PLM Library · Book
Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications
- Author
- Steven D. Eppinger, Tyson R. Browning
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Year
- 2012
Summary
A comprehensive treatment of Design Structure Matrix (DSM) methods for modeling and analyzing dependencies in product architectures, organizations and development processes.
It covers the four DSM types — component, team, activity and parameter — with methods for partitioning, clustering, sequencing and tearing, and shows applications from modularization and platform design through organizational design to process improvement, with industry case studies.
Our verdict
Recommended reading for architects and method specialists. The standard work on DSM: rigorous but practical, and directly applicable to modularization, interface management and development process analysis.
Who should read it
- —Product architects working on modularization and platform strategies
- —Systems engineers analyzing interfaces and dependencies
- —Development process owners improving engineering change and workflow structures
How it relates to your work
- —Clustering methods support module definition and interface decisions in modular product architectures.
- —Activity DSMs help analyze and shorten engineering change and development processes.
- —Complements PLM: DSM analysis reveals the dependency structures that PLM data models must represent.
Keep in mind
- —Method-focused and mathematical in places; expects willingness to work with matrix models.
- —Requires dependency data to be useful — results depend on the quality of the underlying information.