Uniqueness and the Multiple Fractal Character of Product Engineering Processes

Abstract

This metaphor, taken from an article about the Christian church, is also valid for the complex system of product engineering. Every product engineering process is unique and individual. This is the first out of five hypotheses about product engineering processes (Albers, 2010). In this paper we investigate where the differences between product engineering processes originate from. We examine the integrated product engineering model (iPeM) and its subsystems - the triple systems: system of objectives, system of objects and operation system (see Section 2.3) - and point out reasons for distinctions between individual processes. Not only processes themselves are individual but also their sub-processes with their networked hierarchies of activities, hierarchic levels of systems of objectives etc.