IRMAS - development of a risk management tool for collaborative multi-site, multi-partner new product development projects

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop comprehensive risk management tool, Intelligent Risk Mapping and Assessment System (IRMAS (TM)) with a contingency for multi-site, multi-partner concurrent engineering projects with the aim of achieving above-mentioned paradigms. Its unique knowledge warehouse enables the use of organisational knowledge, lessons learnt, captured as well as best practices to minimise risks in project management. Design/methodology/approach - IRMAS is designed to identify, prioritise, analyse and assist project managers to manage perceived sources of concurrent engineering risks. Several knowledge elicitation techniques were used to compile the knowledge used for the intelligent system developed. The core of the research is the reasoning methodology that not only supports the decision-making process of the user, but also aids the knowledge retrieving, storing, sharing and updating process of manufacturing organisations. Findings - A total of 589 risk items were identified for different project types, as well as information on 4,372 risk items and 136 lessons learnt were gathered. IRMAS is a proactive tool supporting project management activities. It is designed as a web-based portal compiled in Java facilitating effective and a common communication platform between project partners. Research limitations/implications - Identification of risks during the complete product design, development and delivery process in a concurrent engineering environment is challenging. It covers the "product value stream" including partners, suppliers, research and development, design and manufacturing, marketing, purchasing, service and support personnel and customers. Within the context of concurrent engineering, the design style must be "Design WITH" approach where collaborative negotiation requires communication, consideration and collaboration. The full validation of IRMAS (TM) is successfully carried out in two large-scale new product development projects. It has already been decided to be deployed by a large international aerospace company and is successfully commercialized. Originality/value - The originality of the paper lies in its uniqueness in these areas: IRMAS provides a systematic engineering approach to risk management of concurrent product and process development based on risk management standards and Project Management Body of Knowledge, to leverage of success factors in manufacturing; concurrencies and relationships between several activities throughout product's life cycle are captured and mapped; the inheritance of risk between several phases are modelled and quantified; the wealth of knowledge stored in the knowledge repository and IRMAS's capability to reuse them for later elicitation in the system's knowledge base; and user-interactive, unique dynamic risk management software package which will be available in the commercial market.