Capturing and Managing Design Rationale for Aero Engine Component Development
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2008:164 CIV MASTER’S THESIS Capturing and managing Design Rationale for aero engine component development Erika Andersson MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAMME Mechanical Engineering Luleå University of Technology Department of Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering Division of Functional Product Development 2008:164 CIV • ISSN: 1402 - 1617 • ISRN: LTU - EX - - 08/164 - - SE 'we know more than we can tell' Michael Polanyi (1967: 4) The Tacit Dimension Preface This thesis work is the final project for receiving a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Luleå University of technology (LTU), Luleå and has been conducted at Volvo Aero in Trollhättan. The project has been carried out between February 2008 and September 2008 and has been very interesting and rewarding from start. I feel that this project has made me more prepared for future work and has given me other perspectives to the work of engineering. I will definitely bring all my lessons learned and experiences with me in my “knowledge backpack” using them whenever needed. I would like to thank all those people both within and without Volvo Aero that has shown interest in my thesis and without any doubt helped me by answering all of my questions and interviews. Tanks to Gunnar Marke (Volvo Aero) and Mats Lejon (Volvo Aero) for your support and care for my wellbeing during this project. A special thanks to my supervisors Ola Isaksson (Volvo Aero) for his never-ending enthusiasm in my moments of frustration and Andreas Larsson (LTU) for taking his time answering my emails despite being in USA. Thank you for your support, guidance and help! Last but not least, thanks to my family and dear friends for putting up with me during this process. Tank you! Erika Andersson Trollhättan 2008-09-01 Abstract Companies today are facing an increasingly competition and with that the companies have to be more innovative and create new ideas and concepts on a tighter time schedule. This situation increases the demands to use and reuse knowledge, not only figures and facts but even the knowledge that comes with experience such as design alternatives and the reasons behind why selecting one alternative over another, also called Design Rationale. The purpose of the thesis was to investigate and understand the organizations needs of Design Rationale and to identify and try out potential approaches to finally recommend a method so that it is possible to capture Design Rationale in an early development phase. In order to find an approach to capture Design Rationale, needs for a possible capturing tool hade to be identified. This was made through personal interviews among the personnel at Volvo Aero, attending meetings in different projects, observations and many discussions both within and without Volvo Aero. Furthermore three computer based systems where chosen for evaluation since computers are used as the natural way of working and writing at Volvo Aero. These systems where then evaluated and weighted against the needs to be able to se if the systems fulfilled the requirements. Two of the systems where also tested. Computer tools can effectively help organize and structure thoughts and decisions. A good overview of the situation is one of the effects from this. When awareness and a basic level of understanding about Design Rationale benefits are received Design Rationale can be captured using the systems suggested. To be able to implement and capture support and methods for Design Rationale, people need to be aware of Design Rationale existence and it is essential that it becomes a part of and implemented in the design culture at the company. Table of contents 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND...............................................................................................................................1 1.2 VOLVO AERO COMPANY ...............................................................................................................3 1.3 THE STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY OF DESIGN ...................................................................................4 1.3.1 Tacit and Explicit knowledge...................................................................................................6 1.3.2 Knowledge lifecycle.................................................................................................................6 1.3.3 Capturing explicit and tacit knowledge ...................................................................................8 1.4 WHAT IS DESIGN RATIONALE?......................................................................................................8 1.5 WHY DO WE NEED METHODS FOR DESIGN RATIONALE?................................................................9 2 METHOD ...........................................................................................................................................11 2.1 NEEDFINDING..............................................................................................................................11 2.1.1 Literature study......................................................................................................................12 2.1.2 Interviews...............................................................................................................................12 2.1.3 Participation and observations..............................................................................................12 3 INVESTIGATION AND EVALUATION .......................................................................................13 3.1 INTERVIEWS ................................................................................................................................13 3.1.1 Analysis of the interviews ......................................................................................................13 3.2 NEEDS FOR DESIGN RATIONALE TOOLS ......................................................................................15 3.3 STATE OF PRACTICE ....................................................................................................................16 3.3.1 Current practice at Volvo Aero .............................................................................................16 3.4 STATE OF ART .............................................................................................................................17 3.4.1 Hewlett-Packard....................................................................................................................17 3.4.2 Design Rationale editor.........................................................................................................17 3.5 TOOLS FOR DESIGN RATIONALE..................................................................................................18 3.5.1 Design Rational editor...........................................................................................................18 3.5.2 MindManager ........................................................................................................................20 3.5.3 Teamsite.................................................................................................................................21 4 RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................................23 4.1 TOOLS FOR DESIGN RATIONALE..................................................................................................23 4.1.1 DRed......................................................................................................................................23 4.1.2 MindManager ........................................................................................................................23 4.1.3 Teamsite.................................................................................................................................23 4.1.4 Evaluation..............................................................................................................................23 5 CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION................................................................................................27 6 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER WORK .....................................................................................29 7 REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................31 APPENDIX A ..............................................................................................................................................33 APPENDIX B...............................................................................................................................................34 1 Introduction Imagine you just started working at a company that is active on the global market. You just got a new design assignment to solve and there are high demands on delivering products in a short time. To be able to find out the history behind the product, you read old documents but you never really understand why the part looks like it does. The option left is to go and ask a person that has worked with a similar product several years ago. This person is also soon to be retired which means that this person is taking all that knowledge with him and from the company. This is a problem that not just newly employed persons face but all personnel working