The use of decision support systems for the efficient selection and design of composites and their products

The tailorability of composites for specific applications has been one of its greatest attractions, and simultaneously one of its most perplexing challenges. The wide choice of materials combinations, processing methods and shapes possible, present bewildering problems of selection. To achieve fast strategic decision making, the problem of selection must be reduced to its main elements through the deselection (or rejection through comparison) of concepts ill–suited to the specific requirements under consideration. The process of deselection (or screening) assists the decision making team (or individual) by reducing the number of viable concepts that would then undergo a detailed analysis for suitability. This allows a rapid movement through the list of alternatives reducing the number of final concepts to only a few. The ultimate purpose is to focus quickly on the most viable and attractive alternatives. In this paper we discuss the stages involved in the composites' product design process whilst emphasizing the development of an electronic environment for a decision support tool to aid the design team towards the successful execution of the product realization process. The basic strategy being reinforced through this system is that of limiting conflict without skimping on quality. Simple, yet powerful tools such as discrimination charts and tables can be used to accelerate the decision making process, even in areas where decisions are highly interrelated. The approach described here favours conflict resultion through deselection, allowing multiple, simultaneous alternatives to be carried forward. The use of comparative rankings allows the decision makers to access alternatives even if the superiority of one cannot be readily quantified.