An Integrated Modular Design and Group Decision-Making Method in Complex Design Environments

This paper deals with the design of novel products, conceived in a complex design environment, under strict constraints and several disciplines involved in. As an application, the design of micro-bioreactors for tissue-engineering is proposed. To date, in-vitro two-dimensional (2D) culture systems have been widely used to study the mechanisms underlying cell biology. However, 3D culture systems and platforms have showed to better mimic the real tissue environment. The design of a 3D culture system of bioreactor is challenging due to several criteria derived from several disciplines, as biotechnology, engineering, and manufacturing. To this aim, a two-step integrated modular design and group multi-criteria decision-making method is proposed. In step one, a functional analysis is carried out, first, to point out the interfaces between parts and the function of each part in the assembly. Generated design alternatives have been selected by means of a group Fuzzy-TOPSIS technique, in step two. The proposed integrated design method has shown efficient in the early stages of design of novel products in complex design environments.