The research programme of the Engineering Design Centre (EDC) at Newcastle University is oriented towards the study of the design of marine and other made-to-order (MTO) products. Part of the work undertaken at the EDC has involved studying the conceptual design process for the topsides of an offshore production platform. A prerequisite of this study was an examination of current formalisms and paradigms in engineering design. This paper will describe a typical approach to the conceptual design of the topsides of an offshore production platform and highlight the differences between prescriptive design theory and actual design practice. This discussion will relate both how design activities are typically organized and information flows between them, and how extensive use is made of heuristics within the concept stage to progress the design. A number of conclusions will be drawn regarding the applicability of available prescriptive conceptual design methodologies to marine and other MTO products.
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