Application of Information Theory to the Quantification of Concurrent Engineering Processes

  • Authors:

  • George Chryssolouris;Eleni Vassiliou;Dimitris Mavrikios

  • Affiliations:

  • Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics, University of Patras, Rio, Patras 26500, Greece;Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics, University of Patras, Rio, Patras 26500, Greece;Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics, University of Patras, Rio, Patras 26500, Greece

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 2006 conference on Leading the Web in Concurrent Engineering: Next Generation Concurrent Engineering
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

The paper explores the use of Information Theory for modelling the information exchange and flow in the product development process. The models developed are implemented in serial, as well as in concurrent product development. They provide a qualitative analysis of the messages exchanged through the communication channels and they lead to a comparison of the effectiveness of concurrent engineering to that of sequential. The case study is the pilot implementation of the model, based on information theory, in a bicycle manufacturing company. The results have shown that in the concurrent approach, the total development and detection times of the potential errors are reduced compared with those in the serial approach.