THE DFX SHELL - A GENERIC FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING DESIGN FOR X-TOOLS

The Design for X (DFX) shell is a generic framework which can be easil y extended or tailored to develop a variety of DFX tools quickly with consistent quality. A number of formal but pragmatic constructs are pr ovided. Bills of materials are used to describe and analyse the overal l product structure and product characteristics. Plow process charts a re used to describe and analyse the overall process structure and proc ess characteristics in relation to individual product elements. Standa rd operation process charts are modified to describe and analyse the o verall process structure in relation to the product structure. Appropr iate performance measures are used to evaluate the interactions betwee n the elements of products, processes and resources. This paper discus ses a systematic DFX development procedure. The DFX development proced ure consists of seven steps, and each step focuses on a major building block of the DFX shell. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.