TY - GEN
T1 - Change propagation analysis in complex technical systems
AU - Giffin, Monica
AU - Keller, Rene
AU - De Weck, Olivier
AU - Eckert, Claudia
AU - Bounova, Gergana
AU - Clarkson, John
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Understanding how and why changes propagate during engineering design is critical because most products and systems emerge from predecessors and not through clean sheet design. This paper applies change propagation analysis methods and extends prior reasoning through examination of a large data set from industry including 41,500 change requests, spanning 8 years during the design of a complex sensor system. Different methods are used to analyze the data and the results are compared to each other and evaluated in the context of previous findings. In particular the networks of connected parent, child and sibling changes are resolved over time and mapped to 46 subsystem areas. A normalized change propagation index (CPI) is then developed, showing the relative strength of each area on the absorber-multiplier spectrum between -1 and +1. Multipliers send out more changes than they receive and are good candidates for more focused change management. Another interesting finding is the quantitative confirmation of the "ripple" change pattern. Unlike the earlier prediction, however, it was found that the peak of cyclical change activity occurred late in the program driven by systems integration and functional testing. Patterns emerged from the data and offer clear implications for technical change management approaches in system design.
AB - Understanding how and why changes propagate during engineering design is critical because most products and systems emerge from predecessors and not through clean sheet design. This paper applies change propagation analysis methods and extends prior reasoning through examination of a large data set from industry including 41,500 change requests, spanning 8 years during the design of a complex sensor system. Different methods are used to analyze the data and the results are compared to each other and evaluated in the context of previous findings. In particular the networks of connected parent, child and sibling changes are resolved over time and mapped to 46 subsystem areas. A normalized change propagation index (CPI) is then developed, showing the relative strength of each area on the absorber-multiplier spectrum between -1 and +1. Multipliers send out more changes than they receive and are good candidates for more focused change management. Another interesting finding is the quantitative confirmation of the "ripple" change pattern. Unlike the earlier prediction, however, it was found that the peak of cyclical change activity occurred late in the program driven by systems integration and functional testing. Patterns emerged from the data and offer clear implications for technical change management approaches in system design.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=44849142644&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/DETC2007-34652
DO - 10.1115/DETC2007-34652
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:44849142644
SN - 0791848027
SN - 9780791848029
SN - 0791848043
SN - 9780791848043
T3 - 2007 Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, DETC2007
SP - 183
EP - 192
BT - 2007 Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, DETC2007
T2 - 19th Int. Conf. Design Theory and Methodology and 1st Int. Conf. Micro and Nano Systems, presented at - 2007 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/CIE2007
Y2 - 4 September 2007 through 7 September 2007
ER -