Concurrent Engineering
Concurrent Engineering
Concurrent Engineering
ENGINEERING
CONCURRENT
ENGINEERING
Concepts) implementatiun
and practice
Edited by
Chanan S. Syan
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Systems, University
ofNorthumbria at Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
and
UnnyMenon
Department of Industrial Engineering, California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in
writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in
accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing
Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the
appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries
concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the
publishers at the Glasgow address printed on this page.
The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to
the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept
any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be
made.
A catalogue for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 94-71062
List of contributors ix
Acknowledgements Xlll
Introduction xv
Index 231
Contributors
Mr J. D. A. Anderson,
European Regional Director,
ICAD Engineering Automation Ltd.,
Viscount Centre II, Milburn Hill Road,
University of Warwick Science Park,
Coventry, CV47HS,
UK.
Professor J. V. Chelsom,
Professor of Engineering Management,
Department of System Science,
City University, Northampton Square,
London, EClVOHB,
UK.
Dr P. M. Dickens,
Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations
Management,
University of Nottingham, University Park,
Nottingham, NG72RD,
UK.
Mr A. Grazebrook,
I-Logix UK Ltd.,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham,
Wiltshire, SN146RA,
UK.
MrJ. Z. Gu,
Group for Intelligent Systems in Design and Manufacture,
Department of Industrial Engineering,
North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7906,
USA.
x Contributors
Mr S. C. Hitchins,
Product Marketing Manager,
Computervision Ltd., Argent Court,
Sir William Lyons Road,
Coventry, CV47EZ,
UK.
Professor U. Menon, PHD, FIMECHE,
Industrial Engineering Department,
California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407,
USA.
Professor C. O'Brien,
Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations
Management,
University of Nottingham, University Park,
Nottingham, NG72RD,
UK.
Professor P. J. O'Grady,
Group for Intelligent Systems in Design and Manufacture,
Department of Industrial Engineering,
North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7906,
USA.
Dr K. S. Pawar,
Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations
Management,
University of Nottingham, University Park,
Nottingham, NG72RD,
UK.
Ms S. Schedler,
Logistics IT Strategy Programme Manager,
Integraph (UK) Limited,
Delta Business Park, Great Eastern Way,
Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 7XP,
UK.
Mr S. J. Smith,
Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations
Management,
University of Nottingham, University Park,
Nottingham, NG72RD,
UK.
Contributors xi
Whilst preparing this book, many friends gave valuable support and
help. We will not attempt to compile a list as we do not want to omit
anybody. Instead, we would like to take this opportunity to thank
everyone who gave advice, made constructive comments and con-
tributed to the compilation of this work.
It is not intended for this text to be read from cover to cover, but,
referred to selectively, as a handbook for specific areas of CE and its
implementation. We wish all companies committed to success through
CE, product development teams and students of CE every success in their
quest. Good luck.
c. S. Syan
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
UK
U. Menon
California Polytechnic State University
USA
Introduction
BACKGROUND
This book will aim to provide a sound basis for the very diverse subject
known as concurrent engineering. Concurrent engineering is recognized
by an increasingly large proportion of the manufacturing industry as a
necessity in order to compete in today's markets. This recognition has
created the demand for information, awareness and training in good
concurrent engineering practice.
This text will introduce the subject area, identify the major elements,
tools and techniques and procedure in a single source. The important
areas of this approach will be explained and discussed by experts in these
fields. There will also be a comprehensive guide to important further
xvi Introduction
Part Three
Chapters 10 to 13 introduce currently available CE support tools. This
section is not meant to be exhaustive, as that would be an impossible task
for a single text on the subject. It aims to show a range of products and
their features and capabilities. Where possible, the system capabilities are
illustrated via user case studies.
Although the text is not physically partitioned into three distinct parts,
the chapters are designed to fall into the above categories.
Concurrent Engineering:
Concepts, Definitions
and Issues
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to concurrent
• •
engIneerIng
c. S. Syan
1.1 BACKGROUND
Throughout the world for the past two decades, all engineering com-
panies have faced similar challenges. These are ever more demanding
customers, rapid technological change, environmental issues, competi-
tive pressures on quality and cost, and shorter time to market with
additional new product features. This is all happening with the majority
of the Western world's common economic background of slow growth,
excess capacity, increasing legislation compliance, demographic
changes, market complexity and increasing globalization of industries.
In many cases the pace was set by the Japanese, who progressively
made inroads in North America and Europe and in some cases dominated
chosen markets. The list of these chosen markets became longer year by
year. Western companies were slow to recognize the basis of Japanese
success, but eventually responded with a whole string of actions
including CAD/CAE/CAM/CIM, robotics, automation, value analysis,
quality programmes, information technology and so on. They sought to
offset a perceived weakness - their workforces - by building on their
apparent strength - technology, particularly computer-based tech-
nology.
This expensive technology was largely ineffective, because the new
tools were used with existing structures, practices and attitudes. Products
continued to arrive in the market place at unsatisfactory quality levels,
and often too late to achieve sales and profit objectives. Their efforts were
also undermined by short-term successes during market booms. There
were also brief respites as a result of the appreciating yen, but the
Japanese overcame this by aggressive cost reduction programmes and by
investments in production capacity outside Japan - sometimes in
countries with lower labour costs, sometimes in the key sales territories.
In the 1980s, companies started to feel the influence of large multi-
national organizations on the markets, increased product complexities
4 Introduction to concurrent engineering
Information flow
•
Engineering /
Design
-,--------
\
\
Knowledge •••••
\.
",.'
••••
.'
Total costs
\ ,.'"." incurred
\
----T I "",
,V'
, ,
I
I
I ""
:~'
i,.,··'" ....... ....... Ease of change
.~
. . . . -L
-----
~~"
.'
Product eng ineering 42 ~:, ';;<$';\" , : ,,' " ,~. :.. :.. ~, 19
I I
Process engineering 37 li<bil;ll:@% ~'l!%;;'\\*' .' . : ,,'. ,;,. ,,,~,: 10
I
29 Product plann ing
I I
27 Advanced engineeri ng
I I
Process engineering 28 f:$i$:;;>~b, :S'l :*"'~"", 6
Fig. 1.3 Companson of European and Japanese development lead tImes for the
automotIve mdustry
Performance
Testability Lowest overall life-cycle costs
Manufacturability
Service
Problem prevention instead of
Cost problem solving and
re-designs !
Quality
Fig.1.4 The concurrent engineering process.
1.3.2 Objectives of CE
Studies considering the costs associated to a product during its entire
life-cycle have demonstrated that from 60 to 95% of these costs are
determined during the design phase. Therefore, it is during the design
that the best savings can be achieved. Moreover, the earlier the
improvements are made the greater is the cost reduction, as shown in
Figure 1.5. The purpose of concurrent engineering is to ensure that the
decisions taken during the design of a product result in a minimum
overall cost during its life-cycle. In other words, this means that all
activities must start as soon as possible, to induce working in parallel,
which additionally shortens the overall product development process.
Total invested
Impact on total cost cost
lime
Fig. 1.5 The importance of the design on the product life-cycle cost.
Concurrent engineering 9
10
4
Average product
2 development time
o~~------~------~----~------~------~----~---
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995
Fig. 1.6 Product development time versus the product's lifetime (for electronics
products [7]).
10 Introduction to concurrent engineering
~ "E
'x
Q)
co
0
C. :: 120
E ':;
o
u
u
... /112
U
7V
c:
.~ -;;; 90
~ ~
70L--------------------;
60
I
1982 1983 1984 1985
Time (years)
1.3.4 Benefits of CE
The execution of the activities of the design in parallel leads to
improvements in many areas such as communication, quality, produc-
tion processes, cash flows and profitability. The reductions of time to
market, which has strategic importance, allows companies to increase
Concurrent engineering 11
Revenue ($)
jS
•..c
,..0)
~
<;
Revenue curve for ~'1>
on-time market entry
~
....II(E-----W -----i~~ w Time
Market w indow
....1I(E--------- 2W -------~~~
Product life-cycle
d = delay in months
their market share and reduce design changes and design iterations. They
are more easily manufacturable, serviceable and are of higher quality.
Once released to manufacturing, production progresses quickly to full
volume because the process is well defined, documented and controlled.
The remarkable performance achieved by world-class companies has
been the best proof of the effectiveness of concurrent engineering. Their
success has been recorded in books and articles, reporting striking
improvements in terms of cycle times, cost reduction, product quality and
12 Introduction to concurrent engineering
reliability. Turino [5], for instance, reports that Boeing's Ballistic System
Division achieved the following improvements.
• 16% to 46% in cost reduction in manufacturing.
• Engineering changes reduced from 15-20 to 1-2 drafts per drawing.
• Design analyses for the' -ilities' (e. g. design for manufacturability, etc.)
cut from two weeks to less than one hour.
• Materials shortage reduced from 12% to 1%.
• Inspection costs cut by a factor of 3.
Business Week [6] describes the development of a new electronic cash
register at NCR, highlighting the following benefits achieved:
• reduction in parts and assembly line;
• 65% fewer suppliers;
• 100% fewer screws or fasteners;
• 100% fewer assembly tools;
• 44% improvement in manufacturing costs;
• a trouble-free product introduction.
Other examples are: Rolls-Royce reduced the lead-time to develop a new
aircraft engine by 30%; McDonnell Douglas reduced production costs by
40%; and ITT reduced their design cycle-time by 33% for its electronics
counter measuring system. Many other cases which corroborate the
benefits of adopting concurrent engineering are also reported by Turino
[5], Ettlie [7] and in IEEE Spectrum [3].
It is possible to deduce some common factors from a number of
successful cases reported in literature. It is widely quoted that when
moving from the sequential to the concurrent approach, it is important
that a company sets specific targets for itself. Lucas Automotive, for
example, established the following targets when it moved into CE:
• 50% reduction in lead time to delivery;
• 50% reduction costs;
• zero defects;
• simplified procedures;
• design standardization.
Working in teams is not usual practice for most of the Western world's
companies. In order to achieve effective team working, a major structural
and organizational development process needs to take place. All the team
members must work as part of a group with the same objectives, hence
the selection process undertaken by the management must be precise.
The team created should appreciate that their role is not of a committee,
but actually to do what is required to successfully complete the project in
hand. The CE practice demands multidisciplinary team approach. As a
minimum, this task force should contain individuals from the depart-
ments shown in Figure 1.9, including the main suppliers and the
customer.
14 Introduction to concurrent engineering
Hartley and Mortimer [1] suggest that in setting up a task force, there
are three basic options.
1. At the pre-concept stage a small team drawn from product design,
manufacturing and finance may be sufficient. This needs to be
expanded once the product moves from the concept to development
stage.
2. A full workforce to take the product from the pre-concept state
through to full production.
3. A task force which will take the product from the pre-concept stage
and remain with the product as long as it is in production. Such a team
is likely to vary in composition and size depending upon the stage of
product development and manufacture.
Multidisciplinary teams must be given near full authority for the
decisions regarding the project, being responsible for the entire develop-
ment of a new product. High authority also increases motivation and
commitment of the team members, establishing an environment of
common ownership and identity with the project. This activity requires
training of both the team members and the management in order to be
effective. There can be many problems and difficulties that need to be
sorted out, such as level of autonomy, authority and accountability. Also
issues such as team member selection, motivation and time management,
perhaps between more than one project, can be difficult problems in
practice to solve.
Support for CE 15
(b) Team duties
For a multidisciplinary team, effective communication amongst the
members is extremely crucial for practising concurrent engineering
successfully. The types of communication needed are between all the
people involved and programs used such as CAD/CAM etc. in product
development.
The activities that teams undertake are varied and very wide-ranging.
The use of handbooks and data books is a common activity, as is using
various analytical methods. Communications between various functional
activities, such as design and engineering, and face-to-face meetings with
other team members enable negotiations, compromise and decisions to
be made, based upon the experience of the team members. Perhaps the
most important activity that the product development team undertakes is
the documentation and archiving of information and decisions made.
Co-location of people provides transparency in ideas and issues, allows
asynchronous and synchronous communications and enables support in
varied and appropriate forms of communication, e.g. drawings, text,
verbal, etc. to be provided. Finally, the tools and techniques can be
readily shared for consistency and efficiency in this environment.
These activities can be carried out in a manual manner, with the team
members working in close proximity, preferably in an open-plan office
space. However, with the increasing use of computers and their speed
and accuracy in many respects of engineering analysis and decision
support activities, they can provide essential non-manual support to the
team.
CE matrix marketing
builds in a series of links to the relevant functions in the company for the
compromise or resolution of issues. It can also be used to resolve in-house
issues in the same manner. As it involves input from a wide variety of
sources, it is also a very powerful team and team spirit building tool. This
is the topic of discussion in Chapter 5 of this book.
Support for CE 17
OFD
OFD--~--------~
Problem-solving techniques---.
Design for manufacture---.,--~______---,
OFD __,...L..------'----,
Product FMEA
Taguchi
Design for manufacture ~"------..;::--____----I
OFD
Problem-solving techniques
Process FMEA
OFD~~~------~
Process FMEA
Taguchi
Process capability
Poka Yoke ~"--......".--____----I
trained in the use of the techniques. A total of 2000 cases were analysed by
this method and savings of $35 million a year were made.
The use of formal techniques ensures that there is a consistent
approach to the problems throughout the organization. This helps ensure
minimum quality levels even with less experienced engineers and
designers being involved.
Flexibility is essential in CE, no one technique or methodology offers a
universal solution. Choosing the right tools at the right time in the
development cycle is an essential skill of the CE team members. Lucas has
been an early CE player and Figure 1.12, derived from discussions with
Lucas pIc (UK) staff, shows how various techniques are applied.
Although the computer-based technologies are not indicated in Figure
1.12, it is equally valid for such an approach.
..
Convert Convert
-
Neutral
&iii file
single vendor which can be very risky. Also it is highly unlikely that a
single vendor could supply all the computer systems a company may
require.
The other option is to ensure that the in-house systems are compatible
with the suppliers and customers. This option is only available to large
companies who can pressure their suppliers to conform. Otherwise, this
approach may mean that the organization and/or its supplier will need
different systems for different customers.
The neutral file format route is also available where different systems
communicate with each other via a standard format. Figure 1.13 shows
how this is achieved in practice. Unfortunately, as the number of systems
have increased, so has the number of neutral file formats. The more
common standards include:
• IGES (initial graphics exchange specification);
• SET (standard d'exchange et de tranfert);
• VDA (verband der automobilindustrie flachenschnittstelle);
• PDES (product data exchange system);
• STEP (standard for the exchange of products data).
Because of the well-recognized need to focus this diversity into a common
international standard, the CALS (computer-aided logistical support)
initiative has been started. It aims to provide support for CE via an
international standard for product definition data sharing, previously
known as STEP. The work towards this standard is still in its draft stage.
A company that is considering implementation of CE would necess-
arily have to consider a number of factors.
Lessons from successful implementations of CE 21
The key features that can be identified as essential elements for successful
CE implementation from the studies are:
• multidisciplinary teams;
• sustained communication and co-ordination across different disci-
plines and organizations involved with the product;
• use of quality management methods and principles;
• computer simulations of products and processes;
• integration of databases, applications tools and user interfaces;
• a programme of education for employees at all levels;
• employees developed an attitude of ownership towards processes in
which they were involved;
• a commitment to continual improvement.
There are four general rules for achieving success with CEo These have
been derived from the plethora of published information now written on
22 Introduction to concurrent engineering
g-- -
Future
--.------------ ~ r CAD1,oFA,~
DFM l CE team I simulation
SPC
I --
--.
/ DeSignl ~ ~(o!ta~e)~ l~~t~~~ -......
.........-- ...........
r-- ..-/
IlCE team II l ~ ---.........
V Design I-.
Production b,.
/
--
~~ ~~ ~
/
-
Design ~
~~
iT ~
/
\.
Production
planning
\.. ~
~~~
-;-;~
/ / / I \ '\
Fig.1.14 The future of concurrent engineering.
this subject. These rules are only meant to be a guide and need to be set
into context in any specific organization.
1. Do not undertake CE until the company is ready.
2. CE deployment is as difficult as the deployment of a major new
product line.
3. CE is a methodology and involves cultural change as well as working
practices.
4. CE technology, tools and techniques without CE culture will greatly
reduce benefits.
REFERENCES
2.1 BACKGROUND
to own one and enjoy with his family the blessings of hours of
pleasure in God's great open spaces' [2].
Ford, and most other Western producers of all kinds, lost this team
approach, the direct access to the product vision, and the co-operation
between designers and producers to meet the forecast needs of their joint
end customer. The Japanese never strayed from the co-operative ideal,
and succeeded in combining team methods of product development with
another American concept - total quality. It was their success that led
Ford, and others to rediscover concurrent engineering.
The benefits of CE can be seen in case studies describing recent
successes, but the extent of the changes in results and behaviour can only
be appreciated by comparison with some of the disasters that emerged
from the sequential development processes that were increasingly the
standard practice of the Western motor industry from the 1920s to the
1980s.
The first case studies given in Sections 2.2.1 to 2.2.6 are therefore
examples of these bad old ways - aptly called' over the wall' engineering,
where the designer works in isolation until something is ready to be
tossed over the wall to the process engineers who either toss it back or
develop a process which is tossed over to production.
The need for better quality and shorter product development time
spans was generally recognized, but actually achieving these objectives
turned out to be difficult. This is illustrated by two of Ford of Europe's
projects from the early 1980s described below - one relates to a new
engine, the other to a transmission.
Aluminium pan
ROF
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :I Design
ENGINE PROGRAMMES
ZETA [Procure ......... .
ROF
I
Design
Original job 1
ROF
MT75 Procure, Instal, Commission, Operate I
: : : : : : : :~: : : : : : : : I Design
Fig.2.1 Timing chart for the DOHC engine and MT75 transmission .
Two over the wall case studies 29
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1 ",- 1
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Fig. 2.2 CntIcal dImenSIOns on the MT75 transmISSIOn case Centres of holes 67 and 68 located wlthm 1 mIcron
Programmable 1:::1 Interfeco loI"A1h
H"d capv schedule
logic controller LAN
DOH C ENGINE- l8 W ~
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~ .rr:;;;. "".hict. network grid
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MANUFActURE A CI
SPC '" .tatistical prOCH' COntrol MAP • MlnuflcturinQ protocol CPU • central prcx.lSing unit
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ass4l'mblV ENGINE I
DESIGN t t ASSEMBlY~
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TESTING eng'ne.
shipped 10
customer
tit har~
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Process sheet5-
rough parts Hal
layouts lest
me10riel h-'IIndlrng
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8lPPIJIEA8 Inventorv s.tores tl!lfmln~I' cepabla of
---~~~I.!i::s.'F.L---+-----t------r----1 accl!lpt1ng map -
was decided that the engines would not be fit for sale. Tests of engines
using parts from the volume production facilities and operators showed a
number of concerns, notably oil leaks from around the sumplblock
interface. This was because the steel stampings from the company's own
press shop, made at the rate of hundreds per day, were not as consistent
dimensionally as those used in prototype testing, which came in low
volume from outside specialists. The solution was a cast aluminium
sump, which of course needed new foundry tooling, new cutting
machines and major changes to the assembly equipment. This all took
time - in fact a whole year. It also cost a lot of money.
huge investment had stood idle, and carefully trained operators had
drifted away to more rewarding jobs. Equipment costs had been pushed
up by all the changes, and for the three major items alone this amounted
to more than $40m. The suppliers all lost heavily - in the region of $5m for
each of the two transfer line vendors. Component suppliers suffered too-
many of them had made investments in design, facilities and training to
supply new parts, which were not required for a year or more.
The outcome on the transmission programme was similar. Ford
suffered idle plant, lost learning, escalating facility costs and late start of
production. It was the same for equipment and component suppliers.
It was not until early 1989 that the DOHC engine and the MT75
transmission were offered for sale together in a vehicle. By then the
competition had moved on, and far from being 'best in class' state-of-the-
art products they were just another power train.
The lessons from these case studies are:
The inadequacies of 'over the wall' engineering for innovation and the
management of new technology have been exposed. It would be
reassuring to see that the lessons have been learned, but all around, even
in the 1990s, there is evidence that 'the voice of the customer' is not being
heard, and that products are being tried and tested by the customer rather
than the supplier - or better, by the supplier and the potential customer.
The need for improved ways of managing new product programmes was
recognized by many Western companies early in the 1980s, because of
their poor performance in world markets in the 1970s. Concurrent
engineering was the result of this search for a better way, though it can
now be seen as a re-invention. Despite its clear advantages, CE has been
34 Concurrent engineering case studies
1. Earlier prototypes
2. Prototypes more representative of production units
3. Prototypes built by production suppliers/plant
4. Engineering releases more representative of final product
5. Earlier resolution offeasibility issues
6. Elimination of enquiry/recap phase
7. Joint prototype/validation programmes
8. Equipment cost reduction
9. Piece cost reduction
10. Quality improvement
to existing cast iron cylinder blocks used in the different US and European
'Erika' engines - which had also started as a common 'world' design, to be
made by common processes, but which ended up with only one
component similar enough to be made on almost identical equipment.
For ZETA, the European design office was designated the 'centre of
responsibility' - to design in one place a product to be made and sold
globally. Similarly, the European Engine Manufacturing Engineering
department was assigned responsibility for development of production
processes, and the purchasing activity took on the task of sourcing
components and equipment.
Attachment 1
Ford of Europe Incorporated
J. V. Chelsom
Director - Facilities and
General Supplies - Supply
11July1986
Mr P. Cantarella
COMAU S.p.A
Via Rivalta 30
10095 Grugliasco
Torino
Dear Paolo,
All the Ford activities working on the 1992 Zeta engine
programme are very pleased that Comau are joining us in a new
partnership approach to development ofthe product processes
and equipment involved.
The aim is to resolve design and manufacturing concerns before
equipment is ordered, and so avoid changes later in the
programme with their inherent threats to quality, cost and
timing.
Based on our past co-operation, and your expertise in this
particular field, we believe that Comau will make a major
contribution to the success of this innovative business
relationship. Recognizing this, it is Ford's intention to order from
Comau, without competition, the automated assembly
equipment for the cylinder head, both within the transfer line
and following on from it. We both recognize that there are risks
as well as benefits in this enterprise.
There is the possibility of initial disagreement on price but, as in
the past, this could probably be resolved by negotiation. Only if
this failed would we seek competitive bids, possibly using ideas
contributed by Comau. It is also possible that the programme
will not be approved, or that after approval it could be
postponed or cancelled.
Should these or other events prevent us from completing the
expected orders with you, Ford would discuss ways of
compensating Comau for the costs incurred through your
special involvement over and above your 'normal' sales and
proposal expenses.
Yours sincerely,
John Chelsom
Concurrent engineering case studies 37
COMAU
Thank you for your letter on the 1992 Zeta Engine Programme.
We are very proud of having been chosen by FORD for the
assemblyequipments.
In principle I agree with your proposal as described. I am totally
confident of FORD and you personally, so in any event we would
find together solutions able to protect Ford and Comau's
interests and right.
Paolo Cantarella
Objectives
TARGETS
/ Best in class~
Product Manufacturing
process
Design for
Optimized Cost-efficient
engine characteristic manufacturing
\ Fully accounted
costs
I
Fig.2.7 The task force's own route to their targets.
Concurrent engineering case studies 39
Product-
orientated
design
Deletion of
machining or assembly
operations
Simplification
Yes of the process due to
an accommodated
design
No
Yes
Commonization of
different processes
Feature
Longitudinal galleries cast in, complete with cast tappet feed slots
also serving as core supports as required
Advantage
Eliminates all machining for tappet feeds
Disadvantages
Risk of core breakage for high volume production
DQR risk due to difficult cleaning of cast galleries
Increased oil level in cyl. head (aeration, pumping losses) requires
restrictor valve
Increase start-up noise even with check (non-return) valve
# Design feature Advantage Disadvantage Plece cost effect Investment effect Actton responsIbIlIty Concurred as
(5000) max timing
1 I 011 dram holes cast fInIshed • Machmmg operations reduced • NAAO comment - Increased (400) • 011 dram holes on exhaust cast YES
• Tool cost reduchon fmgers on oil Jacket core whICh x2 or machmed may result In
may result In Increased core water arculatton problems
breakage around exh port
• Montupet state no change In • Poc; to revIew
cost
Self-contamed hydraulIc tappets • Machmmg operations reduced • Tappet deSIgn not fully TBE (4000)" • Action plan estabhshed TBA
• Tool cost reductIon developed (DQR concern) x2 • Resource and faclhhes to be
• MInute cost reduchon • PIece cost mcrease estabhshed
• Product Improvements • Longer assembly leakdown • EAO/NAAO Jomt testmg
claImed by tappet supplier reqUired
• May reqUIre addltlonal sqUirt
holes for lubncatlon between
tappet and valve stem
• No fallback route In the case of
fallure If ad hole machmIng IS
not protected
III Delete camshaft lubncahon holes • Machmmg operatIOns reduced • External system for Cam TBE (600) • DeSign study to be TBA
In half bore • Tool cost reductlons beanng lube reqUIred DQR x2 estabhshed
• PIece cost Increase • BUIld prototype for test
Delete machmed ad gallery • Machining and assembly ops • Increased foundry costs TBE (4000)* • Foundry feaslblhty under TBA
" system by castmg the all gallery deleted • Increased Ollm the cyl head x2 reVIew
and tappet lube holes • Tool cost, mmute cost and may reqUIrt> check valve • MontupetlNAAO
floorspace reductlon • DeSIgn study reqUITed
• Reduced cast weIght • BuIld prototypes for test
Delete machmmg of foundry • Machmmg and assembly ops • Foundry concern WIth regard TBE (1200) Senes I heads Will be made to Montupet
core holes Seal WIth gaskets, reduced With the followmg sand removal, degas and core x2 new level YES
mamfolds etc (reduced 8 holes beneflts support NAAO
to 1 only) • PIece cost reductIon • Wall thIckness vanatton from TBA
• Tool cost reductIOn 05 to 0 8
• Mmute cost reductIon • DQR concern (plus and mmor)
• Reduced productlon scrap
Core bolt hole - use dowel holes • Machmmg operatIons reduced • DeSign concessions reqUIred (650) NO
for head/block locatIOn • Tool cost reductIon for foundry draft angle, x2
• Mmute cost reductIOn dIameter tolerance, poslhonai
tolerance
• Reduced seahng land -
prevent deSign requlTement of
not connechng bolt boss to the
cyl bore walls thus
ehmmatmg cyl bore dIstortIon
Concurrent engineering case studies 43
Table 2.2 Cost escalation on the DOHC engine, with OTW design
Although these three major lines and all other machines for the DOHC
were available on time, the engine was two years late reaching the
market, which was quite unexcited by its arrival- another immeasurable
loss through missed sales opportunities and inability to price for a new
premium product. A conservative cost estimate of keeping the whole
investment inactive for two years would be $40m, so with the $40m cost
increases and lost sales, 'over the wall' engineering probably reduced
profits by at least $100m.
By contrast, changes and cost increases on the ZETA engine were less
than 5%, and the engine was available in line with the original timetable.
