A multi-criterion based generic product and process development system

During a new product development cycle, it is important to focus and integrate relevant information into the stages of product conceptualization, design and development so that they can be used for product and process design effectively. In this paper, a multi-criterion based generic product and process development system (GPDS), which integrates knowledge-based technologies of rule-based expert system (RBES) and case-based reasoning (CBR) is proposed to facilitate product and process development. While RBES is adopted for sorting product design criteria, relevant past cases are retrieved by the CBR system during the product and process design stages. In doing so, previous knowledge in term of rules and past practices will be made use of during the product and process design stages, resulting in an enhancement of design and operations efficiency. By applying GPDS in Hasbro Fast East Limited, the new product design life cycle is greatly shortened with significant reduction in the total development cost.