Model-based Support of the Conceptual Design in Distributed Product Development

Distributed product development presents a particular challenge to the knowledge management in small and medium-sized companies. Barriers for information exchange arise from the separation of organisational units, separation of projects and separation of the development process. However, to make reliable decisions in the early phases of the development, information must be provided to designers gathering requirements and elaborating the product concept. In this paper, a methodical approach is presented, which aims on a better integration of information in value- added networks. The principal core of the approach is an information model, combining partial models of requirements, system components and suppliers. Introducing this with a web-based tool, a step towards better decisions in development could be made.