Management of Large Axiomatic Design Project

Quality and robustness analysis techniques traditionally were manufacturing skills. Recently quality systems, for example DFSS, are focused on moving the formal quality function to earlier phases in the automotive development cycle. Axiomatic Design is a highly effective framework for achieving quality and reliability goals in the early conceptualization phase, where requirements are analyzed and proposed solutions are synthesized to achieve the requirements.¹ As a process, Axiomatic Design can be applied at an individual, group or enterprise level on correspondingly more complex design problems. Larger projects that apply axiomatic design processes have particular needs for a successful implementation. This paper first reviews the case for conceptualization process control such as axiomatic design and then reviews the particular issues that impact a successful axiomatic design deployment over large projects.