This timetable allowed validation and demonstration of capability for all
operations prior to the start of volume production, so that world class
quality was achieved from job 1. In fact, all quality, cost and performance
objectives were met or beaten. And the equipment suppliers made
profits!
Design engineer x x x
Process engineer x x x
Equipment suppliers x x x
Gauge/Test suppliers x x
Foundry x
Diemaker x
Logistics consultant x
Systems office x
Concurrent engineering case studies 45
o 0
There are some common factors in the ZETA and MTX75 examples that
are key to the success of any CE project.
• Early, careful selection of team members.
• Component and equipment suppliers must be selected and involved
early enough to participate in the design process.
• The team must focus on the quality of the end product, and achieve
quality targets from the start of production by validating every
component and every process during development.
• Volume producers must be involved in prototype production to
identify as early as possible any opportunity to improve process
reliability .
• New processes must be validated at the prototype stage, if necessary
using surrogate production-like parts.
• All parties must be able to share information from prototype work - this
must not be the designers' secret.
• Personal attitudes are more important than computer hardware for
effective communication, and training in group problem solving and
helpful team behaviour may be needed.
It is difficult enough for the CE teams to learn these lessons, but even
more difficult to spread the learning throughout the whole company. In
many companies there are long-established organizational and physical
barriers between designers of the product and designers and users of
production processes. This leads to mental barriers which are an even
greater obstacle. These internal barriers also contribute to the difficulties
of learning from customers and suppliers outside the company - if only
sales people are allowed to talk to potential customers, the designers will
never hear what the customers really say. Similarly, if only purchasing
48 Concurrent engineering case studies
people are allowed to talk with and listen to suppliers, the product and
process designers will be cut off from this enormous pool of expertise.
The removal of mental barriers through training, and above all by
leadership example is the most serious challenge to the successful
introduction of simultaneous engineering. The best prescription for
success comes from Roy Wheeler of Hewlett Packard:
What tools does an engineer need to get started in CE? Pencil,
paper, some intelligence and a willingness to work with peers in
other functional areas to get the job done [4].
REFERENCES
1. Lacey, R. and Little, T. (1986) Ford - The Men & the Machine, Brown & Company.
2. Sussman, I., Warren, and Lacey, R. (1985) op cit, quoting Culture as History,
Pantheon Books, NY.
3. James, P. W., David, T.L and Daniel, R. (1990) The machine that changed the
world. Rawson Associates, NY: Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc. Toronto.
4. Watson, G.F. (1991) Concurrent Engineering, Special Feature of IEEE Spec-
trum, July.
CHAPTER 3
Organizational and
managerial issues
K. S. Pawar
3.1 INTRODUCTION
In many industries, until a few years ago, the design of a product and its
subsequent economic manufacture was typically the responsibility of one
individual; today this is true only in smaller companies. Here the designer
is expected to have a sufficiently broad background so that a design can be
produced which is sound functionally and can be manufactured econ-
omically in the desired quantities. Thus the designer performs a dual role
of product designer and production specialist.
The product design process requires a team effort both to decide on
what product to develop and how to provide effective solutions. The
team leader has to co-ordinate all the specialist support and use his or her
personal managerial and technical judgement to decide between the
alternatives with which the designers are confronted.
The main objective of a design team is usually to produce products that
offer maximum value to the customer at the least cost to the company.
The team needs to be aware of the performance features and combine
these with cost constraints imposed by the resources available for the
particular project. The product specification therefore needs to make a
major contribution to the cost-effectiveness of the design project by
reflecting the realistic needs of the market.
Once customer needs are satisfactorily defined, the design problem
falls directly on the development team. Here multidisciplinary special-
isms, such as electrical or mechanical engineering, are often needed.
Since several specialists may be involved during the design process of a
product, it is imperative that their efforts are all harmonized effectively if
the company is to be competitive.
Due to the existence of a group of specialists in the organization many
different interfaces may become important. These include the interface
relationships between management and design in determining the
50 Organizational and managerial issues
Gillen [2] believes that the expansion convergence process is crucial for
the implementation of CEo Organizations usually have an abundance of
specialized knowledge but lack convergent knowledge. Convergent
knowledge gives separate functions the ability to synthesize their
expertise to accomplish interdependent tasks. Each year, organizations
spend large amounts of time and resources attempting to converge the
specialized talents and knowledge in their firms to produce quality
products on a timely basis.
Expansion convergence is the process of combining diverse organiz-
ational talents and knowledge into collaborative efforts that solve
problems and take advantage of opportunities. Convergence involves
taking specialized knowledge from multiple sources and forming a new
collective mindset that allows people to work together at a much deeper
level. Despite the recognition of the importance of integration, high-
technology firms frequently lack a systematic approach to this problem.
Convergence can only occur when each functional group understands
the needs and goals of the others as well as of the business as a whole. The
Digital Equipment Corporation, for example, shortened its product
development time, reduced product costs, met time-to-market require-
ments, and increased quality by encouraging co-operation across en-
gineering disciplines.
Expansion convergence takes Digital's efforts one step further by
applying the concept of concurrency to the whole organization, not just to
the engineering process. In order to achieve concurrency, a firm has to
develop convergent knowledge, which requires bringing all of an
organization's specialized knowledge together in creative new forms.
The expansion of knowledge allows individual departments to con-
verge their efforts with the rest of the organization. An organization's
parts must expand before the total organization can converge. For
example, a personnel department that understands the essence of the
core business can transcend the basics of its function and contribute
Achieving integration 51
Off-road vehicles x x x
GE steam turbine x
Auto division x x x
Xerox copiers x x
Tools x
Appliance division x
Rockwell Space x x
Allen-Bradley x x
Amana x x
ABB 55 5
AT&T 5 5 5
Brihsh Aerospace 5s m
Digital EqUIpment 5s 5 5
General Motors 55
Goldstar 5 5
Honeywell 5s
Hewlett-Packard 55 5 5
IBM 5 5 5
Motorola 5 5 5
Navlstar 55
Warner ElectrIc 5 m
Xerox 5 5 5
5 = strong emphasIs, m = moderate emphasIs, - = not emphasIzed, S = strong emphasIs
on InvolvIng supphers In the project team
AeroJel AT&T Boezng Deere Grumman Hewlett- IBM ITT McDonnell Northrop Texas
Packard Douglas Instruments
-------------- -- - . - - - - - - -
Multidisciplinary teams M M H H H H H H H H M
Design production process
DFM M H H H M M H H H H H
Administrative process L M H H M H L H H H L
Computer Integration
CAD H H H M H H H M
CAE H H M
CAM H H M M M H M
CIM H M M M
CALS M M M H M L
Quality tools and practice
Statistical process
control H H H M H M
Design of experiments M M H H L
Quality function
deployment H H H M M H M H H H L
Taguchi methods H H H L H M
Deming's methods H L
3.3 ORGANIZATION
Among the things most common to CE imp Ie men tors is the use of
organizational change. Organizational change is implied across three
categories: organizational structure, personnel practices, and business
practices and procedures. As applicable to organizational structure,
change incumbent with the adoption and use of CE philosophy typically
involves movement away from hierarchical organization towards a flat
organizational structure. A deep hierarchical structure is particularly
evident among companies whose internal organizations are aligned
along functional boundaries. The use of multidiscipline teams whose
members come from a number of functional units drives movement
towards a more efficient and responsive organizational structure.
Personnel practices will also change. Direct reporting officials will
normally be an individual's team leader who may, or may not be, from the
same functional area of the company. Reward structures become far more
heavily centred around team rather than individual performance. Em-
phasis on organic capability is renewed through leadership and a
commitment to developing a more qualified workforce.
Changes to business practices and procedures may include estab-
lishing long term customer/supplier relationships and eliminating
counter-productive competition policies (e.g. unnecessary over-
specification of processes and procedures). Additionally, adoption of CE
will require new accounting practices in accordance with a shift away
from functional operation. For example, pursuit of time and cost savings
in the development of new products requires the use of accounting
procedures that reflect resources expanded by individual teams as
Organization 55
Functional
Manager
FM FM /(FM)
Engineering Manufacturing
Fig. 3.1 A functional structure in which authority rests with the functional
manager (adapted from Wheelwright and Clark [10]).
Organization 57
FM FM FM
Engineering Manufacturing
of PM Influence
failure of departments other than their own. This can lead to conflict,
confusion and perhaps further deterioration in the degree of co-
ordination.
Advantages
• The groups are made up of personnel who have whatever training and
experience necessary to develop the products.
• Its structure tends to create a more practical view of the work amongst
the specialists involved .
• It is easier to assign the cost of research and development effort.
• The structure facilitates communication of information across the
boundaries between subjects and disciplines.
Organization 59
FM FM FM
Fig.3.3 The heavyweight product manager form provides the product manager
with clear authority over the team members of the project (adapted from
Wheelwright and Clark [10]).
Disadvantages
• This type of organization does not encourage engineers to keep abreast
of the latest development in their fields.
• It creates an artificial subject boundary which makes recruitment more
difficult.
• It reduces flexibility of labour.
• The equipment requirements are duplicated.
The most important advantage of this type of structure is that it provides
the opportunity for the general manager to delegate authority and to
bring about accountability for product development to lower levels in the
structure. Thus, each product manager can be made responsible for each
project being carried out by their personnel, whereas this is not possible
in the functional structure. By delegating the responsibility to product
managers there are further advantages to be gained, such as:
1. The product manager can be responsible for forecasting and control-
ling expenditure assigned to him or her.
2. The product manager can be responsible for planning and monitoring
the progress of each project.
This way the general manager can relinquish detailed responsibility and
thus devote more time to other aspects of the business, viz management
of the organization. This can have further beneficial side effects.
• Product managers receive experience in management tasks and are
60 Organizational and managerial issues
FM FM FM
Engineering Manufacturing
Fig. 3.4 In a balanced matrix structure the authority is shared between the
functional managers and the product manager (adapted from Wheelwright and
Clark [10]).
• has little influence outside product engineering and little influence in it;
• lack of direct market contact and concept responsibility.
The lightweight product manager's main purpose is to:
• co-ordinate;
• collect information on the status of work;
• help functional groups solve conflict;
• facilitate achievement of overall project objectives.
This can be summed up as a glorified progress chaser.
Child [9] lists the advantages and the disadvantages of the matrix
structure, and these are as below.
Advantages
1. Helps to preserve flexibility.
2. Capacity to respond quickly and creatively to changes in a dynamic
environment.
3. People are not 'wholly' members of a product or functional depart-
ment - so easier for them to accept movement between teams and even
departments if need arises.
4. Due to multiple reporting relationships and groupings of people it
encourages open lines of communication within the organization as a
whole.
5. Greater flexibility of people in the organization during uncertain
conditions.
6. Claims to release a great deal of top management time from problems
of operational co-ordination.
7. Because of the diversity of tasks and greater degree of authority
undertaken by product managers, it helps their future development
by broadening their horizons and expertise within the field of general
management.
Disadvantages
FM FM FM
Fig. 3.5 The separate project team structure severs team members' ties to the
functional department (adapted from Wheelwright and Clark [10]).
allow team members the time to work in the team. This was illustrated in a
farm machinery firm where the previous founder managing director did
not allow design engineers onto the shop floor. This design-led approach
resulted in the company's latest machine being 50% over cost. The newly
appointed managing director has pursued an extremely proactive ap-
proach - encouraging and chairing meetings - to get the design and
production personnel to talk to one another and overcome their former
non-integrative approach. This had proved very successful and the new
machine had a much more integrated design.
Thirdly, the team has to be multifunctional, drawn from the principal
functions of the company. These are product design, process engineer-
ing, manufacturing, marketing, service, purchasing and selected ven-
dors. Fourth, experience and proficiency of team members must be
sufficient to enable the team to perform its role successfully. Each team
member needs to be experienced enough and proficient at their individ-
ual functional tasks to ensure success. If team members are lacking in
expertise or knowledge, for instance of the company's production
facilities, training can be provided. During the selection process the
importance of compatibility of members should be recognized. An
existence of dominant characters can be a serious disadvantage to the
spirit of the exercise. Therefore, a willingness to take part and commit-
ment to the team is considered to be an inherent part of the selection
process. The overall aim is to develop a well rounded and balanced team
with the right blend of skills and experience. The size of the team must be
manageable, not exceeding 12 members. This may mean breaking a
product down into several teams, each being responsible for major
components. Here, inter-team communication would become an issue
for careful management.
The effectiveness of teams largely depends upon individual team
members' qualifications, experience, technical competence and experi-
ence, the 'teamwork skills' and personalities of individual team members,
overall team efficiency and the establishment of an environment for
meaningful and productive interaction (often characterized as breaking
down cultural and disciplinary boundaries). Undue emphasis should not
be placed on the creation of incentives designed strictly to reward
'teamwork skills'. Such misguided attempts to value interpersonal skills
on a par with technical competence and creativity most often nourish
rivalry, politics and fear. Such skills should be cultivated and nurtured
through empowerment, trust and encouragement. Leadership within
individual teams and at every level of the corporation should replace
merit-based systems in creating an environment for productive exchange
and maturation of ideas.
The way in which teams are assembled and developed can go a long
way towards establishing such an environment. Multidiscipline teams
are built around a specific product or process for which they are
The team 67
3.5.4 Leadership
Adler et al. [14] consider the role of senior management. They argue that
'extensive and systematic participation in the pre-project phase of a
product development effort is probably the single most important area
where senior management can put its involvement in technology into
operational practice'. This need for early involvement was shown to be
beneficial in a gas fire firm, where the early start given by senior
management resulted in the fire being introduced only eight months later
without delays. However, once the design process is underway senior
management need to stand back and not interfere directly. This hap-
pened in a food preparation machine company, where management
interference slowed down the design process. The marketing director
presenting new specifications to the design team while the product was in
the middle of being designed, thus causing redesign delays.
