Using visual requirements modeling to design human-centric manufacturing systems for novel products – A comprehensive predictive case study

Journal article, 2024

Efficient production systems are necessary for the realization of products that fulfil customer needs and delivery requirements. However, the process of designing the production system has received little academic attention and today's manufacturing system design processes and architecture are still based on traditional engineering methods. This study covers a case study using visual requirements modeling for the design of a production system for a new product. A comprehensive prescriptive study was designed combined with attempts to verify the methods used. A total of six workshops, development of models to define requirements to select concepts, and two validation studies are documented. A total of 166 persons participated, and up to 15 persons participated in the validation workshops. The analysis shows that the method addressed several of the gaps identified in literature: (1) the lack of systematic and effective systems engineering design methods in production system design, and (2) the lack of inclusion of human aspects in the production system design. The gaps in the effectiveness of the methods remain to be fully evaluated, as the project is still running and will not be concluded until 2025. Recommendations for future work include exploring further the management mechanisms of systems engineering, which type of competences does the future engineer need and how production system design engineers can learn more from other disciplines.