Development of a Method for Reducing Design Time by Reusing Empirical Knowledge: Identification of Bottleneck Processes Through Interviews with Design Engineers

The design of machining fixtures affects the lead time for product development. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten the design time while maintaining the required quality. However, it is difficult to identify bottleneck processes and implement countermeasures because estimating the individual work hours for each process is challenging. This is attributed to the characteristics of the design work, such as multitasking and repetitive activities. In this study, person-hours were identified as a critical factor. Through interviews with designers, we clarified the bottleneck processes and developed a method for shortening the design time. Subsequently, we applied an actual design to verify its effectiveness. The method involves detailing the machining fixture design for a specific design target and designing and managing individual plans, including the identification of bottleneck processes and the implementation of countermeasures. The proposed method was applied to a machining fixture design consisting of seven parts and twelve processes. The predicted value reduced the design time by 53%, whereas the actual measured value reduced the design time by 59%. This confirmed the validity of the proposed method.