Modeling software testing costs and risks using fuzzy logic paradigm
Journal of Systems and Software
Concurrent Crashing and Overlapping in Product Development
Operations Research
A Value Creation Planning Method to Complex Engineering Products Development
Proceedings of the 2006 conference on Leading the Web in Concurrent Engineering: Next Generation Concurrent Engineering
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A fundamental problem in managing product development is the optimal timing, frequency, and fidelity of sequential testing activities that are carried out to evaluate novel product concepts and designs. In this paper, we develop a mathematical model that treats testing as an activity that generates information about technical and customer-need related problems. An analysis of the model results in several important findings.First, optimal testing strategies need to balance the tension between several variables, including the increasing cost of redesign, the cost of a test as function of fidelity, and the correlation between sequential tests.Second, a simple form of our model results in an EOQ-like result: The optimal number of tests (called theEconomicTestingFrequency or ETF) is the square root of the ratio of avoidable cost and the cost of a test.Third, the relationship between sequential tests can have an impact on optimal testing strategies. If sequential tests are increasing refinements of one another, managers should invest their budgets in a few high-fidelity tests, whereas if the tests identify problems independently of one another it may be more effective if developers carry out a higher number of lower-fidelity tests. Using examples, the implications for managerial practice are discussed and suggestions for further research undertakings are provided.