A Design Management Agent-Based Model for New Product Development

Organizations develop different methodologies for product, customization, and improvement. In time, the best-known methods and practices are established and standardized for new product development. However, to enhance performance and outcomes, customization is typically needed and requires additional time and effort, requiring a high learning curve. An approach of operational planning to ascertain projected outcomes for a variety of scenarios is agent-based modeling and simulation. This study focuses on product design, an essential aspect of new products. An agent-based model (ABM) has been developed using a paradigm of the design management organizational function represented by four autonomous agents, their actions, and interactions. The objective is to assess the aggregate emergent behavior of the design management organization. Research questionnaires are used to obtain data consisting of agent characteristics from firms covering services and manufacturing, across multiple industry sectors. An initial network of design-related agents was developed based on the collected data. Simulation of the model provided data consisting on a time series of units sold by the simulated organization. NetLogo-based simulations indicated responsiveness in organizational behavior when customer satisfaction drops, in terms of fitness to specifications. This behavior resulted in reversing negative trends in units sold. The time scale of the simulation, metric levels, and behavior was validated using sales data from a company in the electronics manufacturing industry. This model provides guidance on how to configure new product development teams, modifying designer hiring processes, scheduling product development committees, and plan customer feedback collection.