Target Feasibility Achievement in Enterprise-Driven Hierarchical Multidisciplinary Design

Linking enterprise-wide business decision making with engineering decision making is demonstrated by integrating the enterprise utility optimization and the engineering product development approach under a multilevel optimization framework. The analytical target cascading process is used to set the right targets for the engineering design process that maximize utility at the enterprise level. A new methodology is proposed that systematically explores the engineering design space, often represented with a disconnected feasible domain. Analytical examples and an automotive suspension design case study are presented to demonstrate the methodology.