Analysis of the modes of collaborative design and system implementation

As the complexity and variety of products increase to satisfy increasingly sophisticated customers, modern product development is performed by cross-functional teams distributed geographically and temporally. The development of computer systems that support collaborative design processes is an active area of research that promises significant improvements over current product development practice if successfully deployed to industrial enterprises. This paper analyzes the characteristics of collaborative design processes according to collaborative product design in manufacturing industries. An object-oriented, hierarchic approach is proposed to support several different modes of collaboration adapted for manufacturing, including project-oriented, task-oriented and activity-oriented. Corresponding collaborative models are described. Then the collaborative design platform is established based on project management and workflow management to support collaborative product design.