Booker, J D; Lock, R; Williamson, S and Freire, G J (2016) Effective practices for the concept design of electromechanical systems. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 14(3), pp. 489-506.
Abstract
Purpose Concept design practices in engineering are not common across industry or academia. There are a number of well-known tools and methods acknowledged as useful in facilitating concept designing, that is, to assist idea generation, aid evaluation and final selection of one winning concept from many. Combinations of these popular concept design tools and methods provide various systematic methodologies by which practitioners propose to conduct or teach concept designing. In this paper, effective practices and trends are observed through the application of a specific concept design methodology over a range of different projects in electromechanical systems design. Design/methodology/approach The concept design methodology utilised in this study has been developed through the adoption of various tools and methods shown to be beneficial to concept designing, supported by previous positive experiences and successful utilisation associated with electromechanical systems research projects in academia. Each stage of the methodology is discussed and six case studies are presented, which are used to explore effective practices for concept designing. Findings Analysis of the case study data reveals the most popular criteria for the selection of concepts in electromechanical systems design, the number of selection criteria and number of initial concepts ideally required to converge on a final winning concept more efficiently, that is without the need for a more detailed second stage of selection using performance metrics. Originality/value Rarely are detailed studies undertaken in concept design, first, to address the justification for the concept design methodology adopted and, second, to show how effective practices emerge through the analysis of non-subjective data over a number of concept design projects. Although the paper uses only six case studies in electromechanical systems design, it is hoped that the approach presented promotes the possible future development of a framework for verification of concept design methodologies across different products, sectors and user groups.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case studies; design strategies; concept design; electromechanical system design and analysis |
| Index terms: | performance metric, design strategy, user group, methodology, practitioner, case study, concept design, academia, systems design, selection criteria |
| Subjects: | educational institutions, design process, tendering, research methods, performance measurement, practitioner, design methods, client relations, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Research Practice, Education, Design Practice, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here