Product Node Architecture: A Systematic Approach to Provide Structured Flexibility in Distributed Product Development

Abstract

Representation of the product/project information throughout the design life cycle is a critical aspect in engineering activities. The article begins with a discussion of the background research wherein the existing methodologies, which deal with product information representation, are reviewed. The article then proceeds to propose a new methodology for product management by presenting all the details of the system architecture. Product node (PN), which is introduced in this article, has a database-centric system at its core and an application built around it to support the various functions necessary to efficiently manage a distributed project environment. To aid the design life cycle, the system also enables distributed collaboration among people from different teams to support concurrent design activities. Effective management of product data using user-based control is also discussed. The detailed logic behind the system architecture and the practical implementation of the system are shown.

Keywords

product modeling product life cycle management product node product and project management concurrent engineering

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