An analysis of design reuse benefits

Although the concept of design reuse is accepted as a valid approach to design, little attempt has been made to formalise the elements that constitutes design reuse. The few approaches formalising design reuse, e.g. 'Concept Reuse Approach for Engineering Design Problem Solving', tend to be prescriptive, detailing procedures and functions that have to be carried out in order to reuse designs. Such procedural methods fail to identify the underlying processes and knowledge resources of design reuse and tend to relate to an approach or method of tackling reuse rather than reuse itself. It would seem that the only current model encompassing design reuse is 'The Design Reuse Process Model'. The elements of this reuse process model have been used as a basis upon which to identify and analyse the benefits of design reuse when considering key metrics relating to competitive product development,that is time, cost, quality and performance.