Modeling design iteration in product design and development and its solution by a novel artificial bee colony...

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Computer Science
• Operations Research

Background:

• Product development faces challenges in balancing quality improvement with cost reduction.
• Design iterations often increase product costs and extend development timelines.
• Identifying and modeling task couplings is crucial for enterprise competitiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address limitations in the WTM model for managing design task couplings.
• To develop an optimized decoupling strategy for product development.
• To enhance enterprise competitiveness through efficient product design.

Main Methods:

• Discussed shortcomings of the WTM model.
• Applied tearing approach and inner iteration method to solve coupled sets.
• Developed a hybrid iteration model integrating these methods.
• Utilized the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm for optimal decoupling scheme identification.

Main Results:

• A novel hybrid iteration model was established.
• The ABC algorithm effectively identified optimal decoupling schemes.
• The proposed methods were validated through an engineering design of a chemical processing system.
• Demonstrated significant improvements in managing task couplings.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid iteration model effectively complements the WTM model.
• The ABC algorithm provides an efficient solution for optimizing decoupling strategies.
• The approach enhances product development by reducing costs and time.
• This methodology is crucial for improving core enterprise competitiveness.