much more is known about the final product. The Materials Process Design Environment (MPDE) is a collaborative problem solving environment (CPSE) that was developed so geographically dispersed designers in both the conceptual and detailed stage can work together and understand the impacts of their design decisions on functionality, cost and manufacturability.

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TYPE Conference YEAR 2001

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Developing collaborative environments - A Holistic software development methodology

Petersen, Marjorie B.; Mitchiner, John L.

Sandia National Laboratories has been developing technologies to support person-to-person collaboration and the efforts of teams in the business and research communities. The technologies developed include knowledge-based design advisors, knowledge management systems, and streamlined manufacturing supply chains. These collaborative environments in which people can work together sharing information and knowledge have required a new approach to software development. The approach includes an emphasis on the requisite change in business practice that often inhibits user acceptance of collaborative technology. Leveraging the experience from this work, they have established a multidisciplinary approach for developing collaborative software environments. They call this approach ``A Holistic Software Development Methodology''.

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TYPE Conference YEAR 2000

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