In the context of eE, there are four categories of leadership qualities
that are relevant at all levels of an organization and which become
particularly important for informal leadership situations. First, effective
leaders demonstrate professional competence which includes a thorough
knowledge of the job and the ability to apprentice subordinates towards
mastery of the same skills and knowledge. In addition to being capable as
a specialist, leaders develop the capacity to see the 'big picture',
recognizing the extent and limitations of specialized knowledge within
the context of the overall problem. More fundamental skills, such as the
ability to communicate both orally and by the written word are often cited
as vital to effective leadership. An additional connotation of professional
72 Organizational and managerial issues
3.6 TIME
3.8 CONCLUSION
This chapter has provided an overview of how companies can and have
organized and managed concurrent engineering to introduce new
products more effectively. The live examples given demonstrate that
integration is achievable and does improve competitive performance -
both to stave off competitors and to beat them. This chapter considered
achieving integration through concurrent engineering, integration
methods and tools, organization, organizational structures, integration
mechanisms, management issues of teams, team selection (including an
example), two-team methods, intensity, leadership, targets, time, logis-
tics and data and information. It shows that each of these approaches
needs to be adapted to the company context and the products to be
developed. Careful thought has to be used to select which methods and
techniques to use. It is management's responsibility to make these
choices and to manage the use of concurrent engineering. Once the
decision has been made to adopt CE, management must learn from
experience, smooth over the inevitable bumps, change tack, but maintain
their eyes on the prize of achieving set targets for gaining competitive
edge.
74 Orgamzatzonal and managenallssues
REFERENCES
Design maturity
C. O'Brien and S. J. Smith
Combining teams, tools and formal methods allows the fullest use of CEo
This requires collaboration and co-ordination. Specifically, it is the flow
information generated through the processes of design and development
that needs co-ordination. One of the major benefits of using CE is the
reduction in product development time. This is accomplished through
the simultaneous development of various aspects of the product, shown
graphically in Figure 4.1. Development time and cost are becoming
crucial in all the engineering industries, but are particularly serious for the
electronics industries, whose profits have been squeezed the most over
the last decade. Figure 4.2 [1] shows the reduction in product life span
(PLS) across all engineering industries.
The reduction in profits requires a solution. A reduction in the cost and
time involved in product development is one solution, CE being the
method required to attain this goal.
~'g4~ =--..__
Marlceting
Sequential development
]IIII~tim_e_ _ _ _ _ _
Design Manufacture Test
·"9u".m ts
sWWl.llsw1_
en 1. ~
,\h~red ~
---...'- -.
r PrOctua--, ............... Concurrently 7 ~
L-Q.eyeIO~"ltmLJ ............... \
Concurrent development
time
3
Fig.4.1 Product development for sequentIal and concurrent engineering.
PLS
5 Pay·
off
Fig.4.2 A companson of product bfe span and pay-off penod (to 1991).
Design structures 77
ReqUirements
definitions
Product
development
Process
development
Information flow
-I DiSaggregate~
Detailed Designs
specs. ASIC
DESIGN
I
Detailed
specs. -, PCB I
, DESIGN]
Detailed
specs.
l OTHER
DESIGN
Break sub-system
spec~f~catio.n .i,:,to Designers, machines and tools
specific activities
r.
tee hnology
spe eifirtions
Preliminary
circuit
1 design
Lib rary Circuit Detailed design documents
design ~
'j Ci"uit
info rmation specs.
Circuit design
documents Physieall-
design I Amended
library
New parts
requirements
list
I L'b
I rary
I information
Each area of design has a cycle of activity level over time. Figure 4.7
displays this using 'haystacks'. CE has brought these haystacks closer
together so they now overlap. Each activity still has an independent
phase before an area in which everything in which it participates has a
dependent characteristic. After a certain point in time everything done in
the activity will affect the activities that follow.
Dependency and delay 79
Time
Fig. 4.7 Functional relationships.
Time
Fig. 4.8 Dependent and independent zones.
80 Design maturity
Time
CI) \
>
~
~
>
:.;;
o
«
DESIGN T.D.E. P.P.P.
Time
Fig. 4.10 Delays to good desIgn by phase revIews and checkmg
Error and delay have a duect effect on profit and in the electronics
industries the effect can be large. Jim Goodman of GPT says that
electronics proJects can be divided into two main groups, very large
capital proJects and "maIler capital and retail type projects. The effect of
late delivery on the customer's loyalty depends on whether the project is
large or small. If a large bespoke project is over-running the customer may
want to wait for delivery. If It IS a small investment however, and an
alternative source becomes available, the potential customer is likely to
select the alternative rather than wait, so that they can eqUIp themselves
immediately.
With most projects the current estImate of the effect on profit of late
Methods of design control 81
delivery is that a design over-run by 100% halves the profit. If the product
under development is in the smaller group, such an over-run may mean it
never gets into the market place as the competition will have filled its
niche. Such a product is not only profitless but becomes a financial
burden on the company. Current estimates are that most late running
projects will come under careful management before reaching 100%
over-run (i.e. replacement of the design manager).
Goodman estimates that if all projects ran to schedule, profits would
increase by 100%. In a CE environment the increase could be even
greater.
The methods currently used for the product development team control
process are:
• configuration management;
• design reviews;
• project management and its adaptation, total time management;
• checklists.
82 Design maturity
1.
eJ9 c..-.--__
BEGIN DESIGN
---~
......
2. EXPANSION TO CONSIDER
ALL TRADE-OFFS
1
CIJ
W
(!)
Z
<
J:
t.)
A tool that assesses the maturity of designs (that is, the risk involved in
releasing a design) under consideration for release in a CE environment
would be of great benefit to design managers, providing a higher degree
of confidence in the safety of release.
It may be possible to provide probabilities of maturity for any particular
design activity at any point in its life cycle, for example 25% confidence
that the current design is stable, 98% confidence in the maturity of the
specification data, and so on. This would speed the release of designs of
sufficient maturity and prevent the release of designs that have not
reached the required maturity.
With sufficient data it may be possible to determine the earliest times at
which it is economically feasible to take the risk of releasing design details
from initiating activities to the other areas of design that are sequential. It
may also be possible to detect when a design group is in difficulty and
needs specialist help.
initiating design details to other areas of design that are sequential. For
example, to know that it is possible to release specifications A-F at 80%
maturity and G-Z at 97%.
A further extension to this may be the ability to detect difficulties that
may need even more specialist help. It could be that if the percentage
maturity varies widely from day-to-day, or has stopped increasing, that
specialists need to be placed on the design team. With a large enough
volume of material general trends in design for individual designers and
groups of designers may become apparent, allowing even better assess-
ment and Jetting the tool to be used for project forecasting pre- and
in-process.
4.8 SUMMARY
• pooled
• reciprocal
• sequential.
When the activity is sequential the delivery of design information from
the previous activity is critical. The information delivered must be
mature. Co-ordinating the design activity so that the information is
mature relies on processes that may not be reliable or efficient. Using
EDM tools may make it possible to monitor design progress to determine
when information is stable enough to release. Information may then be
released in an optimum sequence to maximize pooled and reciprocal
design activities. Optimizing design release could double profits.
REFERENCES
Quality function
deployment: an overview
U. Menon, P. J. O'Grady, J. Z. Gu and R. E. Young
5.2 INTRODUCTION
The global market place for engineering products has become highly
competitive. The market leaders for some strategically important indus-
tries (consumer electronics, steel and automobiles) have shifted to Pacific
rim nations. Notwithstanding the importance of high product quality, it
is recognized that producing defect-free products alone is no longer
sufficient to guarantee customer satisfaction and survival for companies
in highly competitive product markets.
QFD, which originated in 1972 at the Kobe Shipyard in Japan, gained
widespread adoption in Japanese industry, and was subsequently
adopted in the Western hemisphere during the mid-1980s onwards. A
comprehensive discussion of the Japanese perspective on QFD can be
found in Akao [1]. QFD applications in North America are outlined in
92 Quality function deployment: an overview
Customer
requirements I Years of durability for the door
I
I
Design
requirements I No visible exterior rust in 3 years
Part
characteristics I Paint weight 2-2.2 gram / m 2
I
,
Process
planning I Dip the part in tank for 3 times
I
I
Operation
requirements I Time: 2min, acidity level: 15-20, ...
Bossert [2], Hauser and Clausing [3] and Sullivan [4], with European
experiences outlined in Langdon [5] and Dale and Best [6]. We are now at
the mature stage of QFD implementation and can sustain the claim that
QFD is an effective tool for systematic capture of customer needs and
addressing those needs in a structured manner within multi-functional
product development teams. QFD has been successfully applied to a
variety of industries, notably for automobiles, aero-space, copiers,
defense, consumer goods, electronics, textiles and computer software.
Consider the classic QFD example, the design of a car door [3]. The
QFD procedure starts with identifying the key customer requirements. If
one of the requirements is that there should be three years of durability
for the door, then this can be translated into the design requirement: 'no
visible exterior rust in three years in an open air environment', as
depicted in Figure 5.1. This design requirement can then be translated
into the part characteristic 'paint weight 2-2.2 g/m2', to fulfil that design
requirement. The part characteristic is then translated into the process
plan 'dip the part into the dip tank three times' which will produce the
part with the required characteristic. The process plan is translated into
the specific operations and conditions 'dipping time 2.0 minutes mini-
mum, acidity level 15-20, and temperature 50°C' [4]. This procedure is
usually carried out by using a series of translation matrices (Figure 5.2).
Thus, QFD moves from the customer requirements (three years of
durability for the door), through design requirements (no visible exterior
rust in three years), part characteristics (paint weight), and process
planning (dip the part in the tank three times), to the detailed operation
requirements (dipping time 2.0 minutes minimum). Therefore, if QFD is
implemented properly, customer requirements can influence the func-
tional areas of the company that are often isolated from adequately
knowing and reacting to the needs of their customers.
94 Quality function deployment: an overview
The QFD methodology was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s in
Japan by Dr Shigeru Mizano of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In
1972, Dr Mizano used 'quality tables' to help support planning, and these
later evolved into QFD. Hauser and Clausing [3] state that QFD
originated in 1972 at Mitsubishi's Kobe Shipyard site. Toyota Autobody
began using QFD in 1977 and has experienced significant benefits,
including a 40% reduction in the development cost for a new model and
50% reduction in development time. QFD has been used successfully by
Japanese manufacturers of consumer electronics, home appliances,
clothing, integrated circuits, synthetic rubber, construction equipment,
and aircraft engines [9]. QFD was introduced into USA in 1983,
essentially through the Ford Motor Company and the Cambridge
Corporation. Dr Don Clausing was one of the pioneers in introducing the
methodology of QFD to engineers at Xerox, and promoting its adoption
in US industries. Since then, the application of QFD in the United States
has been growing at a significant rate [9]. Dr ReVelle [10] has trained
many engineers on QFD and Taguchi methods at Hughes Aircraft, Delco
Electronics and other General Motors Divisions.
At the Ford Motor Company in 1989 alone, there were 80 to 90 QFD
studies underway, and most of the 2600 engineers in the body and chassis
group had taken training in QFD. Boeing, Hughes, Digital Equipment,
Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, and ITT are also reported to be using QFD for a
variety of products [3]. The use of QFD for computer software develop-
ment is outlined by Chang [11] and Zultner [12].
Elements Contents
OPEN-CLOSE SEAUNG
EFFORT INSULATION
© Strong positive
o Medium positive
to Medium negative
•• C'l Strong negative
Sl bt· (j)p.g
i
~ Measurerrent Units ftlb Ib Ib tlb Ib
.~ Our C<I" door 11 I? F. 1n 1A ~ 1 Q 7!1 0 Our car
8" ~ f-'A..:.'s..::cC<l"..::c..::cdoor
:'::":""_ _ _ 1:t~l+-+?L.f....Lj-:
+-+-.lif-Illl40?F.+-lll:lf-L 1"4.1:"''4--1 t:..O A 's car
B's car door A 11 7 11 14 ? 1 R I't\ B'scar
TIrllnic:al difficultv 4 ~ 1 1 ~ 1 ~ ~ ~
Imputed i mpor tance (% ) 10 fi 4 III 1 fi? 4 ~
Estimated oost (%)
Targets .5 9 6 17.512 3 b1 9 70
Conducting QFD requires team work. The first and the most important
issue for a successful application of QFD is the organization of the team.
The team members should represent all functions related to the product,
including marketing, design, manufacturing and planning. However,
co-ordinating a multi-disciplinary team can be difficult. The level of
involvement of the various team members is significantly different in the
different translation stages, so that, for example, there is little involve-
ment of the manufacturing expert in generating customer requirements.
Therefore, maintaining team efficiency can be a problem. Another
problem associated with the use of teams in QFD is the difficulty of
maintaining communication amongst team members, with the semantics
of one area having little overlap with the semantics of another.
The second major issue in applying QFD is the trade-offs needed
between conflicting objectives. This is associated with the issue of team
work, since team members often need to compromise to achieve a
satisfactory consensus-based solution. Achieving such a goal-orientated
team may need substantial education efforts in team skills and problem
solving techniques, which many companies have adopted already as part
of initiatives to implement concurrent engineering.
Another issue in applying QFD is the inadequacy of the support tools.
