1,721,178 research outputs found
Development of a framework to estimate the software obsolescence resolution cost of custom build real-time software.
Full text linkRoy, Rajkumar - Associate SupervisorSoftware plays an important role in the defence sector. Almost every project in
defence has got software with various degrees of complexity and dependencies.
Software obsolescence is one of the key cost drivers which has historically been
assessed as part of the maintenance cost due to the lack of data/information and
due to the fact that there are no tools, techniques, or framework to help with the
software obsolescence management. Therefor it is key for the industry and
Defence sector to address software obsolescence and to find an approachable
way to counter the effect of software obsolescence.
The aim of this research is to develop a software obsolescence cost analysis
framework to predict the software obsolescence resolution cost of custom build
real time software at early stages of the product life cycle. For the
accomplishment of the aim, an extensive literature review on software
obsolescence and its related themes was undertaken, a systematic case study
with online survey corroborated the findings and revealed the current practices in
the UK Defence sector. Further collaboration with 35 experts from industries led
to undertaking a cognitive case study to enable the iterative development of
Software Obsolescence Cost Analysis Framework. This was demonstrated by
applying the framework to five case studies as part of expert validation.
The novelty of this research is that it tries to solve an issue with significant real-
world impact for which very little work exists with lots of real-world inputs from
SME and real case studies. Cognitive case study with software experts is unique
and has never attempted before to solve this issue. The research comes up with
a novel way to quantify the costs for the very first time with strong input from
primary data sources. The key limitation of the research is in the unavailability of
any historic technical data.PhD in Manufacturin
Improvement of cost estimating internal practice.
Full text linkThis thesis is concerned with understanding the internal costing practices employed
by commercial and engineering disciplines of cost estimating for generating
estimates at the conceptual design stage of complex hardware products. It examines
whether there is a formal structure in the interaction between the two groups that
can be represented within a model. The aim is to develop a framework that will
formalise and improve the communication of commercial and engineering
disciplines in cost estimating.
A literature review examines the role of different costing techniques and the
information requirements for generating cost estimates. The review identifies that
there is a lack of research in the information requirements for cost estimating of
specific manufacturing industries, and that the interaction of commercial and
engineering disciplines of cost estimating at conceptual design stage is hindered by
the different focuses of these groups.
By conducting a survey study the author identifies the internal practice in
cost estimating for the automotive industry. The survey establishesth at in order to
improve the internal practice it is essential to establish a data infrastructure that
fortnalises and enables the reuse of the cost estimates and improves the interaction
between the two groups. The author identifies a common cost estimating process
for the automotive industry. This study establishes the required data and
information elements and information sources that need to be collected in order to
have reliable data infrastructure. Using a case study approach, the author also
establishes that it is essential to analyse the product functions in such a way that
will enable the development of a detailed cost estimating model at the conceptual
design stage, which will improve interaction between the commercial and
engineering groups. The function-based cost estimating process becomes the focus
of detailed studies using experts from the automotive industry. This results in a
generic framework that provides a formalised structure to represent functional
requirements in the form of a detailed cost estimating model.
The thesis concludes that product functions need to be captured and
analysedd uring the conceptuald evelopmento f a product and be associatedto cost
estimates. The developed results provide both groups of cost estimating a
structured, consistent approach to developing cost estimates at the conceptual
design stage. The data infrastructure and the function-based cost estimating
framework is validated through case studies and expert evaluation. The approach
contributes towards improvement of the internal cost estimating practice with the
automotive industry
Managing knowledge within the manufacturing enterprise: An overview
Full text linkThis paper examines the literature relating to manufacturing knowledge and
describes how it contributes to the manufacturing enterprise. The review shows
that there is a strong emphasis on design in the manufacturing knowledge
research domain, and that detailed design is the main focus for current
research. An analysis is carried out according to publication date and
consequently trends are identified. The design focus is increasing, and the
trends show that the domain is driven by industrial applications. The
contribution to fundamental research in areas such as knowledge modelling is
increasing. Areas that currently have little work in this domain include
conceptual design and service
Estimating the design and development cost of electronic items
Full text linkThis thesis is concerned with understanding the issues in generating cost estimates at the conceptual design stage for Embedded Systems Design and Development (ES D&D), based on specifications. The research examines if there are any relationships between the system’s specifications and the system’s cost, and if these relationships can be formalised. The aim is to develop a framework that will structure, formalise and improve the ES D&D Cost Estimating process.
Literature review examines current situation regarding ES D&D Cost Estimating and the information requirements for generating cost estimates. The review identifies that research concentrates on Embedded Systems manufacturing cost estimation, there is a lack of research regarding D&D cost estimation, as well as on the information requirements for generating D&D cost estimates.
By conducting an industrial survey, the author identifies the internal practice on ES D&D Cost Estimating for the automotive and aerospace industries and identifies trends, commonalties and differences within and between them. The survey establishes that in order to improve the ES D&D Cost Estimating process, it is essential to establish a data infrastructure that will avoid issues with shortage of information imposed by suppliers and will link the Embedded System’s specifications with the system’s actual implementation and expected functionality.
