Till Örebro universitet

In this paper we show how relational representations of design structure matrices (DSM), on the one hand, enables to describe domain dependencies and connections as relational composition, and, on the other hand, invites to using a variety of algebraic structures for the sets of qualifications attached with non-binary matrices. Particularly, we use fuzzy sets of higher types to model qualifications in many-valued DSMs where compositional techniques allow for extending the use of fuzzy sets of higher types also in the setting of multidomain matrices (MDM). We further show how clustered domains can be embedded as modelled within powersets of domains, thus providing a further justification for adopting the relational view of DSMs, particularly as the qualification space needs to support folding and unfolding across hierarchies in clustered domains. Our case study is drawn from scenarios involving maintenance of equipment in mineral mining.