DESIGN PRODUCIBILITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

CURRENT DESIGN PRODUCIBILITY ENGINEERING RELIES ON THE USE OF CHECKLISTS AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE DESIGNER AND THE MANUFACTURING ENGINEER TO INTEGRATE MANUFACTURING REQUIREMENTS INTO THE OVERALL DESIGN OF AN ITEM. APART FROM THE USE OF VERY GENERALIZED CHECKLISTS, THERE EXISTS NO ESTABLISHED SET OF CRITERIA OR DESIGN STANDARDS ACROSS THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY WHICH THE DESIGNER CAN FOLLOW TO ENSURE THE PRODUCIBILITY OF A GIVEN DESIGN WHILE THE CONCEPTS ARE FIRST BEING DEVELOPED. THE COMPUTERIZATION OF THIS PROCESS SO AS TO AUTOMATE THE DESIGN PRODUCIBILITY ANALYSIS IS THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL. THE END PRODUCT OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL BE A SET OF CRITERIA OR STANDARDS WHICH CAN BE OBJECTIVELY APPLIED TO THE SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF ALL TYPES OF HARDWARE DESIGNS. THESE CRITERIA WILL BE CAPABLE OF BEING ASSIGNED QUANTITATIVE RATINGS WHICH CAN BE WEIGHTED BASED ON PROGRAM NEEDS. THESE WEIGHTED RATINGS CAN THEN BE TOTALED TO ARRIVE AT A QUANTITATIVE MEASURED FOR THE PRODUCIBILITY OF A GIVEN DESIGN. THE CRITERIA WILL BE DEVELOPED SO THAT DIFFERENT DESIGN APPROACHES CAN THEN BE COMPARED, AND WHERE PERFORMANCE IS COMPARABLE, ALTERNATIVE WITH HIGHER PRODUCIBILITY RATINGS CAN BE SELECTED. THE FINALIZED SET OF CRITERIA SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF BEING DRAFTED IN THE FORM OF A MIL-STANDARD AND PLACED ON AN AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM.