Quality and design automation: effectiveness against completeness of search

Automated tools for design can improve productivity in an organisation by accelerating the execution of routine tasks. A more interesting consequence of computer–aided packages is the possibility of enhancing the quality of design: the increased efficiency allows for a systematic search of alternative candidates, from which a superior design may be selected. This paper presents an operational definition of quality based on the relative rank of a design with respect to alternative candidates. The impact of an expanded list of candidates on the ultimate quality is explored through both a theoretical analysis and a simulation case study.