A Process-Centric Approach for Coordinating Product Configuration Decisions

In product family approaches such as software product lines, product configuration is a key activity that deals with the constrained combination and parameterization of reusable core assets as a means to achieve correct product assembly. The configuration process is highly collaborative in which different players, each with a particular perspective on the product under development, interact and negotiate configuration decisions. In this scenario, conflicts commonly occur as each part attempts to promote its own interests. As a consequence, there is an urge for approaches to effectively coordinate configuration decisions. In this paper, we present a process-centric approach to collaborative product configuration. Our approach attempts to anticipate and solve decision conflicts by allowing decision makers to define priority schemes. Major configuration decision support issues are discussed and a novel algorithm to derive executable process models is introduced. Finally, an illustrated example is shown demonstrating the approach´s feasibility