The product development process is frequently so detailed and compli-
cated that no one individual can comprehend it all, and the implemen-
tation of QFD can falter through the lack of suitable tools to guide the
team through the maze of information. According to a fairly comprehen-
sive survey of computer techniques in concurrent engineering [14] there
is no work to date which adequately applies computer technology to
QFD. A system called QFD/CAPTURE, developed by the International
TechneGroup Incorporated, makes an attempt to assist in the documen-
tation of QFD. However, the system does not entirely capture the logical
structure of QFD. Another system called QFD Designer has been recently
developed by American Supplier Institute. QFD Designer allows a user to
build QFD charts, enter information on them, and navigate on different
charts and on different levels. Overall, QFD is currently completely
manual or is aided, via a static documentation process, by a computer
References 99
system. This can greatly restrict the potential of QFD in that defects in
design parameters, from CAD systems or from databases, cannot be
automatically detected nor consistency automatically checked.
There is therefore a need for a comprehensive QFD computer system
that can automatically check consistency and enable associativity to CAD
systems and databases in a similar manner to the parametric infrastruc-
ture provided in the ProEngineer solids-CAD modelling environment.
REFERENCES
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Sales and
Production (10%) administration (2%)
Production
planning (13%)
Design (70%)
Production
(25%)
The design process sets out to create products which fulfil a number of
primary criteria, including the following.
1. Satisfaction of the functional and aesthetic requirements.
2. Optimum quality and reliability.
3. Compliance with company/legal policies on standardization and
variety reduction.
4. Minimum part manufacture cost.
5. Minimum assembly cost.
The role of DFM in CE 103
Within criteria 1-4 the designer must consider factors relating to materials
and surface treatment/coating selection (amongst many others) (Table
6.1), whilst 4. and 5. require specialized knowledge about the design
features necessary for specific manufacturing and assembly processes.
design process and the human psychology and cognitive processes that
make it possible.
Because of the complexity of the issues involved, it is convenient to
divide the subject of DFM into two considerations:
1. Organizational and management issues
These issues encompass project management and teamwork aspects.
They must also include due consideration simultaneously to market-
ing, design, etc. Figure 6.3 (based on [1]) shows how by using the DFM
approach or process, a product can be effectively designed for
manufacture. The objective being to produce a design which is right
first time.
2. Methodologies and tools
These methodologies and tools can be used to help support DFM goals
and to help ensure that the physical design meets the DFM objectives.
These can take many forms, ranging from simple rules of thumb through
evaluation procedures to generative approaches to achieve manufac-
turing- and assembly-orientated designs. Table 6.2 includes some
common approaches and indicates their main characteristics. As men-
tioned previously the use of design methods, or tools and techniques as
they are often called, should help to guide the design team in their
decision making relating to product function, manufacture and oper-
ational support.
DFMmethods 105
Table 6.2 Some of the important methods influencing product costs in DFM
Methods Characteristics
and establishing the costs associated with these functions. In this way
poor value and high cost functions can be identified. Alternative designs
are then postulated and evaluated. The technique is broad in perspective,
for it can contribute through brainstorming to creative thinking, and can
also result in standardization of components [3]. Therefore, value
analysis, or value engineering as it is called when applied to products
before they reach production, avoids costly errors which are difficult to
correct once a design is being produced and offers the benefit of a
standardized solution virtually throughout the design process. For value
analysis/engineering to succeed its application needs to be well organized
and the team members must have expertise in manufacturing. Depend-
ing on the size and organizational philosophy of the company, these
functions may be stand-alone departments, or they may be included as
part of either the product design or manufacturing engineering team.
Typically, therefore, value engineering is held responsible to a manager
associated with design engineering.
Design boundary
Preferred
il
Tuning the product
....c: equipment
Actual
A«"'I
~ E Preferred!
Preferred
Preferred
10,11 - - - - - - I t - 50,51
8 pedal bracket 6
12 clutch pedal
10 brake peda l
6 foot throttle
Fig. 6.7 StandardIzed car pedal system for the Audl 100
AXIoms
AXIOm 1 In good deSIgn the Independence of functional
reqUIrements IS maintained
AXIOm 2 Among the deSIgns that satisfy AXIOm 1, the best deSIgn IS
the one that has the mmlmum information content
Some ot the Important corollanes
Corollary 1 Decouple or separate parts or aspects of a solution If
functional reqUIrements are coupled or become coupled In
the desIgn of product!> and processes
Corollary 2 Integrate functional reqUIrements Into a single phYSIcal
part or solution If they can be Independentlv satisfied In
the proposed solution
Corollary i MinImiZe the number of functional reqUIrements and
constraints
Corollary 4 U~e standardized or Interchangeable parts whenever
pO"~lble
Corollan 5 Make u~e ot symmetry to reduce the informatIOn content
Corollarv 6 Conserve materIals and energy
Corollary 7 A part should be a continuum If energy conductIOn IS
Important
1. Paperless operation.
2. Less tedious and time saving.
3. Consistency of results and their presentation.
4. More knowledge may be used without overpowering the user.
5. Possibility of automatic evaluation and redesign.
REFERENCES
7.2 INTRODUCTION
Generally, these rules take the form of sample lists with no framework or
systematic guidance for their application. The guidelines are aimed at
alerting the design engineer to points that should be considered in the
design process. A checklist for DF A based on Corbett [3], includes the
following:
1. Minimize:
(a) parts and fixings
(b) design variants
(c) assembly movemen ts
(d) assembly directions.
2. Provide:
(a) suitable lead-in chamfers (radii on corners)
(b) natural alignment
(c) easy access for locating surfaces
(d) symmetrical parts, or exaggerate asymmetry
(e) simple handling and transportation.
3. Avoid:
(a) visual obstructions
(b) simultaneous fitting operations
(c) parts which will tangle ornest
(d) adjustments which affect prior adjustments
(e) the possibility of assembly errors.
Other workers [I, 4, 5] have quoted lists of guidelines. The ten most
frequently quoted are:
Product design
Original design Enhanced design
principle
0
Design
rationa Iization
(13 components 0 0
replaced by just 2)
(a)
W W
Provide guide on
surfaces to aid
component placing
(b)
Location of base
SJ
component in the
machine workcarrier
~
(c)
Design to allow
assembly
construction by simple
linear motion
~
,
detb=J ~~
D>~
(d)
Standardization
of design
~ ~ ~
(e)
Fig. 7.3 Illustrative examples of some of the principles of product design for
automatic assembly.
Quantitative evaluation
(perfect = 100 POints)
Assemblability
evaluation
method
1
sequence of the sub-assembly
unlls
(3)
DETERMINE
ATTAUIIN(.
METIIOD ---{ (I) Dt'Iermme the parts altJlchmg
procedures
(4)
CAl CULATE EVALUATION -
{
(I) Calculate P E and K
]
i
INDIll,S
NG -
(I) Compare calculaled indICes
to tbe target values It IS
des"able Ibat E be over 80
l
GO
:'D~ " desorable that K be_
below 0 7
.-------1-------
(II F md sub ",semblo", and
parts lUilVln'; relatively small P
values, then attempt to reduce
(6) the Dumbt"r of attachment
IMPROVE movemt'ots m
I'RODUCT
DESIGN (2) Attempl 10 reduce Ihe
number of parts N
~
results m 8 small E m such
cases reduchoo ID K IS
prt>(errt'd to a smaller E
l
to 30 pc:nnts) are desirable
The AEM does not distinguish between manual, robotic (flexible) and
automatic (dedicated) assembly. Two reasons for this are given: the
strong correlation between the degree of assembly difficulty involved in
manual, robotic and automatic assembly, and the uncertainty involved in
predicting the production mode in the early stages of product develop-
ment. Production of the same design could well be moved from manual to
some form of automated assembly, or vice versa.
Hitachi claims that the system is simple and easy to use, and that it
saves tens of millions of dollars annually. Its application is mandatory
within the company. Computer software versions are available which
carry out the calculations and aid paperless analysis. For further
information on this system, see Miyakawa and Ohashi [7]. An example
application illustrating the benefits that can be achieved using this
method are given in Table 7.1. The example shows a distributor
mechanism assembly before and after analysis using the AEM technique.
Many other Japanese companies use formal DFA methods and it is worth
noting that Sony has a method very similar to Hitachi.
Select the
assembly method
~
Analyse for Analyse for Analyse for
manual high-speed robot
assembly automatic assembly assembly
~
Improve the
design and
re-analyse
The Boothroyd Dewhurst DFA Handbook [4] suggests that the best
way to achieve assembly cost reduction is to first reduce the number of
components that must be assembled and then to ensure that the
remaining components are easy to assemble. The basis for component
reduction is that combining two components into one will eliminate at
least one manual operation, or an entire section of an assembly machine.
The analyses involved in this handbook are illustrated in Figure 7.6.
The next step is to apply the appropriate analysis system, i.e. manual,
robotic or dedicated automatic assembly. In these procedures, classifi-
cation systems, developed specifically for each of these technologies, are
used to arrive at the data that is to assess the components in a design for
ease of handling and insertion. Cost analysis for manual handling and
insertion is based on estimating manual assembly costs using time data
corresponding to particular component design classifications and oper-
ator wage rates.
In the analysis for automation, the classification systems for handling
and insertion provide cost indices for component classes. These give an
indication of the relative cost of the equipment required to automate the
process, compared with the cost of equipment needed to process the most
simple design. For the estimation of automated handling and insertion
costs, it is necessary to know the cost of the equipment to process the
most simple design. Having a relative cost index for a design, a basic cost
for the automation equipment and an assembly production rate, some
estimate of automated handling or insertion costs can be calculated.
The BDI analysis is carried out on a DFA form. Each of the three
technologies has its own special form. A row of the form is completed for
each component in that assembly. A blank automated assembly work-
sheet is illustrated in Figure 7.7. The completed worksheet provides a
quantitative way of measuring the performance of a design in terms of its
DFA tools and technzques 127
Part 1 0 no
Number of times
operation IS carned
out simultaneously
Five digit automatic
handling code
Orienting
efficiency OE
Relative feeder
cost CR = FC + DC
Maximum basIc feed
rate FM
Difficulty rating for
automatic handling DF
Cost of automatic
handling per part
CF= 003 x OF
Two digit automatic
insertion code
Relative workhead
costWC
Olfflcu Ity rating
for automatic
insertion 01
Cost of automatic
insertIOn per part
C1 = 0 06 x 01
Operation costs,
cents
(2) x [(8) + (12)J
Figures for estimation
of theoretical
minimum parts
If FR<FM If FR<60
Table 7.2 BOl analysIs of the EPSON MXSO and IBM propnnter products
and number of parts are all significantly lower than the MXSO, illustrating
the ability of the BDI method to evaluate different designs [9].
A computer-based toolkit version of the Boothroyd Dewhurst DFA
evaluation is available with which the user can analyse the effects of a
proposed design by editing the analYSIS. Assembly machine evaluation
and design for automatic handling are also available as supplementary
modules. Boothroyd Dewhurst Inc. produce a separate computer pro-
gramme which extends the design for manual assembly evaluation to
printed circuit board manufacture.
Product design
specification
-1
Optimized
design I
Fig. 7.8 Three stages of Lucas DFMA analysIs.
Run screw
•
Turnover
operation
• 1. Screw
2. Insert
•
3. Rubber washer
Riveting type 4. Starlock washer
operation 5. Knob
<> Gripping
process
RESULTS SUMMARY
Original Replacement
6 Non-assembly
process Total parts count 5 2
0 Work holding
process
Insertion
Design efficiency
Total feeding index
40%
20.1%
100%
4.6
0 process Feeding ratio 10 2.3
(}) Sub-assembly
total
Total assembly
Task ratings 12.2 3.8
ICJI Assembly
total Fitting ratio 6.1 1.9
Fig.7.9 Assembly flow chart comparison (original and new trim screws).
Creative Corrective
1 PLANNING STAGE
1.1
1.2
recognition of requirements
defmition of tasks
• •• • • •
1.3
1-4
create a requirements list
release for rough design
•
2. ROUGH DESIGN
2.1
2.2
analysis of functions
create functional structure
•• • ••
2.3
2.4
create variations of functional structure
determine solutions for each function
••• •• •• •
2.5 select principles
• • • • •• • • •• • •
2.6 prepare solution variants
2.7 work out different concepts
2.8 evaluate and select the different
concepts
3. DRAFI1NG STAGE
•• •• •• ••
1.3 drafting the main functional units
3.2 drafting the remaining functional units
3.3
3.4
select suitable parts of the draft
detailed design of the main and
•• ••• •
auxiliary functional units
3.5
3.6
check and improve drafts
trace faults and problems • ••
3.7 analysis of cost recovery
•• • •
• • • ••
3.8 draft completion
3.9 decision or draft
4. FINAL DESIGN
4.1 detailing
4.2
4.3
working out specifICations
analysis of production data
• • • •• •
4.4 release for production
• •
Fig.7.10 Aids for assembly-oriented product design.
132 Oeszgn for assembly
PLANNING STAGE
11 Recognition of requirements
12 Deflnllionoftasks .....I----------------1[]@J
13 Create areqUIrements list
14 Release for rough design
2 ROUGH DESIGN
..
21 AnalYSIS of functions
~22 Create the functional structure
m
4
23 Create v~lions of the functional structure
rn rn
26 Prepare solution variants
~27 Work out different concepts
A.
4 ill
v,
28 Evaluate and select different concepts
. ..
3 DRAFTING STAGE
ffi ~
·31 Drafting the main funclional units
32
..
Drafting the remaining functional Units
A.
33
·34
Select sUIt!ble part~ of the draft
Detailed design of the main and auxiliary functional units
A
4 (E
~
~35 Check and Improve drafts
..
36 Trace faults and problems
37 AnalYSIS of cost recovery
·38 Draft completion IT]
A..
"'II'
39 DecIsion on draft
4 FINAL DESIGN
3 ~~
No: Design rules "0
0
CD en
""0 _.
