Performance evaluation of co-design tools for extended enterprise

Extended enterprise is a well-known concept in modern industry, characterized by multidisciplinary teams and highly collaborative product development (CPD) processes. CPD’s success strongly depends on supporting tools ability in managing team communication, task accomplishment and design intent preservation. This paper aims at evaluating co-design tools performance in industrial context by a metrics-based protocol able to verify the achievement of collaboration goals. Evaluation is carried out by adopting a QFD-based method that comprehends both objective and subjective analysis. The method is tested on an innovative co-design platform that was properly defined for supporting cooperative work in extended enterprise and implemented during the last year. Three different design contexts (conceptual, advanced and interplay collaboration) have been assessed. Experimental results allow quantifying the tool real benefits and even optimizing the protocol.