Embedding design structures in engineering information

Engineers use design structures, such as Bills of Materials (BoMs), to tailor product definitions, including shape, for particular activities. For example, an engineering BoM defines the as-designed product whereas a manufacturing BoM defines the as-built state of the same product and a service BoM includes information on how the product has been maintained. All of these BoMs relate to the same designed product. However in practice, because of restrictions arising from current computer aided design technologies and associated business systems, different BoMs are usually related to separate digital definitions of the same product. This creates significant data management problems that add cost, time and rework into product development processes. If resolved, substantial business benefits, through improved efficiency and effectiveness of product development processes, could be achieved.

Key challenges for engineers lie in (1) understanding how the range of BoMs and other design structures of a given product relate to each other and the product itself, and (2) in ensuring they have the best design structure(s) for specific tasks. For example, a BoM is a hierarchy of part-whole relationships that are useful when a product breakdown structure is needed whereas engineering design tasks typically need design structures that capture how the part being designed relates to the parts to which it must interface. In this second type of [lattice] structure, assembly mating relationships are needed. These and other kinds of connection relationship are fundamentally different to the part-whole relationships of a BoM.

Embedding allows one instance of a mathematical construct to be superimposed on another [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embedding]. It has been documented since the 1930s in the mathematics literature. Descriptions of concrete applications are less common but do occur in, e.g., in the shape computation literature. Methods to enable the robust implementation of embedding for use in real-world applications remains an open research issue. This project will explore the feasibility of computational tools that can be used to embed design structures in engineering information. If successful we will demonstrate ways in which engineers can associate multiple design structures with a given design as and when such structures are needed. In doing so, key areas of work will be in
1) The development of user-focussed case studies where the added value of embedding can be better understood and
2) The creation of software prototypes for use in demonstrating this potential.

The project team brings together researchers with track records in engineering design and associated information systems, organisational psychology, mathematics and computing. We will work with industrial and other end user partners to define case studies and use them to support demonstrations of how embedding might be implemented and used to enhance real-world engineering design, manufacturing and through life support processes.

The proposed research has high potential impact for a number of problem domains and solution providers. For engineering design, the research could improve key decision making activities by changing the ways in which engineers think about and work with engineering information. In addition, there is potential for wider impact in other engineering sectors. For example, in the construction industry, embedding could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness with which Building Information Models (BIM) are created and used through the whole life of a building. Embedding could also add value in other problem domains where there is a need to create relationships across scales or cast new lenses on large data sets, and the research will impact the maths and computing communities by providing requirements for general purpose implementations of embedding. Our challenge lies in realising this impact for such a wide range of audiences and communities.

With respect to the RCUK typology of research impacts, the research will create both academic, and economic and societal impact.

Academic impact: The research will use innovative approaches to implement embedding and in doing so create new cross-disciplinary knowledge on how embedding might support engineering tasks. Scientific advancement will be in the form of new implementation mechanisms that will make embedding accessible to users and improved understanding of requirements for mathematics and computing. The work will improve the health of the academic discipline of engineering design by providing theoretical foundations for future generations of digital design system and improving our ability to describe the concept of embedding and outline its benefits to engineering design. Embedding has the potential to solve the general problem of relating data across scales in many academic communities. Examples include the construction sector (with the introduction of BIM), materials design, medical bio-informatics and big data communities. The project will also develop two highly skilled PDRAs and enhance their CVs through publications and engagement with industry and other academic disciplines.

Economic and societal impact: If it became possible to easily embed design structures in engineering information, as and when needed, then the efficiency and effectiveness of product development processes would be dramatically improved. This, in turn, could improve the innovation capacity of the organisations that operate these processes so contributing to wealth creation and economic prosperity. One of the real challenges in maximising environmental sustainability and protection through the life of large complex products lies in the poor quality of the product data that is available to engineers and other professionals once a product is in use. This is especially so when there is a need for information on how the product has been used after it was commissioned. For example, in the nuclear industry, information related to radiation exposure could be embedded into the definition of a product and then used at the end of its life when decisions related to disposal are made. The project will also contribute to the development of engineering students (undergraduate and postgraduate): at Leeds and the OU through student projects linked to the research (e.g., students might create case studies from their own design work and explore the potential benefits of embedding) and in other institutions through digital learning assets published on Jorum (or equivalent) and downloadable software prototypes whose use will be integrated with projects associated with the digital assets.