5} to
~ ::l
n
CD
75 CONCLUDING REMARKS
WhIle desIgn rules and pnnCIples represent a set of known and well-tned
solutions for certam desIgn tasks, theIr applIcatIOn has tradItIonally not
been accompamed by a well-defmed, systematIc applIcation procedure
and quantIfIable measures of performance These weaknesses have led to
the development of the DFA evaluation methodologIes These tech-
mques faCilItate quantifIcatIon of the ease or dIffIculty of assembly and are
useful m the assessment of desIgn alternatIves and complete products
DFA does more than It~ name suggests, smce part-count reduction, a key
element of value analysis/engmeermg, has a major mfluence m the wIder
sphere of DFM
However, one of the major weaknesses of evaluation methods IS that
they all need detaIled mformatIon whIch IS only avaIlable towards the end
of the product deSIgn development process Thus, m case of a poor
evaluation result, effort has to be expended generating a better deSIgn,
mcreasIng costs and protractmg time to market To aVOId thIS, generation
support methods for deSIgn for assembly, pIOneered at IPA and partly
realIzed as modules of the so-called 'deSIgn support system (DSS)" offer
much promIse In thIS area Some developments have also been made m
the area of OF A/CAD mtegratIon ([15]) ThIS area of work, although very
Important In OSS m OFA, has had limIted success
REFERENCES
8.1 INTRODUCTION
Many companies are now under intense pressure to reduce the lead time
for new product introductions. This is especially so in a market where the
lifetime of a product is very short, such as in the computer and electronics
sector. DEC claim that they now have a window of opportunity of less
than eight months to go from a product concept to launching the product
[1]. It is also said that manufacturers of mobile telephone handsets make
the vast majority, if not all, their profit in the first six months of sales. With
examples like these it is easy to see why companies are introducing
concurrent engineering into their management practices to reduce lead
times. The most important technological tools to help concurrent
engineering are the use of three-dimensional computer-aided design (3D
CAD) and the various rapid prototyping techniques.
CAD has enabled designers to fully define the shape of objects. With the
use of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools, these can be
produced with great accuracy. However, the programming of these
machines can be time consuming and they are generally more suited to
the machining of complex external surfaces where tool access is obtain-
able. There are many items with complex internal geometries and small
features that render machining either very difficult or impossible.
These problems can now be overcome by using the rapid prototyping
techniques. With these, it is possible to use the geometry created during
surface modelling or solid modelling. The designs are transformed into a
physical three-dimensional model by adding layers of material one on top
of another until the complete part is built. Three-dimensional wire frame
138 Rapid prototyping processes of physical parts
models are not suitable as they do not fully define all the geometry.
Surface models are given a skin thickness as appropriate and the edges of
the skins fully trimmed. Essentially, the surface model must be com-
pletely watertight and the volume of the part unambiguous. It is because
of the difficulty in obtaining watertight models that solid modelling is
generally preferred in the world of rapid prototyping.
To be able to transfer the CAD data to the rapid prototyping machine
the model is tessellated so that the surfaces are covered with a mass of
triangles. The sizes of these depend on the curvature of the surface and
the resolution required. The model is therefore approximated even before
it reaches the rapid prototyping machine. It is possible to use a fine
resolution to give a smoother surface, but the number of triangles then
increases dramatically and therefore so does the file size.
These files have become known as STL files and are usually in the 10-20
megabyte range. Obviously, a large part of 500 x 500 x 500mm cubic
capacity of most rapid prototyping machines and necessary required
resolution involves transferring large amounts of data. These STL files
can now be obtained from most of the advanced 3D CAD software.
Problems are created in using the STL file format due to the faceting of
smooth CAD models and dealing with the transfer of large files. It is
therefore likely that a new format, known as a slice format (SLC), will
become widely used within the next 1-2 years. This is likely to be based on
slicing the CAD model within the CAD system and then transferring a
series of HPGL files as used on a standard plotter. Companies con-
sidering buying a new 3D CAD system would be wise to ask suppliers
what plans they have for introducing new file formats such as SLC.
Technology in this area is advancing rapidly and it is possible to be left
with an out-of-date system in 12 months!
8.3.1 Stereolithography
By far the most widely used rapid prototyping technique is stereolitho-
graphy. The main vendor for this technology is 3D Systems, with 90% of
machine sales. Although this technique has only been available since 1987
they have already sold over 350 machines, despite their very high cost.
The stereolithography technique is based upon the use of a light-
sensitive polymer fluid and sophisticated laser scanning. However, the
actual concept is simple: in the 3D Systems machines a vat contains the
polymer fluid and within this there is a platen that can rise and fall. The
platen moves until just below the surface, leaving a thin layer of fluid. The
CAD model has previously been cut into many horizontal slices 0.125-
0.75mm thick (see Figure 8.1). The laser traces out the shape of the first
Rapid prototyping techniques 139
slice on the thin film of polymer fluid (see Figure 8.2). Wherever the laser
hits the polymer fluid it sets and becomes a solid. Once the first layer is
complete the platen can move down to enable another layer of fluid to
form on top of the solidified skin, and so the process is repeated.
Stereolithography can produce highly complicated parts, some of
which would be impossible to achieve by conventional manufacturing
methods. It is often an uneconomical process for simple straightforward
Scanning laser q
\ l
\\ i
Liquid
surface
Formed object ., Photosensitive
Process Stereohthography
Machme STEREOS 300 STEREOS 400 STEREOS 600
Max product sIze (X, Y,Z)(mm) 300 x 300 x 250 400 x 400 x 300 600 x 600 x 400
Mm shce thIckness (mm) o 1mm
Max shce thIckness (mm) 04mm
Product matenals SOMOS 2100,3100,4100 and 5100 Resms
Time to bUild part of average 12 h
complexity 150 mm cube (mm shce)
TYPIcal matenal cost £118/kg
Normal accuracy obtamable up to 25 mm ±O 1 mm, above 25 mm ±O 2 mm
Machme size width, depth, height (m) 18x20x22
Machme weight (kg) 800 800 1300
Power supply nov,32A 220 V, 32A 220 v, 32 Al380 V
Machmecost £210000 £310000 £415000
Mamtenance cost £11 000 £11 000 £19000
M/cs sold to May 1993 16
TypIcal companies usmg models from Automolive. aerospace, electroniCs and medical
thlsmachme
Parts warranty 12 months (mcludmg laser)
Labour warranty 12 months
Machme delivery 12 to 16 weeks
UK Importer HAHN & KOLB (GB) Ltd 0788577288
AnCillary eqUipment requIred Resm stripper
Scanning
mkw"
Part being
---t4c
.
CO, laser beam
LJ
~rtCYlinP.nd
Jl powder bed lowering
V layer by layer
8.3.4 Solider
The largest machine available so far is the Solider machine, available from
Cubital, an Israeli-based company and marketed in the UK by Sherbrook
144 Rapzd prototypzng processes of physzcal parts
Three-axIs
heated
deposition
head _ _ _- - " r
Model----::~I
Laser
x-v positioning
device
8.4.1 Porsche
There are many examples where companies have used rapid prototyping
to reduce product lead times and have very often achieved significant cost
Case studies 147
8.4.2 Sunstrand
Sunstrand Electric Power Systems have introduced a concurrent en-
gineering environment with rapid prototyping as a key tool [3]. This has
led to significant improvements in several areas. They have found the
following benefits, shown in Table 8.7 below. Sunstrand studied benefits
in more detail on the design and development of a new current
transformer/electromagnetic interference (CT/EMI) module. They com-
pared this with the previous model and found the following results (Table
8.S). It is interesting to note that because Sunstrand could make
prototypes much more quickly than previously they could go through
several design iterations. This resulted in a product that was easier to
produce and had much better reliability.
148 Rapid proto typing processes of physical parts
Table 8.7
Table 8.8
Table 8.9
Preliminary design 5 20
Detail design 25 10
Build/test process 50 15
Documentation 20 5
Time saving o 50
8.4.3 3M
Another company to use concurrent engineering with rapid prototyping
is 3M. They have set an ambitious goal of reducing all new product
introduction cycles by 50% before 1995 [4]. With the initial projects they
have achieved the following results (Table 8.9). With the new design
environment much more effort is put into the very early design stages but
this is more than paid for by savings in subsequent activities.
REFERENCES
Rapid prototyping of
software and hybrid systems
A. Grazebrook
9.1 INTRODUCTION
-"'"
-J'erformance analysis
-"'"
Develop Develop
guidelines model
Simulate
integrate
model
Develop/ Develop
integrate user
prototype interface
there was no need to base the model on the complete functionality of the
OMS system.
Before any real work was done, the team established guidelines to
ensure that the work from each member of the team interfaced properly.
These guidelines made clear to each of the members of the team what
their responsibilities were, and what format they were going to use to
pass information between each other. The guidelines could also be used
to form the basis of the future quality assurance procedures. (Remember
that this is a case study. Part of the purpose is to understand what should
be done for future projects.)
In general, it is important to consider the uses to which the model will
be put when deciding what kind of model to build. This will then be
reflected in the way in which the model is constructed, which in turn is
reflected in the way team members co-operate together.
As should be clear from Figure 9.2, the developers constructed the
model of the whole system by making several sub-models of the parts of
the system, and then integrating them into a complete system model. The
principle of divide and conquer should be used whenever constructing a
model of any reasonable size; it allows the individual pieces to be checked
separately while they are still small enough to debug properly.
The lesson to be learned from this example is that there is a significant
planning stage that comes before committing to build the prototype. The
important issues to resolve are:
• What questions will be answered by building the prototype?
• What form should the prototype take?
Techniques in rapid software proto typing 155
• How much of a prototype do you really need to build?
• Could you get the same answer more easily?
1. This confirmed that the model that they were entering had the
behaviour that they expected.
2. It allowed them a better understanding of the way that the different
aspects of the model worked together.
9.5 SUMMARY
FURTHER READING
1. Rahmani, A.G., Stone, A.G., Luk, S.M., Sweet, S.M. (1992) Rapid Prototyping
Via Automatic Software Code Generation From Formal Specification: A Case
Study. In Behaviour Models Specifying User Expectations (ed. J.A. Kowal) Prentice
Hall Publishers, NJ, USA.
PART THREE
10.1 INTRODUCTION
• Versions • Revisions
Product design process
Effort
Phase 4
r"... Engineering
Phase 3 . , change
orders
Phase 2
Product
specification
'> Review and
release control
Phase 1
Parts . , CAD
r"... and data r",.. Parts
. , , E
r"...
. · .
ngmeenng
catalog drawings list documents
Time
has a finite lifetime - this is expressed in terms of the period of time during
which the configuration will be manufactured or the unit serial numbers
that will be built using that particular configuration. Product specification
does not always have to involve the product design process; however, it
usually creates a series of specifications for design of new parts or
sub-systems, orchange proposals to existing systems. These specifications
are usually expressed in terms of customer-orientated features such as an
electric sun roof, a specific avionics system, or airflow characteristics for an
aircraft engine. These features then become engineering assemblies of the
set of components that produce the desired product.
This process creates the specification of a product structure before any
engineering of functional sub-systems, components, or detailed parts is
done. Consequently, the detailed design phase must be managed and
co-ordinated by the product specification process. For this reason, it must
be possible to integrate any design software that works with product
structure information into the customer's product specification process.
The general requirements for such a design product include the ability to
describe the configuration from combinations of information in the parts
catalog, to create alternate configurations, to specify production dates or
serial number effectivities and to implement engineering changes. The
product specification does not require detailed design information as an
integral part of its database; however, it must know where to find this
information and how to control access to it.
Because the product specification process involves examination and
changes by more than the engineering and product configuration
departments, product specification support must also include the con-
trols to allow access and management of assembly information across the
entire organization.
Logical framework 167
more speed and quality, it quickly realized that it had to look beyond
CAD/CAM and embrace engineering data management (EDM). 'The
capabilities of advanced computer design are spectacular. But if you look
beyond them you may find the productivity benefits that they bring will
pale into insignificance compared with the next step, which is using your
design data to control your engineering development process. For us that
is where the priority now lies.'
So says Mike Jones, chief engineer with Hurel-Dubois UK, the
Burnley-based manufacturer of high technology aircraft components and
structures. HDUK, having enjoyed the benefits that 3D CAD/CAM
brought to its design office, has now extended those advantages to its
whole engineering and manufacturing process by adopting engineering
data management (EDM).
HDUK is part of the French-owned Hurel-Dubois Group, which
specializes in components for jet engine nacelles or pods. Its products are
now standard equipment on aircraft including the Boeing 747 and 767,
with RB21l-S24 engines and the Airbus A330 with Trent engines. A major
part of the company's work is designing and manufacturing thrust
reversers. The average thrust reverser consists of around 1600 parts.
Jones describes the problem: 'A typical product can have 1000 parts,
plus ten types of fastener, and can incorporate 100 to 1000 modifications
over several development units. Then add to this as many as ten different
engineering functions all needing the latest information so that they can
achieve lead times of 12 to 24 months from receipt of aerodynamic lines to
delivery of the first unit.' A daunting task in anyone's book. 'For an
engineering company like ours, working with a combination of a high
parts count and constant change, getting the product right first time used
to be a pipe dream' says Jones. 'In this type of engineering, it was
common to say the first units were automatically the worst units. But your
customer's opinion is formed by those first units. Here at Hurrel-Dubois,
we always prided ourselves on our ability to manage change. But
developing a 1600-part product at speed used to mean compromise. So,
you might still find problems occurring by lot 100. Of course, 80% of cost
is locked into the first 10% of design time. Getting it right early can make a
spectacular difference, particularly in a highly competitive sector like
ours. So, we decided we had to be able to offer our customers both
unequalled speed and quality.' Concurrent engineering, where different
disciplines work as parts of an integrated project team (rather than each
waiting for its predecessors to finish with its stage and pass it on) was
seen as one way of compacting the process.
