Abstract
This paper reports research on approaches for accessing and controlling product data within the Product Introduction Process (PIP) through the specification, prototyping, and integration of a set of product structures, product viewpoints and their relationships. A significant achievement has been the validation of a collection of computer-based models of product structures that enable the capture of work breakdown, product specification, product functionality, and the physical parts that comprise the product. Furthermore, a number of relationships between these product structures and the business processes that use and create them have been identified. The work presented in this paper demonstrates the importance of representing relationships between product introduction processes and products through the adoption of product structures. The potential for exploiting product structures to improve understanding of relationships between products and processes is illustrated. A case study captures flows of related functional and physical product structures within PIPs across a two-tier supply chain, and discusses the issues involved in supporting such related product and process information.
