Integrated Design and Manufacturing (IDM) Tradeoffs Through Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for Rotorcraft Applications

The Quality revolution of the 1980s revealed the need for conducting integrated design and manufacturing (product-process) tradeoffs early in the product development process to be competitive in the commercial marketplace1. This realization led to a renewed interest in Quality Engineering, particularly with an emphasis on Concurrent Engineering2. Later the emphasis shifted to improving the product development process itself and led to the recognized need for Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) in the mid 1990s3. Later, some observations on knowledge capture have come from the Government Accounting Office's (GAO's) investigation of best practices found in commercial companies4. In any new product development program there are three critical points that require the capture of specific knowledge to achieve successful outcomes. The first knowledge point occurs when the customer's requirements are clearly defined and resources—proven technology, design, time, and money—exist to satisfy them. Commercial companies insist that technology be mature at the outset of a product development program and, therefore, separate technology development from product development. The second knowledge point is achieved when the product's design is determined to be capable of meeting product requirements—the design is stable and ready to begin initial manufacturing of prototypes. The third knowledge point is achieved when a reliable product can be produced repeatedly within established cost, schedule, and quality targets. The Government Accounting Office's (GAO's) prior work on best practices covers achieving the first knowledge point5-6. A later report examined best practices for achieving the second and third knowledge points4. This paper will review how an IPPD approach can be supported by an integrated set of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools to conduct Integrated Design and Manufacturing (IDM) Tradeoffs in a timely manner.