But going for the productivity benefits of concurrent engineering when
you are working with huge amounts of data like Hurel-Dubois can leave
an engineering operation frustrated by an inability to ensure everyone is
working to the same data. This is why some firms still stick to the slow but
orderly handovers of sequential engineering, and remain bogged down
170 Software tools for the product development process
by the need for constant and expensive re-work. Not for them the
faster-moving waters of concurrent engineering, for fear of not being
able to cope with waves of changes all coming at once.
Jones found he was getting similar comments from people frustrated
when the speed of the product development was pushed ever higher.
The first was: 'Engineering has introduced another change and we're
still waiting for drawings. And we are short of essential information that
we need to finish the job.' Another comment was: 'The first hard facts
we get about the new product don't arrive until first scheme release,
when we find the design content is not achievable within our lead times
or our allocated cosb.'
Jones continued: 'In recent years, we had achieved major quality
improvements with the help of Computervision's CADD5 computer-
aided design system. Geometry control and co-ordination of com-
ponents, shape-making tools, manufacturing processes and assembly
fixtures had all improved greatly. So further improvements in these
areas of the development process were less of a priority and harder to
achieve.'
Barritt regards the wing mock-up as the high point of his team's
achievement so far - pulling together the threads of CAD/CAM, which
have seen parallel improvements in lead times from composites to sheet
metal, machined items and piping. 'With sheet metal work, our lead
times are down just as much as in composite work, from four weeks on
average to four hours. On piping, we're down from one week to three
hours.'
Short's investment in its 130 CADDS workstations would not have got
it so far, however, without an equivalent commitment on the part of its
Canadian parent company Bombardier to invest in state-of-the-art NC
machine tools to handle the CAD/CAM data. As for the next frontiers,
Barritt sees Shorts moving towards knowledge-based systems, with
parametrics eventually slicing further into lead times. Short's solid
modelling capability, which is enhanced in CADDS 5, and the continuing
use of composites, will allow larger and hence fewer components to be
used, making the process still faster. Says Barritt:
'From 1909 to 1979, nothing changed - it was a 70-year era of paper
drawings. From 1979 to 1984, we gradually replaced paper with CAD as
an electronic drawing board. From 1984 to 1989, we massaged the system
into a true CAD/CAM package. And over the past three years, we have
discovered that the only real limit on what we can do with a system like
this is our imagination and vision.'
EDM
B EJ
Management of archiving, back-up and
recovery, revision and release control
CADDSControl
Management of graphic and attribute
information based on zones / disciplines
CADDSlnformation
GB
Management of non-graphic attributes
CADDS Concurrent
assembly
• Entities "", mock-up
• Properties • Assembly
attributes
other parts of the design or assembly so that they have the most
up-to-date information. While Concurrent Assembly Mock-Up supports
assembly information, CADDSControl provides tools for the manage-
ment of models, drawings and associated geometric zone and functional
relationships.
CADDS also leverages data capture in the engineering and design
environments, and provides increased integration with other elements of
the product process. CADDSlnformation and CADDSControl work
together to manage a large volume of non-graphic, graphic and attribute
data, using standard RDBMS look-up tables. This allows sharing of data
between CADDS applications, as well as with other corporate databases
such as MRP.
Using the capabilities provided by CADDS, organizations can develop
a parts catalog that supports queries for similar designs or investigation of
the impact of engineering change orders. These products also support the
design process through management of assembly information, support-
ing multiple versions of the same item in work, and by tracking the design
process from initiation through release of the product. CADDS also
supports the product specification process through its control of access
and management of assembly information across the entire organization.
The following pages provide an overview of these products.
t t
EDM Assembly CC CADDS CADDS CI Corporate
attributes attributes attributes entities properties attributes data
10.6 CONCLUSION
The world market IS clearly changing The outdated view of 'do you want
It fast or do you want IS nght?' has been replaced by a demand for
Increased customizatlOn, faster delIvery and hIgher qualIty products
Without lOSing control of co..,ts
A sIgmficant level of effort IS therefore being put Into the concurrent
englneenng process There I~ a focus on looking at the hme spent on the
actIvlhes Involved, <;eelng how that time can be reduced and Improving
qualIty To put It more slmplv achIeving more With fewer people In less
hme
ThIs IS where knov, ledge-based englneenng (KBE) can make a sIgmfI-
cant contnbutlOn
EXTERNAL
PRODUCT MODEL DATA
• Engineering rules • Catalogues
• Process knowledge • Tables
• Part geometry ....~~.. Materials
• Standard parts look up • Analysis
The best analogy for a KBE system is to think of it like a new engineer
joining the department. Usually, the first tasks assigned to him or her are
those which can be learnt in a short space of time and will be carried out
sufficiently often to justify the effort. Selecting suitable KBE system
projects uses exactly the same criteria. We need to balance the time taken
to teach a KBE system how to do something against the benefits of it being
able to carry out the task very quickly, consistently and to best practice.
Another way of looking at this is through considering how a typical
engineer spends his or her time. The majority of time is spent doing
routine engineering, following an engineering process which is already
familiar and carried out as a matter of routine. Traditionally, this often
leaves little time for creative engineering, i.e. thinking of new and better
ways of designing the product.
Let's take a simple illustration. Consider the design of a load-bearing
component. It may occur to the engineer that changing the wall thickness
of the component may give a lighter design. However, this creative idea
may take several weeks to investigate. The product has to be re-designed,
including increasing the stiffening to provide sufficient strength, rigidity
and life of the product. Calculations like this, plus basic considerations of
manufacturability, can absorb a major part of the available time.
A product model is designed specifically to automate such 'routine'
tasks. KBE is not trying to automate the creative part of engineering. It is,
in fact, a strongly held belief that the engineer should be creative rather
than the computer. A KBE system is therefore not trying to be artificially
What results can be expected from a product model? 187
If we look again at Figure 11.1, we can see that the product model can
contain the engineering process, any downstream requirements and, of
course, the process to create the geometry of the design. In addition, we
often want to build in the knowledge of when and how to select
information and standard parts from catalogues and tables.
Like the tooling example, we often start the process of designing
something by being given a specification that can include both geometric
and non-geometric constraints and requirements. Both forms of input can
be passed to the product model.
Outputs or results from the product model can be virtually whatever is
required (see Figure 11.2). The drawback however, is that for each output
a varying amount of time has to be spent defining how to generate it in the
product model. This, again, is exactly analogous to our new engineer who
needs an explanation in order to generate the results we want.
188 The role of knowledge-based engineering systems
Query parts C9
catalogues
Engineering
Share CAD BOMs drawings
geometry costs
reports
Some output lS easy to generate since the product model has already
worked out the mformation required; a bill of materials is an obvious
example, generated with the geometry that has been used to do the
engineenng. Cost reports, however, will require the extra time it takes to
instruct the product model how to cost the design to the required
accuracy. Some companies have built product models to generate
manufacturing plans and inputs to other programs, as well as update
records for external databases and produce a wide variety of engineering
reports .
KBE can be used as a tool to enable the engineer to optimize the design in
two ways. Firstly, the engineer can easily change any of the default values
or inputs that drive the product model in order to search for a better
design. A well-deslgned product model will provide facilities for the
end-w,er to modify any design aspect that needs changing in the search
for the best overall design. The product model then automatically
re-designs the part, ensuring all the engineering and other consideration~
are met. It can then present the end-user engineer with critical infor-
mation, such as weight and cost, that might be used to measure the
effectivene~~ of hi~ or her idea. Clearly the KBE system will allow many
creative 'what-Ifs' to be done in a relatively short space of time.
The second area relates to the product model itself. Unlike people,
computers are good at domg repetitive things very fast. This ability is
mvaluable 111 the search for optimIzed solutions. For example, let us
What technology reduces the time needed to build a product model? 189
assume there is a key dimension for the design, perhaps representing the
position of a key component. Conventionally we may need to guess the
best position of a component using our prior experience in order to
continue with the design.
With a KBE product model, however, we simply need to say that we
know the best position lies within a particular range of dimensions. The
computer can then search for the best value. This means that the product
model might sample several hundred values. For each value it can
generate a full design, along with the weight and perhaps even the cost of
that particular design. It can then automatically present us with the
optimum design for that one dimension value in terms of weight or cost.
Sometimes the searching involves varying a number of values or
selections at the same time in order to find the best design.
Fortunately, the KBE system is clever enough not to completely
re-design and re-engineer the part for each iteration, but only re-work the
areas that are different from previous iterations. This significantly
reduces the load on the computer, which allows many more iterations to
be considered in a reasonable amount of time.
Clearly one of the main drawbacks of using a KBE system is the time it
takes to build the product model. There are, however, a number of
important aspects to the system that allow the actual building time to be
far less than might at first be imagined. One of the key technologies
underpinning KBE systems is the object-orientated approach (see Figure
11.3). This allows a word to be defined that has real meaning for the
engineer, for example a 'pressed part'. To return to our earlier analogy,
Force side
~ Plastic part
t
Mould base
Locating
ring
Clamps
Ejector plate
Retainer
Guides
Rails
Fig. 11.4 Using 'kind of' basic plate for both the top clamp and ejector plate.
we might say to the new engineer that a pressed part must have a draw
angle maintained for all faces of the part. In other words all side faces
must be designed so that the part can be pressed and extracted from the
tool.
When we talk to a real person, once we have explained the consider-
ations for a pressed part we do not expect to have to explain them again.
In fact, with any future designs we only expect to say that it is a 'kind of'
pressed part for all our previously described considerations to apply.
It is exactly the same with a KBE system. Once we have described what
we mean by a certain word, such as 'pressed part', it can be used to
describe any design simply by saying that the design is a 'kind of'
'pressed part' object. This 'kind of' behaviour is extremely useful when
building up a product model since any object - once explained - can be
used anywhere. Other examples of this object-orientated approach are
engineering calculations such as a 'kind of' Euler buckling calculations, or
a 'kind of' 'basic plate' which might imply a number of design constraints
and manufacturing requirements (see Figure 11.4).
The same approach is useful for actual features and parts where they
might be described as a 'kind of' web or a 'kind of' rivet.
Apart from this 'kind of' description, features and parts can also be
described as 'part of' something else. For example, a web is part of a
stiffener, which is part of a wing-box, which is part of an aircraft. This
reflects a normal engineering viewpoint. When a grow-out is described as
part of a stiffener, an engineer will immediately assume that a number of
characteristics of the grow-out are the same or inherited from the parent
object stiffener. The material is a good example.
Should the engineering process be defined in detail? 191
0% Time 100%
)0
: Geometry
. )0
..
ENGINEERING Parametric modeller
Ideal:
• when the engineering content is easily understood
0% Time
Geometry
and
reports
•
Knowledge-based engineering
Ideal:
• when design trade-ofts need to be made;
• when engineering content complex or multi-discipline;
• when reports such as cost, weight or analysis required;
• when external programs and databases are to be called.
automatically design the tools for all the parts covered by the process. The
idea of building a parametric geometric model of one tool and trying to
use this to design another tool for another part that will be made on a
different machine is clearly not sensible, particularly as the subsequent
tools may have totally different topologies from the first tool, i.e. they
may not even look similar (Figure 11.7).
[ BENEFITS~
~ COSTS I
Simply put, an appropriate KBE system project is one where the costs of
the project are significantly outweighed by the benefits resulting in a
good return on investment (ROI) (see Table 11.1). What are the costs?
Clearly, the obvious ones are the KBE system software, consultancy,
training, computer hardware and maintenance. The major cost, how-
ever, is the cost of personnel to carry out the project. It is therefore very
important to obtain skilled advice on how long projects are likely to take
before starting on them. It is also worth pointing out that it is important to
choose the right people to carry out KBE system projects. Different people
doing the same project can take half or even a third of the time. The right
choice can result in major cost savings.
What is an appropriate KBE system project? 195
Benefits Costs
So, what are the benefits that can be achieved for an appropriate
project? First, the process captured will be carried out in a tiny fraction of
the time it takes manually. The value of this is a function of how much
time is saved per use of the product model, multiplied by how many times
the product model will be used. This can result in significant personnel
savings, perhaps allowing more people to be allocated to building future
product models - with even greater benefits. Another benefit is that the
results of the product model are available for use much sooner than
before. This may have a significant effect on the overall lead time of the
design program or response to a tender inquiry.
The second major benefit to most users is that applying KBE to a
particular project means that at the end the process involved is much
better understood. This process of establishing best practice can be a
major benefit by itself.
Once they have understood the process and established best practice,
many companies now find that it is beneficial to be able to distribute this
process in the form of the product model. This may involve passing it to
affiliated companies or to other departments in the company. For
example, a bid proposal system might even be made available to the sales
department to generate customized designs. Alternatively, it may simply
mean that new engineers and other less skilled people can use the
product model to the same level as the process captured. But perhaps the
biggest benefit to most users of the technology is that they can achieve a
higher quality design. Below is a list of some of the ways in which these
quality improvements can be achieved.
• An optimized design in terms of, say, cost, weight or performance.
• Consistent designs from different designers, resulting in reduced
variations and attendant manufacturing and service benefits.
• Less re-work and fewer modifications required due to following best
practice, as well as ensuring downstream requirements are met, e.g.
manufacturability and serviceability.
• Design freedom kept open much longer in the design cycle than
possible with normal design.
• New design ideas, materials, etc. can be incorporated and used widely.
