Analysis and combination of existing "Design for X" approaches to enable a holistic product design

Abstract

Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (Riunet)

[EN] The recognition of the importance of design decision during product development has lead to several changes in industrialized enterprises. Increasing global competition and changing markets push the companies to development new strategies. Many studies point out the connection between product design and industrial competitiveness, since design stage dictates around the 70-80% of total product lifecycle cost, meanwhile it takes a very short period of product lifecycle [Capr 10] p. 66, [Chiu 11] p. 1. For that reason, it becomes necessary to consider at design stage some aspects of the product lifecycle that before were not included in design studies. The importance of a great product design to its posterior successful led to the emergence of several design methodologies and approaches grouped under the name of "Design for X". Each Design for X methodology addresses a particular product lifecycle phase or concrete virtue of the product, by replacing the "X" for the specific purpose. Each Design for X approach provides several tools and principles to guide product designers during the design stage. The problem is that the development and evaluation of each different approach is made separately and it is not possible to find a concept that joins all the aspects of Design for X system. It is difficult to know which approaches complement each other, which ones may be in conflict or what sequence of application is the most efficient. As a result of this inconvenience, the idea of combining and analyzing the different Design for X approaches arises with the purpose of facilitate a holistic Design for X concept.