Ontology-based method for systems thinking in product design

To be most effective, designers should consider multiple factors over the entire product life cycle before making decisions, but analyzing relations in a complex network is difficult and time-consuming. To address this problem, this paper describes an ontology-based method that has been developed to facilitate systems thinking in product design. Ontology and SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) rules are first developed to represent complex relations in a DFM design process, and then are used with the Jess rule engine to infer possible influence factors and possible effects after input adjustment. By using the inferred results in the ontology, an ontology-based tool provides decision support for input adjustment.