196 The role of knowledge-based engineering systems
• Rush work does not mean some of the design considerations are
forgotten.
have already achieved significant benefits. The wider use of the tech-
nology should allow these companies to spend more time on understand-
ing and refining the process by which they design and manufacture
products. This carries obvious competitive advantages. In addition, less
time is spent on carrying out actual designs, allowing costs to be reduced
and quality to improve. This, again, increases the competitive advantage.
As KBE evolves, it will develop ways by which users can build their
applications faster as well as use the technology more easily, particularly
as end-users of product models. Wider deployment of existing know-
ledge bases is obviously extremely important in order to achieve the
maximum benefits. This wider deployment will often require the KBE
system to be hidden behind existing systems with which the potential
end-user is already familiar.
An obvious example of this is the CAD/CAM system. A close
integration with the CAD/CAM database needs to be matched with the
ability for the product model to be driven from within the CAD/CAM
system user interface. It is also important that a KBE system complements
the conventional interactive CAD/CAM systems in which so many
companies have already made significant investments.
This close integration of CAD/CAM systems can only be achieved with
the co-operation of both vendors. I believe the future will therefore see
KBE systems even more closely integrated with selected CAD/CAM
systems to provide a next generation design environment. Unfortu-
nately, not all CAD/CAM vendors have an open systems approach
(regardless of the claims from their marketing departments!) which
Further readmg 199
means that they do not provide the necessary faCilities and support to
achieve integration with thIrd-party systems These vendors will then be
forced eIther to develop theIr own KBE system functIonahty or to leave
theIr customers wIth IGES type translators to thIrd-party software
As some CAD/CAM vendors WIll be unwllhng or unable eIther to
provIde an open system or to develop theIr own KBE system, I beheve the
future will see two types of CAD/CAM systems At one level will be those
vendors wIth an Integrated KBE system, the second level will be those
wIthout Any users of a second-level system may find themselves at a
signIficant competitIve dIsadvantage In the future
11 12 CONCLUSIONS
FURTHER READING
12.1 INTRODUCTION
The concept of concurrent engineering may not be new in itself. After all,
it reflects sound engineering practice. What is new, however, is the fact
that computer-based tools are now becoming available to turn the concept
into reality. As a developer and supplier of these tools, Intergraph is
working increasingly today with companies to implement systems which
will bring back the level of inter-departmental communications crucial to
concurrent engineering, and which has been lost over the years as
company structures have grown larger and more complex and systems
have been purchased to satisfy the needs - or self interests - of individual
departments, rather than the whole engineering workflow.
Put simply, the adoption of concurrent engineering practices means
that the design of a product and the systems to manufacture, service,
support and ultimately dispose of it are considered together. Clearly,
concurrent engineering is linked to concepts such as multi-disciplinary
project teams, total quality management and, from a computing perspec-
tive, integrated systems built on industry standards, and an open,
networked environment.
12.2 DEFINITION
This chapter is not technically orientated but it is clear that the first and
most basic requirement for unification into the whole is the integration
of the systems environment. In other words, we need to rid ourselves of
the difficulties presented by islands of automation which have sprung
up across companies during the 1980s as small systems were added to
provide small solutions before it was possible to implement an overall
business systems strategy.
Today, a great many companies have discrete, 'point' solutions for
dealing with specific problems, in areas such as mechanical modelling,
drafting, engineering analysis, numerical control, electronics design,
document publishing and facilities planning and management. They
have networks with software and hardware from a variety of vendors
and are adding to this data every day both manually, as well as with
sophisticated computer-based systems.
The key to unlocking this information and making it available to those
who need it, in the controlled manner necessary for a concurrent en-
gineering environment, is based on three main factors:
1. flexible local and wide area networking and file management facili-
ties;
2. application software built on a common data structure or framework;
Unlocking information 203
3. customizable tools for technical information access, and distribution
and sign-off procedures.
Ever since the early 1970s Integraph has developed its systems around a
common data structure, or file format, which was defined in software
known originally as IGDS (Interactive Graphics Design System) and now,
in its current manifestation, as MicroStation. The file format definition for
this is 'public domain' and therefore freely available from Integraph to
independent software developers.
MicroStation forms the nucleus of over 1000 Integraph and third-party
developed application software packages, allowing design data created
on UNIX workstations, PCs and even minicomputers to be moved freely
between engineering disciplines without translation.
Its future is assured. Several recent major contracts commit Integraph
to maintain this nucleus file format for the next 30 years -longer than the
CAD/CAM industry itself has been in existence!
In addition, lntegraph designs its systems to incorporate existing,
proposed and de facto industry standards - creating an 'open' system
environment. Within this open environment, Integraph has implemen-
ted standards for operating systems (UNIX, POSIX, DOS), software
development tools (X-Window System libraries, OSF/Motif, GKS,
PHIGS, ANSI C and Fortran compilers, ADA and others) and networking
(Ethernet TCP/IP, DON, SNA, DEC net, LU6.2, FODI, GOSIP and Token
Ring).
By adhering to these and other standards, Integraph systems co-exist
with systems from other vendors which may already be in place. And to
permit the exchange of data between these differing systems, Integraph
fully supports accepted data exchange standards (IGES, VHOL, EDIF,
POES, CCITT Group 4 etc.). As long ago as 1981, Integraph decided to
base its systems on networks, thereby committing to solve the problem of
distributed database management. Today, the Integraph network file
manager (I/NFM) solves this problem by providing configuration man-
agement of a geographically distributed database resident on systems
from multiple vendors. IINFM, working with Integraph's relational
interface system (RIS) to support a common access method to multiple
databases, provides network file management, privileged access control,
workflow management and revision control.
Built on a relational database, Integraph configuration management
tools locate and retrieve information regardless of its location on the
network. Integraph document scanning, engineering and publishing
applications, as well as external sources, feed the database with infor-
mation in multiple, co-existing formats - raster, planar vector, 3D solid
vector, SGML and ASCII.
To satisfy the diverse needs of a concurrent engineering environment,
Integraph provides database-independent and network-independent
204 Software solutions for CE II
12.5.1 Introduction
The management and control of technical information is a real and
growing issue. As more industrial processes are being automated, more
computers are being used and there is a need to distribute data more
efficiently. There is a danger that the advantages of automation will be
lost as the volume and complexity of the engineering data available and
the difficulty of locating and controlling data increases proportionally. As
workstations and PCs become available at the workplace and computing
becomes more distributed, the logistics of data management become
more complex. If this problem of complexity is not addressed, then many
of the benefits of distributed processing will be lost.
A technical information management system must manage and control
data of varying types, stored on differing platforms and accessed through
different communications protocols. It is necessary to integrate the use of
technical data within a company, whether the data is CAD-generated,
computer-based or on paper, so that it can be used together to ensure that
sufficient information is available to support business decisions.
It is important to recognize that information must flow through the
workplace, that each process adds to the available data and therefore
adds value to the business process. Thus, it is important to be able to
Technical information management 205
Axle drawing?
integrate data across application boundaries and also to optimize the flow
of information between processes in the engineering environment.
Repository
!;i:Jr:>=l
~ JL::::2l
Q
Drawing #
12347
ma~
Repository
P'Ojeel Mod;"
axle
design
Check out
Update design for
'l..rr J.:J. a x Ie
update
r~~gn g
Project team ~ --- modified
r~ axle drawing
The group members share data and may share workstatIons There
may be several dIfferent types of hardware and software muse withm the
group The groups tend to work m a faIrly mformal way, but may be part
of a more formal corporate workflow Where applIcatIon software IS used
to access data, then the reqUIrements for basIC fIle management, access
control, workflows and so on should be taIlored for the partIcular
applIcatIon mvolved However, It IS Important that data management
software should be compatIble across applIcatIons Some compames also
have a reqUIrement for a corporate data structure, partIcularly m a
multI-discIplme enVIronment, whIch usually reqUIres extenSIve analYSIS
and customizatlOn, but If the nucleus systems outhned m thIS sectIon
were avaIlable, then the effort mvolved would be reduced, smce much
could be based on the standard offenngs (FIgure 12 5)
/AjGraphic
~ design
</
~ ~ Engineering
~draWlngs
~
I'T:t~h";~1
What data,
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The Integraph TIM products form an integrated family and are used as
the basic data management mechanism for many applications. The
products are as follows
• The active data manager, ADM, which provides basic file management
functionality over the network.
• The repository/network file manager, I1NFM, which provides reposi-
tory management functionality; workflow definition and dynamic
access control facilities, multi-media support and extensive backup and
archive facilities over the network.
• The document management system, DMANDS, which provides
management and distribution facilities for raster, vector and ASCII
documents, support complex relationships, provides view and redline
(annotation) facilities, and provides plotting capabilities.
• The customization toolbox, DB Access, which provides facilities for
customization of the TIM products, including access to multiple
databases, reporting facilities, graphics capabilities and a high-level
scripting language.
There is also a TIM basic customization project, which can be seen as
addressing a core requirement in the management of engineering
drawings in the drawing registration and management system (DRAMS,
produced by lntegraph UK), which provides an engineering interface to
drawing management, based on the functionality of I1NFM and DB
Access. The facilities provided by these products are outlined in the
following sections, together with a description of the facilities provided
by the DRAMS project, and a fuller description of their capabilities is
given in the series of technical overviews available for the TIM products.
All products which use a relational database are based on RIS, the
relational interface system, ensuring that they are database independent
and will operate in exactly the same way for each supported RDBMS on
each supported platform.
probably the simplest and most appropriate solution to the nucleus file
management problem, catering for both the small system case and the
project group/work group case.
I1NFM fulfils all of the requirements of the data archive or repository
and is very suitable for this role. Its graphic user interface may need cus-
tomization and the alpha-numeric interface could probably be improved,
but, in general, I1NFM is the appropriate product for this purpose.
OMAN OS fulfils the requirements of a document management system.
It can manage many types of documents of various sizes and formats from
many different sources. It is suited to the management of complex re-
lationships between and within documents and provides many view and
redline capabilities. Thus, it is an appropriate product for document man-
agement, and, through its links with I1NFM, is particularly suited to
manage technical documentation, since it can preserve the relationships
between the original designs, drawings, text or documents and their rep-
resentation in the technical documentation.
The requirements of the data registration and management system are
reflected in the specification for the DRAMS system. This work is being
carried out in response to customer requirements in several industry
areas, including oil, electricity supply, power generating and engineering
industries. This development is being carried out using DB Access and
I1NFM, with many standard modules to cut down the amount of tailoring
required for individual customers. The major customization effort will be
in the user interface and the data validation routines.
12.8 CONCLUSION
13.1 INTRODUCTION
Ten years later, GM was still struggling to introduce CE when they were
overtaken by the combined pressures of a global market downturn and
the successful Japanese transplant operations in their own home market.
Their plight has strengthened the resolve of other US companies to press
on with their survival and recovery plans - Xerox with 'Leadership
Through Quality' [4], IBM with 'Market-Driven Quality', for example.
Hewlett Packard still does things the HP way, with great success since the
HP way is the CE way.
In Europe, ABB has its 'Customer Focus Program' which led to the T50
programme - aiming to take sao!., off the time to do everything, including
new product introductions. Nestle has been working to 'bring research
closer to the edge of global competitive strategies' [5].
All these programmes embody the principles of CEo
Concurrent engineering not only fits in with these survival and success
strategies, it is an integral part of all of them. The fundamentals - the
critical success factors - are the same for CE as for TQM, employee
involvement, participative management, JIT and lean manufacturing. For
most Western companies, a strategy for CE therefore has to be part of a
strategy of culture change embracing internal and external relationships.
CE teams need empowerment, just like quality improvement teams.
They need the same style of reward and recognition, the same drive for
never-ending improvement and the same ability to communicate without
fear.
CE teams need to listen, just like customer care teams. They need the
same early participation of suppliers as JIT planners. They need training
in group problem solving techniques, just like process improvement
teams.
All these teams need top management commitment and leadership by
example - 'walk the talk'. They can be helped by advances in data
Roadblocks 223
processing hardware and software, but these are enhancements, not the
essence of CEo
13.5 ROADBLOCKS
introducing CE are in many cases developed using the old hierarchy and
personnel. The needs of the customer - in this case those who are to work
using the CE approach - may be sub-ordinate to vested interests, in the
false hope that CE processes can be fitted to the new organization and the
old personalities. This will not work. A successful strategy to introduce
CE has to be based on the same open-minded attitudes as CE itself.
Another danger is the reversion to old ways of short-term cost reduction
in the face of economic downturn. It is self-evident that a company's
survival is a pre-requisite for the introduction of CE, but survival depends
on preservation of the quality and timing benefits of CE and JIT as well as
their cost reductions. Co-operation rather than confrontation becomes
even more vital in declining markets. The partnerships that have been
built on the basis of CE are going to be needed even more - not just to
survive the strains of the downs of the economic cycle, but also to meet
the demands of yet more rapid technological change.
Another dimension has been added to the task of product and process
designers. New materials with new properties offer opportunities for
new product features, but demand new manufacturing processes if their
full potential is to be realized. Time-based competition is now focused on
the span between 'blue sky' research and the market place, and
shortening this interval is the new challenge for CEo It is now necessary to
simultaneously develop new materials, new products and new processes
(Figure 13.1), which calls for yet more changes in management of the new
product process (Figure 13.2). The one constant factor is the need for
partnership relations between and within companies.
Design of Design of
material product
Component or Design of
Synthesis / 'product' with
processing / manufacturing
carefully tailored process /
fabrication properties assembly
Market
analysis ~
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design r---. Production
system
design
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Product Production
system
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design
design
Market
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Sales I
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Material
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design
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Concurrent design of material, product and process. Very complex management.
REFERENCES
Page numbers appearing in bold refer to figures and page numbers appearing in
italic refer to tables.