A synthesis mapping of approaches, processes, methods and tools from the scientific literature for multidisciplinary product development

The progressive integration of digital and connectivity technologies within products is leading to multidisciplinary products whose development can be challenging for companies. Multidisciplinary products integrate contributions from mechanical, electrical, electronics, software, and information and communication technologies. Examples of these products can be encountered in scientific literature under “smart products”, “mechatronic products”, or “cyber-physical systems” denominations. This article proposes a graphical synthesis of previous research material that has organized into maps the concepts and techniques (approaches, processes, methods and tools) discussed for the development of the aforementioned three types of products. The synthesis can be envisioned as a simplified version of the initial maps of over 200 concepts and techniques. Reducing the number of concepts and techniques to 61, this synthesis is particularly suited for companies and researchers seeking to become acquainted with the scientific literature related to multidisciplinary product development and increase their understanding of how the different concepts and techniques can be combined. In terms of results, “Systems engineering” and its associated concepts and techniques stand out by gathering a strong research interest for their application to multidisciplinary product development. “Agile”, its associated concepts and techniques, as well as the “functional logic” complete the picture. Lastly, an industrial application demonstrates how the synthesis map can support a company in identifying and preselecting suitable concepts and techniques to guide their evolution towards multidisciplinary products. The preselection in the synthesis map is based on the identification of applicable concepts and techniques as solutions to the encountered product development challenges.