Multidisciplinary Systems Concepts Applied to R&D Projects Promoted by Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) João Adalberto Pereira1, Osíris Canciglieri Júnior2
Abstract This article addresses the concepts of multidisciplinary projects focusing on the technological innovation recommended by the R&D Program of the Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica3 - ANEEL, under which are subject all the Brazilian electrical utilities through the federal law 9.991/2000. The R&D Program provides the directions for the electrical energy research and development offering the criteria for the elaboration of the proposals of researches projects. Until recently the product development processes were not part of the electrical utility routine, what it becomes clear that it was necessary more knowledge about the whole research and development process what has showed the lack of the adequate methodological methods. This work presents the main points of a new approach as well as the study of the product development tools applied in the elaboration of the projects proposals. Therefore it is expected that this new approach brings a better R&D projects quality and consequently a significant reduction of the time, development and reengineering costs. Keywords Concurrent Engineering, Product Development, multidisciplinary projects.
1 Introduction The Federal Law nº 9.991, enacted on July 24, 2000, disposes about the mandatory investment in R&D (Research and Development) by the utilities, permittees and authorized companies of the Brazilian electrical energy sector, determining that they must apply 1% of the NOI (Net Operating Income) in R&D projects and energy efficiency [16]. ANEEL is the government agency that 1
João Adalberto Pereira ( ) Companhia Paranaense de Energia, Emiliano Perneta, 390, 80420-080, Curitiba, PR, Brazil e-mail:
[email protected]
2 Osiris Canciglieri Júnior ( ) Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Imaculada Conceição 1155, 80215-901 Curitiba, PR, Brazile-mail:
[email protected] 3
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Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency
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J. A. Pereira and O. Canciglieri Júnior
regulates the R&D Program of the electrical energy sector since 1999 and provides the Research and Development Program Manual [1] with the criteria for elaboration of the project proposals. As result of this R&D Program it is expected the increment in the qualification and technological development of the electrical utilities; generation of new processes and products or the enhancing of its characteristics; generation of new knowledge and innovative application of the existing knowledge as well as products that are consolidated and available in a commercial scale for the satisfaction of the electricity sector needs. Project proposals must be framed according to the ANEEL innovation chain for the R&D projects as illustrated in Figure 1. This frame includes designs of Basic Research (BR), Applied Research (AR), Experimental Development (ED) and product design improvement pertaining to categories Head Production Series (HS), Pioneer Production Lot (PL) and Market Product Insertion (MI).
Fig. 1 Innovation Chain for the R&D projects by ANEEL [1]
The majority of the product development processes, until recently, were not part of the electrical utilities routine. The adoption of the R&D program triggered the need for expertise knowledge in order to understand the whole process of research and development and, as a result, a lack of adequate methodological models was identified. So that, this work proposes a scheme to be considered since the early stages of elaboration of the new R&D projects based on techniques and methods well established in the Product Development Process. Moreover, it is intended that this work can be applied to others similar scenarios besides the Brazilian electrical sector.
2 Methodological Approaches The research strategy used in this work was a case study with qualitative approach and it had as unit of analysis the process of the R&D adopted by Companhia
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Paranaense de Energia4 – COPEL in Brazil. As a technical procedure of the research, it was made a literature review regarding to the criteria adopted by COPEL for the proposition of new R&D projects. After that, it was made an exploratory study about product development models adopted by the industrial sector and about ANEEL criteria in order to find analogies among them. This study was used as basis for the definition, in a general way, of an appropriate model for the Brazilian electrical sector R&D projects proposals. These approaches were applied in a R&D project proposal, presented at the end of this article as a R&D project proposal, to which the main objective was a Head Production Series design for an electronic equipment result of a previous R&D project categorized as Experimental Development.
