Value-driven simulation: Thinking together through simulation in early engineering design

The topic of 'design for value' has lately attracted a great deal of attention within the engineering design community. 'Predicting' the value of a future solution is however difficult, especially in early design phases. Modelling and simulation is believed to be able to support this challenging task. A simulation process for value-driven engineering design is presented. The performances of a design concept along the lifecycle are aggregated to a monetary system value function. The results of this multi-model simulation environment for value are displayed through a colour-coded CAD model for easier interaction. Verification activities indicate that enabling effective design space exploration and visualization of cause-effect relationships become important elements in order to 'think together' using a simulation driven design approach. Furthermore, the proposed multidisciplinary 'value model' fosters cross-functional knowledge sharing and collective deliberation about the value, forcing stakeholders to synthetize their perceptions about the value of a design and to discuss where conclusions differ.