Information model for tracelinks building in early design stages

Abstract

Over the last decades many efforts are being made into either both, creating better products or improving processes, yet, generating more information, and usually leaving behind how to manage whole information that already exist and using it to improve the decision making process. This article is centred into the development of an information model that allows to have a multilevel traceability in early design stages, by definition of tracelinks of information at the design stages, where information evolves between from linguistic requirements into design variables. Regarding of the information the should be analysed the research is focused into the setting up of a graphic environment that will allow to determine relationships between different variables that exist in conceptual design, granting designers teams the opportunity to use that information in decision making situations in terms of knowing how changing one variable upsets any requirement. Finally, this article presents a case study of a design of a portable cooler in order to clarify the usage and opportunities present by the usage of the traceability model. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.