Knowledge value stream framework for architecting complex products

Abstract

Product Development value stream includes all the activities (value added and non-value added) for designing and developing a product. It is characterized by flow of knowledge that drives the decisions, and deals with how the product is conceptualized, architected and designed by the design teams. The intangible flow of knowledge is determined by knowledge value stream - which shapes how the raw concepts/ ideas flow into mature knowledge, how the knowledge is socialized, internalized, and how the knowledge impels the decisions in the product development value stream. For complex products, the design teams encounter significant challenges, such as uncertainty and variability, while making architecture and design decisions. This paper proposes a framework for knowledge value stream for complex product design and development, that encompasses knowledge cadence and learning cycles as its core elements, and incorporates rudiments for complex product design such as uncertainty, variability and perceptions. The framework advocates a phased model for deployment for maturing the knowledge value stream.