Process Technology Appnote

Abstract

Process thinking is key to achieving the cycle-time and cost reduction goals that are driving product development and manufacturing today. Process issues are easily overlooked compared to product issues since process problems are not explicitly visible and typically appear as symptoms far away from problems in space and time. A problem in the design department surfaces during manufacturing several months later as a product defect. The process issues are even trickier to address since the benefits are also often observed far away in space and time of a project. For example, a good design may show up as an over budget in the design department, but it will allow the manufacturing department to manufacture it ahead of schedule at reduced cost. Result may be a penalty for designers and bonus for manufacturing department. The overall enterprise processes need to be optimized globally as opposed to local optimization forced by functional organizations and functional tools perspectives. Process thinking is facilitated by process technologies. Process technology includes tools to capture, analyze, implement, manage, and improve processes used in a virtual enterprise. Process technologies have a pervasive impact on the entire supply chain of a product, and hence it is critical that considerable attention be paid to them. The processes are incomplete without the context of information that is required to realize those processes. Tight integration of processes and their corresponding information is necessary to facilitate work. This application note contains:

• a technology description of the process work done under the RASSP program;
• methodology used for effective implementation of process technology;
• tools used to model, analyze, and implement processes;
• and further research required to realize the full potential of process technology.

The basic tenets of this work are:

• Process is as important as product
• Process and product issues are tightly integrated
• Processes need to be engineered just as the product needs to be engineered
• Process needs to be explicitly made visible to the entire team
• Design is a structured process

Purpose

The Application note describes the process modeling methodology developed on the RASSP program. Specific developments include: Process models using IDEF3 and IDEF3x methods, Process simulation models developed using WITNESS, Workflow models developed using DMM, information models developed using STEP EXPRESS, and information models implemented using AIM. The viewable parts of the model are incorporated in the RASSP Methodology Application Note as well as in the Enterprise Framework Application Note Table 2 - 1. Other information contained in the models requires specific tools in which the models were created. The RASSP models are focused on the electronics design domain, however they are generally applicable to many domains. Process models include subsystems design, architecture synthesis, detailed design for electronic modules, backplanes and ASIC devices. RASSP special case process models also address design styles prevalent in signal processor development. Examples include multiple parallel design alternatives, iteration, and management of concurrent updates. The result is a powerful top-down, reuse-based, virtual-prototyping design process and several novel process management capabilities.

The bibliography provided details a rich repository of reference materials including papers, presentations, specifications, and references to other sources of process technology information.

Roadmap

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Problem

3.0 Methodology

4.0 Tools

5.0 Application to RASSP

6.0 Conclusion

7.0 References