The hottest lean R & D and design theory methodolo

Lean R & D and design theory methodology

Preface: Lean R & D as a new design concept is becoming more and more mature. In order to enable readers to further understand the concept, connotation and characteristics of lean R & D, I have the honor to interview Professor Liu Jihong, an expert in design theory and methodology. Professor Liu, who has been engaged in the research of design theory and methodology for many years, made an incisive exposition on the enterprise needs of lean R & D, the development and evolution of design patterns at home and abroad, and the concept connotation of lean R & D

: as an expert who has been engaged in the research of design theory and design methodology for a long time, what deficiencies do you think exist in the application of design theory and design methodology in the field of domestic manufacturing informatization compared with the development of foreign informatization

first of all, we need to introduce a brief history of the development of design theory and methodology. Since the 1960s, the research on design theory and design methodology has received extensive attention, and many theories have been put forward, such as the system design methodology proposed by Pahl and Beitz of Berlin University of technology in Germany, the general design proposed by Hiroyuki Yoshikawa of Tokyo University in Japan, the design principle proposed by Suh of Massachusetts Institute of technology in the United States, and so on. Some theories, such as system design methodology, have become one of the German industrial standards. In the early and late 1980s, international conferences on design theory and methodology (iced) and DTM (International Conference on design theory and methodology) were launched in Europe and the United States respectively. In addition to the representative theories mentioned above, many modern design methods have also emerged, such as innovative problem solving TRIZ, product family design, robust design, multidisciplinary design optimization, simulation based design, DFX, and so on

the application of foreign design theories and methodologies has been summarized in some papers and reports. Taking a Japanese report as an example, this paper briefly introduces the application of design methods and tools in product development of Japanese manufacturing enterprises. Why take Japan alone as an example? This is mainly because the "lean R & D" discussed later is closely related to Japanese product development and production. In January2006, the proceedings of the Japan mechanical Society (equivalent to the Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering) published a survey and analysis report based on 221 questionnaires from 118 Japanese manufacturing enterprises in 2002 by Professor Yoshio Fujita of Osaka University, Japan, and compared it with the analysis reports of Britain, New Zealand and other countries (Figure). Generally speaking, the application status varies from country to country, which is related to corporate culture or product development philosophy. For example, in addition to traditional product development methods (patent query, literature search, smart storm method, etc.), Japanese enterprises mainly focus on market and quality issues (such as TQC, VA, FMEA, benchmark, Taguchi method, QFD, etc.), while British enterprises use more methods and tools such as FMEA, design sample machine, rapid prototyping, DFX, etc

Application of foreign advanced R & D methods and tools

after the "CAD application engineering", "CIMS application engineering", "manufacturing informatization engineering" successively implemented by the Ministry of science and technology of the people's Republic of China since 1995, many domestic enterprises have continuously expanded the breadth and depth of product R & D informatization application. However, there are some problems: (1) domestic enterprises are lack of innovation in product R & D methods. Many new product development methods in foreign countries were proposed by enterprises and refined later, such as QFD in Japan, Taguchi method and even lean production, multidisciplinary design optimization in the United States, simulation based design, DFX, etc. in this regard, China's efforts are still very insufficient. (2) Domestic enterprises' cognition of new product development methods is not comprehensive and systematic. On the one hand, enterprises focus on production rather than products. They jokingly say R & D, because the direct benefits of R & D are not obvious; On the other hand, the close cooperation between industry, University and Research Institute is not enough. The design method education received by students in school cannot be combined with practice, and they cannot apply what they have learned. Most enterprises understand and accept new design methods not actively but passively. (3) The domestic consulting departments on new design methods and the development ability of corresponding software tools are insufficient

: compare the development level of informatization at home and abroad, as well as the application level of design theory and design methodology. What is the significance of the concept of "lean research and development" to our current situation? In what aspects does it embody design theory and design methodology? What role does it play in the development of domestic informatization

the proposal and acceptance of new concepts of product development require corresponding environment and soil. Why can the United States propose "mass production" and why can Japan propose "lean production"? In fact, this is caused by different national conditions and different times. The current situation facing China's manufacturing industry is that it must realize the transformation from "made in China" to "created in China" and integrate into the international competitive market. This requires Chinese manufacturing enterprises to pay more attention to product research and development than ever before. The concept of "lean R & D" should just meet the needs of the development of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. It will guide enterprise managers and technicians to carry out product development activities more actively, and truly realize that product R & D is the main embodiment of the core competitiveness of enterprises. It will also further promote the innovation, popularization and application of product design and development methods

in fact, the national research and technology program has long supported the research and application of product design and development methods. For example, since the launch of the 863 Program of the Ministry of science and technology, it has been supporting product design and development methods in terms of design automation and design methods, which has become an indispensable equipment support. Of course, compared with CAX technology, the efforts to promote new design methods need to be improved in the future. From the perspective of informatization, after the CAX technology supporting product detailed design has been widely used, how to apply informatization means to the front end of product design and development, such as market analysis, conceptual design, etc., will inevitably become a concern, and this should also be one of the goals of "lean research and development". Therefore, the concept of "lean R & D" will promote the new product design and R & D methods to be instrumented by means of information technology, and will be applied in manufacturing enterprises

