Product Lifecycle Management
Research focus
The Peer review has evaluated this group as Excellent
The group has worked for more than 30 years in the area of methods and tools supporting product development in domains like geometric modelling, parametric, feature-based modelling, CAD, PDM, Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) systems. These domains have converged into a large area known as PLM where novel methodologies and tools are developed supporting the product development lifecycle from the conceptual design phase to product disassembling, dismantling, recycling. The research has been supported by funding from MUR–Ministry-of- University-and-Research, from European Commission, and from direct collaboration with Italian and international companies operating in various industrial domains. The group has coordinated several projects related to PLM issues. The group has defined a methodology supporting the estimation of the impact of introducing new technologies and methods in product development processes, based on process modelling and simulation. Prof.M.Bordegoni coordinated the MUR project IKE on this topic. The research has developed theories, methodologies, tools used in several case-studies in collaboration with industrial partners (Ferrari-Auto, IVECO, JOBS, ELSAG, Safilo, …). The group has experience in process modelling and business process re-engineering based on IDEF, ARIS, UML techniques. The group has addressed issues related to the management of engineering knowledge. New methodologies and tools using KBE systems have been developed and used to implement specific applications to automate design processes in various industrial sectors (Bobbio, Colgar, DDA, Beretta-caldaie, Riello, and SKEMA). In the EKM-Engineering Knowledge Management field, the group has participated to the project SPIKE in the context of the National-Research-Program on Innovative-Production-Systems where a new generation system was developed allowing the acquisition and management of designers’ knowledge from the concept up to the detail design stage; the group has been appointed by MUR as demo and exploitation centre of the software prototype resulting from the project. 146 The group has been among the first users and testers (Beta-site) of the KBEsystems ImpactXoft and RuleStream (that economically supported one PhD fellowship on EKM). The research group participates to the European project VIVACE on EKM in cooperation with main aeronautical European companies. The challenge is to provide solutions to manage knowledge along product lifecycles within multi-disciplinary, multi-company and multi-culture environments. AVIO-Group economically supported two PhD fellowships on the topics of EKM. The group has investigated topics related to the evolution of product innovation, addressing principles, methods and tools enabling the development of innovative products. Methods developed for selecting general principles for performing a given function are based on state-of-the-art manufacturing/assembling practices, well established best practices and innovative solutions derived from heuristic methods, methods and approaches based on TRIZ, and observation of natural phenomena. The group studies Design-for-X principles analysing how various techniques behave in relation to the phases of product lifecycle, and concepts related to communication in the product lifecycle (Communication-for-X). Several case-studies have been developed for validating the development of innovative industrial products in collaboration with industrial companies (Indesit , Agusta, Cantoni) and within the European project MODATRAIN dealing with railways vehicles. In the field of systematic innovation the group has carried out several research works in collaboration with companies for experimenting the effectiveness of methods like TRIZ applied to real industrial problems. The group is member of the APEIRON association aiming at studying and disseminating the use of TRIZ (http://www.apeiron-triz.org), and is a founding partner of “Centro- Competenza-sulla-Innovazione-Sistematica” set up by Politecnico-Innovazione- Consortium where Prof.M.Bordegoni serves as member of the Steering Committee and Prof.U.Cugini as President of the Center. In 2006 Prof.G.Colombo coordinated the research group of Politecnico-Innovazione-Consortium participating to a project funded by Regione-Lombardia concerning Innovation-in- SME by using TRIZ methodology. Four case studies were developed in collaboration with Lombard SMEs (RTvalves.Srl, Pompetravaini.Spa, OfficineMeccaniche SanGiorgio.Spa, Prefer.Srl). Prof.R.Viganò is participating to a MUR project, aiming at defining an integrated theory on design innovation and setting a coordinated system of methodologies able to produce continuous innovation based on research in the field of industrial design. Topology optimization systems for generating shape proposals in the conceptual phase are studied and used. In the aerospace industry, the group is collaborating with Altair-Engineering, hosting a PhD-student who is studying the effectiveness and the impact of the existing structural optimization methods and commercial software for product design. Prof.U.Cugini is currently coordinating the PROSIT project aiming at studying possible solutions for integrating innovative tools: PLM, EKM, CAI (Computer-Aided-Innovation) systems and topology optimization tools within the product development cycle. The group participates to the NoE-INTEROP, focused on interoperability of data, applications and processes, addressing problem analysis of data interoperability in product development.
Dipartimento di afferenza
Docenti afferenti
Full Professors
Monica Bordegoni
Umberto Cugini
Edoardo Rovida
Associate Professors
Giorgio Colombo
Ambrogio Girotti
Carlo Gorla
Roberto Viganò
Assistant Professors
Francesco Rosa