An Enhanced Interface Analysis Method for Engineering Change Management

Abstract

The complexity of automotive systems has increased dramatically, driven by the requirement to address environmental and safety concerns and the pressure to offer higher level consumer technologies. This places a great challenge on product development organizations to manage the multidisciplinary systems integration in a reliable and robust manner. Engineering changes, which are integral part of the iterative automotive product development process, need to be managed in a way that efficiently addresses the integration requirements of complex multidisciplinary systems. The aim of this paper is to present a structured approach for engineering change management which is based on an enhanced interface analysis method which aims to identify comprehensively the system integration functional requirements as the basis for both engineering change prediction and support of robust engineering change design. The framework will be illustrated with an industrial case study on the development of an electric vehicle powertrain. The effectiveness of the proposed approach will be discussed in contrast with other methods for engineering change management.