Page 130 - Design for Six Sigma a Roadmap for Product Development

Product Development Process and Design for Six Sigma 105

design started to take its esteemed position as a central theme in soci-
ety. The late realization of the importance of engineering design led
Dixon (1966) and Penny (1970) to place engineering design at the cen-
ter of the cultural and the technical streams of the society. Ullman
(1992) stated that the activities of design research were accelerating
along the following trends: artificial intelligence computer-based
models, the design synthesis (configuration), cognitive modeling, and
design methodologies. In addition, there were considerable efforts in
developing rule-based design processes. The ample yield since the
1970s is mature enough to allow classification and comparison.
However, these tasks are difficult because there is a minimal set of
agreed-on guidelines, as is the case with the European design schools.
However, the functionality of the design is a unifying concept. The
topic of function and the concept of value are extensively discussed in
the context of value engineering (Park 1992).