Using a case study approach, the author also establishes that it is essential to analyse the product functionality in such a way that will enable the development of a detailed cost estimating framework at the specification’s design stage. The framework is developed in three parts for hardware, software and integration and reuse. The ES hardware design and development effort is predicted using a complexity based cost estimating approach. The research has demonstrated that Use Case Points can be used to predict software development effort for ES software development when the specification is expressed as use cases. In case of statechart based specifications, the development effort is predicted, like in the case of Hardware, using a complexity based cost estimating approach. The study then investigates factors that affect Integration and Reuse effort for ES D&D. The Integration and Reuse effort is predicted using a expert judgement based methodology.
The developed results provide automotive industry with a structured, consistent approach to develop cost estimates for the ES D&D Cost at the specifications design stage. The approach contributes towards improvement of the cost estimating practice within the automotive industry
Formalisation and reuse of cost engineering knowledge
No full textThis thesis is concerned with understanding the role and utilisation of cost
engineering knowledge for generating cost estimates with respect to long life
cycle, complex hardware products. lt examines whether there is a formal
structure to the
reasoning process of experts as they use judgement and
whether this process can be represented within a model. The aim is to develop
a framework that formalises cost engineering knowledge to facilitate its reuse.
A literature review examines the role of expert knowledge and judgement for
generating cost estimates. The review identifies that there are mixed views on
how
knowledge is used and managed. Using an industrial case study
approach, the author identifies the cost estimation practices for a new military
air system. The study establishes that it is essential to capture assumptions
and associated rationale to facilitate knowledge reuse. Experts use an analogy
based reasoning process to make judgments and assumptions. The reasoning
process became the focus of detailed studies using experts from across
industry, resulting in a generic model. The model, known as an inference
structure, was implemented within a software tool. This provided a formalised
framework to
represent, capture, and reuse assumptions and associated
rationale.
The thesis concludes that assumptions and rationale need to be captured
during the development of cost estimates to facilitate knowledge reuse. There
is a formal, generic reasoning process that experts use when applying their
judgement. The results provide industry with a structured, consistent approach
to the formalisation and reuse of cost engineering knowledge. By adopting this
approach, companies can develop consistent estimates that will in turn improve
decision-making across industry
Developing a service knowledge reuse framework for engineering design
No full textThe manufacturing industry is shifting its emphasis from a traditional supplier of products to a supplier of increasingly integrated products and services, or product-service systems (PSSs). The new paradigm of PSS requires new design methodologies and supporting tools for the effective design and delivery of these enhanced services and integrated PSSs. A case study has been carried out to identify and classify service knowledge applied in practice, both in the service operation and in product design. This paper describes the service issues and service knowledge that has an impact on product design. An initial attempt is made to describe the role of service knowledge in design and also to describe in detail how to apply service knowledge in the conceptual design stage based on an existing requirements management framework modified for this context. This research makes an important contribution to the developing knowledge and information requirements of PSS design
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Service knowledge capture and re-use to support product design
Full text linkA significant change is taking place in manufacturing company strategies around the globe.
With new monitoring and service methods, new opportunities of product use and service
provision emerge. The manufacturing companies once focused on mere product manufacture,
now have started to provide ‘systemic solutions’, i.e. products combined with service
packages, which are often referred to as Product-Service Systems (PSS). Currently, there is not
a well-established feedback mechanism between service and design. The aim of this research
is to develop a methodology to capture, represent, and re-use service knowledge to support
product design.
For the accomplishment of this aim an extensive literature review of the related themes to the
research area took place. It was found that the feedback from service to design is fundamental
for the enhancement of product performance; however, the existing literature in this area is
not adequate. The industrial investigation led to the realisation that there is not an established
mechanism in place to show how service knowledge (SK) can be used by designers. An in-
depth investigation took place with the collaboration of, in total, four UK manufacturing
companies. The author studied both the conceptual and detailed design, focusing on the
design requirements (DR) and the design/service features (DF/SF) respectively.
The first step was the capture of SK and its representation using Protégé software. Following
this, at the conceptual design stage, SK can be re-used through the DR-SK tool. The two main
purposes of the tool are the knowledge retrieval by designers, and the identification of gaps in
SK. At the detailed design stage, designers can access SK through the DF-SK tool, and the
developed knowledge templates. The SKaD framework was created, as a result of the
amalgamation among the SKaD methodology, the knowledge templates, and the tools
developed to link SK and DR, SF, and DF.
Conclusively, the framework was applied on case studies within the pump manufacturing and
aerospace industries, and its purpose (to aid designers accessing and re-using SK) was
validated by experts within the collaborating organisations. As a result of this research’s
findings, the service personnel can capture SK in a structured manner, which can then be re-
used by product designers at both the conceptual and detailed design stage
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