Value-Based Change Impact Analysis in Production with System Impact Architecture Modeling

Abstract

Flexible production under Industry 4.0 demands proactive adaptation capabilities to uncertain conditions. However, multi-domain engineering knowledge required for adaptation impact analysis remains scattered and implicit, leading to costly redesign errors and missing dependencies across workstations that compromise critical stakeholder interests such as product quality and throughput. This paper introduces Value-Based Change Impact Analysis (V-CIA), an approach that uses System Impact Architecture Modeling (SIAM) to represent impact paths connecting production system asset modifications to high-value production outcomes. By encoding architecture knowledge as knowledge graphs, e.g., in Neo4J, and validating conditions through the Product-Process-Resource (VDI 3682) framework, V-CIA enables process slicing on impact paths to focus on the minimal assets required to analyze specific undesired outcomes. We evaluate V-CIA in an empirical case study of a welding line retrofit for hairpin stator production in automotive manufacturing. Results indicate that V-CIA effectively equips domain experts with the capability to analyze cross-workstation dependencies, as input to prepare for special cases, and reduce unplanned downtime across the production system lifecycle.