Six Facets of an Extraordinary Cube

AM-PACK combines six facets of the product emergence process, for short known as PEP,  in a single, integrated, and sophisticated platform for handling them.

Requirements and Compliance Management

 

RFQ or systems engineering process

• Import and analyze the stakeholder requirements, i.e. those of customer or product management plus those in all other applicable documents such as standards, laws, regulations, interface specifications, and the like, negotiate online or by exchanging files, and eventually achieve a mutually agreed, commercially binding requirements baseline.
• Derive system requirements, ensure compliance of system requirements with stakeholder requirements, and use the system requirements as the baseline for your binding quotation.

Requirements refining process

• Break down system requirements from the system level through module, group, and block levels to the level of piece parts or software units, respectively.
• If applicable supplement the breakdown at each level with an architectural design.
• Derive tender requirements for bought-in parts and adjust and assess incoming offers for bought-in parts

Conception Management

 

The processes along the left wing of the development V can be executed following two very different methods, either requirements-oriented or function-oriented.

AM-PACK supports both methodical approaches.

• The traditional, requirements-oriented approach deals with requirements and architectures in an alternating and more and more detailed manner, from the system level down to the level of piece parts or software units, respectively.
• The state-of-the-art, function-oriented approach is commonly known as MBE, model-based engineering. It focuses on dealing with functions, interfaces, and properties, starting above the system level in the environment system. Its advantage over the requirements-oriented approach is that the product under development and, when broken down, its components are described in themselves and not from an external perspective through requirements. This in turn forms the basis for animation and simulation, which enable quick and cost-effective understanding.

Verification and Validation Management

 

One of the fundamental ideas of quality assurance in product development is to test along the right wing of the development V from bottom to top, in accordance with the conceptual breakdown along the left wing of the V.

• If the conceptual breakdown follows the requirements-oriented approach, then testing is limited to verifying individual parts or software units, then integrations of components and components as units, and ultimately the system as a whole.
• If the conceptual breakdown follows the function-oriented approach, then testing extends up to validating the system in its environment. Furthermore, DFMEA (design failure mode and effect analysis), FTA (fault tree analysis), and CPA (critical path analysis) are available embedded in AM-PACK to mitigate design risks as early as possible.

In all high-hazard industries, great importance is attached to ensuring that the processes of conceptual breakdown and corresponding verification and validation are systematically planned and result in standardized reports. AM-PACK addresses this need with a fully implemented DVP&R (design verification plan and report) framework.

Conception and Engineering BOM Management

 

In materials management in all manufacturing industries, BOMs (bills of materials) are used as a tool for listing the components and the quantities of each needed to manufacture an end product. The same demand exists in sample construction, however the BOMs differ from sample stage to sample stage. During the conception phase of a product, various BOMs emerge from the consideration of different concepts for one and the same end product; they are subject to frequent changes and only become complete and stable over time. The following terms have been coined to distinguish between the three types of BOMs: M-BOM (manufacturing BOM), E-BOM (engineering BOM), and C-BOM (conception BOM).

AM-PACK provides sophisticated features for modelling and maintaining C-BOMs and E-BOMs. C-BOMs form the backbone of conceptual breakdown, while E-BOMs form the backbone of sample planning, construction, and testing. E-BOMs can serve as toe-holds for data exchange between different platforms, such as Polarion and Teamcenter.

Product Line Management

 

A product line can be regarded as a set of products which are variants of an imaginary product, where

• the imaginary product is real in the mind of the end user, is there synonymous with all its possible variants, and is characterized by a name, in fact the product line name, such as BMW 5 or Apple iPhone, and
• the variants differ in substitutive and additive characteristics such as function, performance, and delighting features, without disturbing the overall impression of the one, imaginary product

One of the most cost-relevant matters in the development and maintenance of a product line is how well it can be mastered with as few different components as possible, in other words to what extent the number of carry-over or reusable parts can be maximized.

This concept is fully integrated into AM-PACK and is supported seamlessly and smartly.

Project and Issue Management

 

One of the success factors in development projects is the collaboration between those involved comprising every internal stakeholder as well as external people like customers, suppliers, experts, testers. Besides the so-called soft factors, the performance of the tools used plays a decisive role. Various kinds of issues, such as errors, change requests, improvement suggestions, and complaints, must be recordable and traceable for everyone, and at the same time managed, evaluated, and resolved by the responsible assignees. Finally, it must be possible to break down the issues into tasks and organize the completion of these tasks in terms of project management and handle them commercially.

Also this concept is fully integrated into AM-PACK and is supported seamlessly and smartly.