3 ANEEL Criteria for R&P Projects Innovation is the mainspring of the ANEEL R&D Program. ANEEL stimulates, through researches, the development of innovative technologies, especially in projects classified as BR, AR, ED and, from these, the development of practical solutions that can be applied in a daily basis by the energy utilities, through projects HS, PL and MI [1]. With the purpose of to judge the merit of a R&D project ANEEL defines criteria that must be considered in the planning phase which includes: Originality, Results Applicability, Relevance and Costs Reasonableness. Among these, the Originality criterion, where the uniqueness must be proved against the state of the art, is an eliminatory factor for projects classified as BR, AR and ED. This criterion is evaluated according to the requirements Challenges (complexity), Technological Advances and Generated Products. For the criterion Results Applicability the considered requirements are: Project Context, Scope and Results for the electric sector. The criterion Relevance is analysed from the point of view of professional and technological improvement resulted from the research process as well as the social, environmental and economic impacts resulted from the new technology application. The Costs Reasonableness criterion evaluates the resulted economic impact. Economic benefits must be demonstrated through studies of economic feasibility and expected return on the investment. In order to evaluate the projects ANEEL assigns to each criterion the concepts inadequate, insufficient, acceptable, good or excellent. These concepts correspond to a score between 1 and 5 respectively. The final concept of the evaluated project is obtained by the arithmetic mean of the scores of each criterion. The project is approved if the score is equal or higher than 3. However, since the criterion Originality is an eliminatory factor for BR, AR, and ED projects ANEEL defines that for the project approval a score equal or greater than 3 for this criterion is needed.
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Paraná State Electrical Utility
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4 Multidisciplinary Systems Applied to ANEEL R&D The Multidisciplinary System concept is based on the fact that modern technologies are aggregation of components from different technological backgrounds (disciplines) and therefore the execution of a development project requires the integration of different knowledge and techniques. Figure 2 illustrates the concept [13, 25] where various technical competencies and expertise are interconnected in order to develop a complex system where the ANEEL innovation chain is an integrating part. So that, it can be established that the researches projects classified by ANEEL as HS and PL can be considered as Multidisciplinary System Design since different technical areas are required. Conversely, the IM designs present a mono-disciplinary character due to that they focus almost exclusively in the contractual and commercial solutions and there is no complexity in terms of areas of knowledge for their development.
Fig. 2 Modern Multidisciplinary Engineering Systems [13, 25].
Studies based on Baxter [6] and Müller [22] emphasize that the projects allocated at the beginning of the innovation chain and whose basic properties are not well defined present results that are essential to the success of the final project and as a result they require a high degree of engineering decisions to follow in the innovation chain in order to take part in a more complex system. With the advances along of the innovation chain several technologies must be added to R&D projects. These technologies must interact efficiently showing, in this way, an increment in the details and technical complexity that the project teams must considered. This illustrates a clear transition between the multidisciplinary to the mono-disciplinary aspect during the evolution of the R&D projects which must be taken in consideration in the project’s elaboration process. Figure 3 summarizes the complexity of the interaction between the projects in the ANEEL innovation chain and the Multidisciplinary Systems.
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Fig. 3 The complexity of the R&D projects regarding to the multidisciplinary [25]
However, the innovation chain proposed by ANEEL presents a characteristic predominantly sequential and very similar to the systems development model described by Asimov [3] where the sequentially hinders the interactions among the stages of the project [20] leading the research team back to the first stages of the project in order to solve the problems that can later appear at the integration phase. Thus, with the purpose of to minimize this kind of problem, this research considers the aspect of more interactivity among the groups concerning to the simultaneity of the involved disciplines in the project development so that in the final system (multidisciplinary) the technologies can complement each other in a functional and harmonious way. This new approach will require a project management with a comprehensive vision of the entire development process as well as the attention to the utilities guidelines that had motivated the project [10]. As a result it is proposed a new configuration for the innovation chain where it is considered mono-disciplinary projects strategically concatenated in a global project with multidisciplinary aspect (Figure 4).
Fig. 4 New vision for the ANEEL Innovation Chain [25].
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5 A Model for New R&D Projects Proposals The Product Development Process is a set of activities that allows reaching the product specifications considering the market needs, the technological constraints and possibilities as well as the competitive strategies adopted [26]. Several models of product development processes was studied in this research [3, 5, 9, 15, 17, 23, 26, 28, 29], however, the Unified Model presented by Rozenfeld et al. [26] and originally proposed for the development of industrial products has showed adequate for the purpose of this work [25], combining concepts proposed by Pahl and Beitz [23] with the concepts of Simultaneous Engineering [9, 17], adding characteristics of steps concatenation, simultaneity as well as the application of a wide range of methods and tools for development of product process that are adaptable to each need. It is observed that systematic cadence of the development stages presented by [26] is very similar to the model proposed development by ANEEL (Figure 1). Figure 5 illustrates the Unified Model whose main feature is the division of the development process into three macro phases: PreDevelopment, Development and Post-Development. The approval of the results of each stage of the project are formally realized through the Criteria of Stages Review (Gates) which allow to answer questions regarding to the project’s continuity. This feature is also easily assimilated in the ANEEL R&D process where intermediate products are defined for each stage of the design (prototypes, test reports, etc.) confirming the end of the stage and providing confidence for the continuity of the remaining stages of the design. The Unified Model can be totally applied in designs classified as the radical type, that is, those that, as a result, generate innovative products as in the ANEEL R&D projects [26]. In this model the management activity has direct influence on the product development because through it the flow of information among teams and strategic decisions can be controlled.
