Using the PC-DSM Matrix to Map Interaction into the Initial Set of Concepts

In the context of new product development, highly constraint multi-disciplinary systems are difficult to design and generally lead to a non optimal but acceptable solution (Seepersad et al., 2008). The design of such product implies to collaborate soon in the choice of concepts. Our industrial analysis shows that concept choice is leading to collaborative problems when a design department implies a stronger influence than others. This attitude to favor one design department decreases product performance interest. As concept evaluation is a key point in product designs, this design stage must take into account design department’s point-of-views. This article describes our PC-DSM matrix, based on enrich semantic in DSM, for the integration of such multi-physic interfaces early in the choice of concepts.