Abstract
Research and/or Engineering Questions/Objective
The product development process can be different depending on company or products, yet the essential tasks in the process stay the same. It is a company’s goal to optimize this process to save money, time and resources during the process as well as reduce costs after product launch due to warranty cases and even worse, image loss for the company. Most companies apply simulations in their product development process but often not in an efficient way.
Methodology
The Frontloading approach requires a much earlier and closer integration in the design process. The applied simulation tools have to be able to provide result to new designs fast in order to keep up with the fast design cycles and influence the next designs positively based on the simulation results. Not every simulation tool or process is able to provide such a fast feedback on new design ideas, making the Frontloading approach not suitable for all tools.
Result
Applying the Frontloading approach for simulations in the product development process increases the number of simulations very early in the product design stage and enables engineers to react on simulation results much faster and easier. Compared to simulations being applied at a much later stage of the product development process where often large design changes have to be applied in order to incorporate the changes, the Frontloading of simulations can reduce such interventions which cost time and money. Getting to a mature product with faster design-simulation steps earlier increases the product competitiveness.
Limitations of this study
The Frontloading approach can be applied in a wide range of simulations but the important requirement for an efficient frontloading of simulations is a fast simulation process that does not slow the product design down and has to be able to react on the increasing speed of design iterations. Though the Frontloading can apply for a range of simulation methods, this paper is based on experiences in the field of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics).
What does the paper offer that is new in the field in comparison to other work of the author?
The presented Frontloading approach is spreading in the industry but has not yet been documented and compared to other product development processes publicly to our knowledge.
Conclusions
Frontloading of simulations increases the flexibility on design ideas, reduces the overall development time and costs. This results in a higher competitiveness and more product innovations that can set companies apart from their competition.
Keywords : Design, Simulation, Development Process, Frontloading