Fig. 5 Unified Model for Product Development Process [26].
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6 Methods and Tools The methods or tools are resources to support the execution of the activities in the Product Development Process [26]. From the literature it can be mentioned: QFD [4, 18, 26]; WBS [11], FAST [8]; FMEA [26]; DFX [19, 26]; DFMA [6], RP [14, 27] among others. All of them can be used with little or no adjustment for ANEEL R&D designs since they were designed for the development of products. These methods can be applied in different stages of a R&D project, as showed in Table 1. Table 1 Methods that can be applied in the Unified Model Method Description
Function in the Unified Model Function in the ANEEL R&D
QFD
Quality Function Deployment
Strategic Planning, Planning, In- Planning, Definition of Experformational Design, Conceptual tise, Product Specification, ReDesign, Detailed Design, Prepa- finement of the Project. ration for Production.
WBS
Working Breaking down Structure
Project Planning.
Project planning and product definition.
FAST
Function Analysis System Technic
Conceptual Design
Define, analyze, understand and correlate product functions.
FMEA Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Detailed Design
Detection of potential flaws in the design and process.
DFX
Conceptual Design; Detailed De- Aid in decision making at varisign ous stages of R&D.
Design for X
DFMA Design for Manufac- Detailed Design turing and Assembly RD
Robust Design
Refinement of prototypes, methods, processes, etc.
Detailed Design; Preparation for Refinement with a view to Head Production. Series (HS).
Source: Rosenfeld at al. [26].
7 Proposals for a New R&D Project The concepts studied were applied in the elaboration of a R&D project proposal characterized as HS in the ANEEL innovation chain. This option was chosen due to the possibility of a wide application of the Unified Model. The object used as a basis for the project proposal was the prototype of the Phase Identifier Equipment for Low Voltage Networks that was developed for COPEL in a previous R&D process [24]. For the proposal’s elaboration it was used the COPEL Form for ANEEL R&D Project Proposal which was elaborated by the R&D management team of COPEL based on the ANEEL R&D Manual [1]. The proposal is presented in a summarized way in Table 2.
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Table 2 Proposal for R&D Design according to the ANEEL criteria [12] Project: Development of the Phase Identifier Equipment (Head Production Series) 1
Descriptive Overview
1.1
Preamble
1.2
Research Team
Duration: 24 months; Segment: D; Theme: PL; Phase in the Chain of Innovation: HS; Product Type: ME; Product: Prototype industry [1].
1.2.1 Institutions
Research Centre; University and partner industry in the equipment for electrical networks sector.
1.2.2 Team
Manager (Utility), coordinator (University), Researchers (masters and PhD) in Electronics, Electrical, Software, Materials, Product Engineering, technical team (Utility) and administrative assistant.
1.3
Motivation
There is no compatible equipment in the market.
1.4
Objectives
Development of the production line for the equipment.
1.5
Justifications
Streamline the task of load balancing in the grid.
1.6
Expected Benefits
Cost reduction, speed, accuracy and reliability of the service.
1.7
Methodology
Unified model adapted. Sequence of steps in Figure 6.
1.8
State of the Art
Two imported equipment and high cost: PIL 8 (audio frequency) [7]; ARIADNA IF3 (PLC1) [2].
2
Analytic Overview
Evaluation Criteria considered by ANEEL [1] according to item 3.
2.1
Originality of Proposal
Note: It is not mandatory for HS projects.
2.1.1 State of the Art
There is no similar product in the market with low cost..
2.1.2 Challenges
Robust design for field activities; SmartGrids technologies adaptation; applicable in the Windows operating systems.
2.1.3 Advance/Innovation
Communication with the concessionaire’s central control, location by GPS2, bidirectional data traffic, use of software LabView3 to implement the function of phase identification in contrast to the device EPLD4 used in the prototype.
