EVALUATION OF IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COLLABORATION OF DESIGN AND SIMULATION - AN INDUSTRIAL MULTI-METHOD STUDY

As mechanical simulations play an increasingly role in engineering projects, an appropriate integration of simulations into design-oriented product development processes is essential for efficient collaboration. To identify and overcome barriers between design and simulation departments, the BRIDGES approach was elaborated for barrier reduction in design engineering and simulation. This paper shows the industrial evaluation of the approach using a multi-method study of an online survey and focus group workshops. The experts' assessments were statistically analysed to build a connection matrix of barriers and recommendations. 59 participants from multiple industries with practical experience in the field contributed to the online survey, while 24 experts could be acquired for the focus group workshops. As a result of the workshops, both the data-based and the workshop-based part of the BRIDGES approach were assessed as beneficial to raise the efficiency of collaboration and practically applicable. This provides an empirically secured connection of barriers and suitable recommendations, allowing companies to identify and overcome collaboration barriers between design and simulation.