The use of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds for improved information communication in decentralized decision systems

In today's global product development environment, the design of large scale systems is completed by distributing design tasks to various subsystems that are located in different parts of the world. Though such a process reduces the product development time (due to concurrent completion of design tasks), there also exists the possibilities of errors due to information communication and handling among the distributed subsystems. Errors in information communication get amplified when there exist a large number of subsystems with high coupling between them. Causes for errors in design information communication include loss of design information emails, corruption of attachments that include product data, duplication of files at multiple locations, different software being used to complete the same design task, etc. All these factors contribute to delays in the product development process. In this paper, a new approach for design information communication that utilizes Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds is proposed. Most information providing websites provide their users with RSS feeds that include the latest available news. In this paper, the same process is incorporated for design information communication within decentralized design through the use of a web-based design environment. The design of a golf driver head by two subsystems is used as a case study.