2.1.4 Product
Robust equipment with reasonable cost, ergonomic design, ISO90015 compatible.
2.2
Applicability
2.2.1 Context
Load balancing in the aerial and underground power distribution.
2.2.2 Scope
National and international electric utilities.
2.2.3 Proof of Functionality
Functional tests and electromagnetic compatibility.
2.3
Relevance
2.3.1 Professional Qualification Master's degree in Product Design and a PhD in modern communication systems for data networks SmartGrids6. 2.3.2 Technological Capabilities Articles in scientific journals and conferences, etc.; acquisition of specific equipment in order to increase the infrastructure of the involved institutions and patents related to new product and process.
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Table 2 (continue) 2.3.3 Social and Environmental Use of materials and processes that are no harmful to the enviImpacts ronment and planning for disposal or recycling of materials at the end of its lifecycle (consider aspects ISA1 and ISA4 [1]). 2.3.4 Economic Impacts
2.4
Increment the efficiency of services with the reduction of the operational costs. Quality of power supply. Commercialization of the patents and the final product.
Reasonableness of Costs
2.4.1 Justification of the costs
Resources dimensioned according to the process needs and considering the existing infrastructure in the involved institutions, with price based on the market average charge.
2.4.2 Economic Viability
Investment return of the equipment application when compared to the no-automated load balancing process currently applied. Estimate profit participation in the commercialization of patent rights and / or product sales. 1 PLC = Power Line Communication. 2GPS = Global Position System. 3LabView = National Instruments Software for System Design. 4EPLD = Erasable Programmable Logic Devices. 5 ISO9001 = Standards of Quality Management System. 6SmartGrids = Intelligent Distribution Network.
In the elaboration phase of the project (or Pre-Development in the Unified Model), we applied the QFD Requirements List to set the multidisciplinary team needed to run the design. With the application of complete QFD [23] we can also get some information about the sizing of the steps and simultaneity between them and about the allocation of bordering Gates. From the initial QFD we could get the preliminary concept to the equipment that would be developed, as partially illustrated in Figure 6. This phase should be conducted by the project manager team, which should keep in mind the company's strategic plan. Hence the importance of manager and project coordinator with comprehensive view of the development process and corporate culture [10, 21, 26].
Fig. 6 Conceptual model for Phases Identifier Equipment
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Figure 7 shows the steps sequence defined for the project in accordance with the simultaneity and multidisciplinarity concepts as discussed and detailed by [9] and [17].
Fig. 7 Steps sequence for the project Head Production Series for Phases Identifier Equipment
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8 Conclusions This article has presented the concepts of Multidisciplinary Systems Projects focusing on technological innovation projects proposed by R&D program of ANEEL, under which are subject to all electric utilities in Brazil through the Federal law 9.991/2000. As shown, established techniques created for the Product Development Process can be reviewed and adapted for the R&D projects of the ANEEL R&D Program. These techniques are based on methodologies which consider the interaction between the various phases of a project and training of multidisciplinary teams and that, as well as in industry, will certainly result in better R&D projects directed to the purpose of obtaining products with higher quality, more suitable for customer and commercially accessible. As a result it is expected an even greater reduction of the characteristic limitations of segregated activities and sequences, typical of R&D projects carried out so far, reducing design time and costs of reengineering. Although this work is based in a single case study, because it takes only one unit of analysis, that is the R&D COPEL process, the considered approach is generic and can be applied by others electric companies that, like COPEL, are subject to the same laws and criteria dictated by ANEEL. The real proof of the effectiveness of the proposal will be made through a case study with the development of an R&D project on the model of ANEEL for COPEL, and that will be object of exploration and case for future publications.
9 Acknowledgments The authors are thankful for the financial and technical support provided by the Companhia Paranaense de Energia – COPEL, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná – PUCPR and Instituto de Tecnologia para o Desenvolvimento5 – LACTEC, all of them in Brazil.
