Unveiling fundamental relationships in industrial product development

Identification and clarification of relationships between product properties is fundamentally important in industrial product development. The process is however frequently perceived difficult. The presented research aims at clarifying if a visual tool can provide help in this work. The tool is a combination of previously known techniques and has so far been implemented at two product developing companies. Results and reactions from the tests are hitherto positive and the conclusion is therefore that this extended casual diagram can be a useful addition to the product developer’s toolbox. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Professor Lihui Wang.