Coherent interpretation of DSM plan to PDP simulation

Design Processes are highly complex and fundamentally iterative. The increasing knowledge about the product, while designing, manifests in design changes of previously accomplished activities. Such iterations are considered as a major source of increased product development lead-time and cost. Planning the Design Process is challenging, and requires simulation tools. The Design Structure Matrix (DSM) is a known method for process planning. Since the DSM itself does not express all the required information for defining the process logic, process logic interpretation is required. "Business Rules", being logic interpretation options that are applicable in different business cases, can guide automatic translation of the DSM to valid iterative process plans. There is a gap in the literature between DSM-based process planning, and process modelling literature concerning the verification of processes. A consistent method of transformation from a DSM model to a logically correct, concurrent process model, in the case of iterative activities, is lacking. Such consistent interpretation of DSM plan to a valid process scheme is proposed in this study. The applicable logic interpretation options are expressed by "Business Rules" that convey different business cases, and can guide automatic translation of the DSM. The proposed framework subsumes logic interpretation types found in the DSM literature.