Management of change propagation in mechatronic product design based on minimum cost of changes

Change propagation is a central challenge in the design of mechatronic products, therefore its prediction and management in design and manufacturing process is of major importance. One of the key issues of change management is the estimation of the cost of probable changes before those changes are actually implemented. The estimation of the cost of changes and the change propagation management based on the interrelationships between the elements of a product and its complexity, until now, have not received adequate attention. In this paper, a model-based method is proposed for managing the change propagation with the least cost. In the proposed approach, first, with the help of the fuzzy theory, the changes cost of each component is estimated on the basis of financial, time and structural criteria and then by using the obtained results, the change propagation management is implemented in a hierarchical structure, based on the proposed algorithm. The findings of this method help the engineers and designers to route the best change propagation path from the cost standpoint. They also provide the possibility of identifying a product´s affected components, and modifying the design of the product, if necessary. In this paper, as a practical case, the change propagation management in the design and development of a smart gas meter will be investigated.