: from the perspective of design theory and design methodology research, how do you understand the theoretical basis and core connotation of lean R & D

design theory and design methodology mainly clarify (or derive from theory or extract from practice) what the design process is and guide how to achieve correct design. The theoretical basis of lean R & D is the design process theory. Only by clarifying what kind of process the design process is, including which stages or links, the type of information in the design process and the way of transmission or processing, can we determine which design methods should be adopted and which corresponding design stages and links (steps) should be supported by the design technology. For example, when determining product requirements, we must consider using tools or methods such as QFD to accurately translate market (user) requirements into Engineering (technical) features, so as to further find possible conflict problems, so as to put forward problems to be solved for further adoption of innovative design methods. Similarly, for a basically completed design or existing design, DFX method can be used to analyze and evaluate it, and find out the improvements, so as to realize the integration of design and subsequent links

the core connotation of lean R & D should be to take product quality as the main line, adopt modern product design and development methods and tools, and realize the continuous improvement of product related R & D activities. In fact, this corresponds to the original meaning of the word "lean". The Chinese translators of the machine that changed the world, known as one of the "management classics", spent a lot of time translating the American call "lean production" for Toyota's production mode in Japan, and finally adopted the now widely recognized "lean production". The so-called "lean" actually means "keep improving", which means that "precision" represents perfection, thoroughness and high quality, while "benefit" represents benefit and increase. Therefore, "lean research and development" emphasizes how to continuously improve product quality in product research and development

: Percy Asia Pacific's lean R & D platform Pera includes three sub platforms: innovation, simulation and quality. Each sub platform also contains several tools. According to your understanding of the Pera platform, do you think these platforms and tools fully reflect the idea of lean R & D? If not, which platforms or tools do you think should be included

at the beginning of June 2008, Ansai Asia Pacific held a seminar and invited me to participate. I learned about the content of the lean R & D platform launched by Ansai Asia Pacific for the first time. In general, I think Pera reflects the lean R & D idea more accurately, just as I understood the connotation of lean R & D earlier. First of all, Pera is the integration of three sub platforms (although I don't agree with the statement of Platform Suite sub platform). In addition to the collaborative simulation platform of Ansai Asia Pacific, it also adds an innovation platform and a quality design platform. These platforms can basically support the early stage of product development. Secondly, many of the tools contained in Pera are the embodiment of the design method, and these tools correspond to most of the design methods in Figure 1. Moreover, Pera highlights the idea of "quality first". It goes without saying that the quality design platform, innovative design platform and collaborative simulation platform serve this idea

pera will definitely add new tools according to the needs of enterprises. In fact, for enterprises, in addition to the continuous improvement of product quality, it is also important to provide products that meet the diverse needs of users (market). Therefore, similar product family design support tools may also need to be included in the scope of lean R & D platform

: according to your understanding of the enterprise that the new standard system covers raw and auxiliary materials, production management and product testing, do you think Pera really meets the needs of the enterprise in research and development

I think Pera is more practical in meeting the R & D needs of enterprises

first, quality requirements. Quality is the primary product goal of manufacturing enterprises, especially military enterprises. Just like the slogan of "quality is life" put forward by Aerospace Science and technology group, product quality means the brand and reputation of enterprises, and also means the competitiveness of enterprises. The reason why Japanese products are famous in the world is that their quality is excellent. The excellent quality of Japanese products is due to the Japanese belief in the concept of "excellence". In order to better integrate into the international market, Chinese enterprises must get rid of the image of "low price and low grade", improve product quality, and thus improve product added value, and must rely on "lean research and development"

secondly, benefit demand. Through the implementation of "lean R & D", we should sort out and improve the product R & D links, strengthen cooperation, improve innovation efficiency, design efficiency, analysis efficiency and optimization efficiency, and ensure the success rate of design

: can you talk about your suggestions on the development of lean R & D concept and lean R & D platform

first, the concept of lean R & D should be included in the concept of lean production. In fact, Americans are summarizing Toyota in Japan