Methods for Target-Setting and Rule Compliance in Automotive Engineering
Automotive design relies heavily upon the use of targets. In addition to providing direction and context for the development of new products, the target-setting process forms links between the subjective and objective characteristics of a product and, when executed properly, can help ensure compliance with regulations and feasibility guidelines. At the start of the target-setting process, business and marketing activities define a desired competitive position for a proposed product using data gathered in the various methods of market analysis. From this desired position, business and marketing develop high-level targets for attributes like performance, comfort, and cargo capacity based upon the current and predicated future qualities of products that are perceived to be potential competitors in the marketplace. These business targets guide the formulation of engineering targets. Engineers interpret the business targets to determine what combination of engineering attributes would best accomplish them. These attributes form the basis of a starting set of engineering targets that must be evaluated against databases of corporate, industry, and governmental regulations as well as rules that indicate the design viability and manufacturability of the product. This paper discusses the source, development, and use of targets in automotive engineering as well as formalisms and methods to describe and handle the target-setting and verification processes. In addition, this paper discusses proposed information technology-based and knowledge-based techniques to strengthen and streamline this critical aspect of the engineering design process.