10 References 1. ANEEL (2008) Manual do programa de pesquisa e desenvolvimento tecnológico do setor de energia elétrica. Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica. Available at http://www.aneel.gov.br. Brasília-DF, Brazil 2. ARIADNA (2011) Catálogo: Identificador de fases de BT em tensión - Ariadna IF3. Ariadna Instruments. Available at http://www.ariadna-inst.com. Bizkaia, Spain. 3. Asimov M (1968) Introdução ao projeto de engenharia. Mestre Jou. São Paulo-SP, Brazil
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4. Akao Y (1990) Quality Function Deployment: Integrating customer requirements into products design. Productivity Press. Portland, USA 5. Back N, Ogliari A, Dias A et al (2008) Projeto Integrado de Produtos: Planejamento, concepção e modelagem. 1st edn. Manole, Barueri-SP, Brazil 6. Baxter M (2000) Projeto de Produto: Guia prático para o design e novos produtos, 2nd edn. Edgard Blücher, São Paulo-SP, Brazil 7. BIESOLD (2011) Catalog: Equipamento PIL8. Biesold Group Intragas. Available at http://www.biesold.com. Sant Marti Sarroca, Spain 8. Bytheway CW (2007) FAST Creativity & Innovation: Rapidly improving processes, product development and solving complex problems. J. Ross Publishing, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA 9. Casarotto FN, Favero JS, Castro JEE (1999) Gerência de Projetos/Engenharia Simultânea. 1st edn. Atlas, São Paulo-SP, Brazil 10. Catmull E (2008) How Pixar fosters colletive creativity. Harvard Business Review, USA. Available at http://hbr.org/2008/09/how-pixar-fosters-collective-creativity/ar/1 11. Clark K, Fujimoto T (1991) Product Development Performance: strategy organization and management in the world auto industry. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, USA 12. Gestão de P&D COPEL (2010) Formulário para submissão de propostas de P&D ANEEL. Available at http://www.copel.com. Curitiba-PR, Brazil 13. Craig K, Nagurka M (2011) Multidisciplinary engineering systems. 2nd and 3rd Year College Wide Course Marquette University. Milwaukee, USA 14. Creveling CM, Slutsky JL, Junior DA (2002) Design For Six Sigma: In technology and product development. 1st edn. Prentice Hall PTR, New Jersey, USA 15. Cross N (2008) Engineering Design Methods: Strategies for product design. 4rt edn. Wiley, England 16. Diário Oficial da União (2000) Lei 9.991 de 24 de julho 2000. Brasília-DF, Brazil 17. Hartley JR (1997) Engenharia Simultânea. 1st edn. Bookman, São Paulo-SP, Brazil 18. Hauser JR, Clausing D (1988) The house of quality. Harvard Business Review. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 19. Huang GQ (1996) Design for X: Concurrent engineering imperatives. Chapman & Hall, London 20. Machado MC, Toledo NN (2000) Gestão do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos. 1st edn. Atlas, São Paulo-SP, Brazil 21. Miguel PAC (2008) Implementação do QFD para o desenvolvimento de novos produtos. 1st edn. Atlas, São Paulo-SP, Brazil 22. Müller GA (2011) Multi-disciplinary research approach. Embedded Systems Institute. Version 0.1. Eindhoven, Netherlands 23. Pahl G, Beitz W (1988) Engineering Design: A systematic approach. 2nd edn. Springer, Darmstadt, Germany 24. Pereira JA, Langner CG, Valença MM (2001) Equipamento identificador de fases para redes de baixa tensão. Congressional record of VII Congresso Internacional IBERCHIP. Available at http://iie.fing.edu.uy/vlsi/iberchip/pdf/14.pdf. Montevideo, Uruguay 25. Pereira JA, Júnior OC (2011) Conceitos de sistemas multidisciplinares aplicados ao desenvolvimento de projetos de P&D fomentados pela ANEEL. Congressional record of XVIII SIMPEP. Available at http://www.feb.unesp.br/dep/simpep. Bauru-SP, Brazil 26. Rozenfeld H, Forcellini FA, Amaral DC et al (2006) Gestão de Desenvolvimento de Produtos: Uma referência para a melhoria do processo. 1st edn. Saraiva, São Paulo-SP, Brazil 27. Ross P (1995) Taguchi Technique For Quality Engineering: Loss function, orthogonal experiments, parameters and tolerance design. 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, USA 28. V Model (2011). The Test Management Guide. Available at http://www.ruleworks.co.uk/testguide/vmodel.htm. United Kingdom 29. (1993) Richtlinie: VDI 2221 Methodik zum entwickeln und konstruieren technischer systeme und produkte. Beuth-Verlag, Berlin.
