St. John 1s
AN APPL I CATI ON OFTHEDELPHI METHOD TO DETERMINE THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR A PROTOTYPINGCENTRE FORTHE PROVINCEOF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
by
Stephen J.Bolan, B. Voe .Ed. ,A.Sc.T .
A thesis submittedto the Schoolof Graduate Studiesin partialfulfilment of the
requiremen tsforthe degree of Master of Education
Faculty of Education Memorial Univers ityof Newfo undland
July, 19 9 5
Newfoundland
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L'AUTEUR A ACCORDE UNELICENCE IRREVOCABLE ET NON EXCl.USIVE PERMETTANT A LA BmLIOTIIEQUE NATIONALEDU CANADA DE REPRODUIRE.PREIER.DISTRIBUER OU VENDRE DES COPIES DE SA THESEDE QUELQUEMANIERE ET SOUSQUELQUEFORMEQUECE SOIT POUR METIRE DES EXEMPLAIRES DE CETTE THESE ALA DlSPOSHIONDES PERSONNE INTERESSEES.
L'AUTEURCONSERVE LAPROPRIETE DU DROIT D'AUTEURQUIPROTEGE SA THESE.NILA TIIESE NI DES EXTRAITSSUBSTANTIELSDE CELLE- crNEDOIVENTETREIMPRIMES OU AUTREMENT REPROOmTSSANS SON AUTORISATION.
Abstract
The purpose of this study wa s to determine thene e d for a Provincia l PrototYI-i ng Ce nt r e that wc u l d be capableof producing high quality manufactu rableprototypes in the lea st amount of time.At the sametime, the study sought to determine the specific systems, resources, and requirements necessary for the operationof a Provincia l Prototyping Centre.
Th i s study wa s conductedfrom Marc h 1995toJuly1995 utilizinga modified Delphi technique.Tworou nd s ofthis Delphi studywe r e completed. Rc.undone asked three questions towhi c h re spond e nt s we r e free togi ve open-ended responses.In forma tion gathere d from the first round was '.li:iliz ed tode ve l o p a second questionnaire submi tt edas roundtwo in theDelphi pr oc e s s . Eachroundut il ize d a differen tpanel of experts. Ouestionnaires for both rounds were elect ro n ically transmitt ed utilizing the E-mail services of theInt e r net.
Resul tsof the study Indi.ca ted thata steering committ ee re pre sent i ng theint ere s t s of gov ernme nt,
i i
industry, ene repreneure, theuntve r e t ty, poet-secondary inst i tu tions, andother interes tedparties should be formed to fur t herinvestigate thefe a s i b i lit y of a Pro....incial prototyp!ngCentre. The results indic a t e d consensusamong the respndent s for the goals and objectivesof a Provincial Prototyping Centre. These are as follows:
a. Topr ovide the technicalsupp ortto inventors in developinga prototype,
2. To facilitate and guideinven t o r s ' product developmentefforts,
3. To linkinventors withfinancial support agencies, 4. Toencourageandfa c i l i t ate inventors by link ing
themwithot he r inventorswhohave been through the productdevelopmentprocess,
S. To enco urageinventors to develop ama r ke t i ng plan,
6. To assistsmall business in developing prod ucti on prototypes quicklyandat an affordableprice, 7. Tofa cil i t a t e the development of existing
capabilities and businesses in the province, and
iii
B. To develop pro totypesba s e d on it s ownmarket intelligence.
iv
ACKNOWLEOOEMEN'I'S
The researcherwouldlike toex tend his appreciation to a number of individual s who wereinstrument.:lin the completionofth i s thesis.
Aspecialgratitudeis extended tomythe s is supervisor , Dr.Dennis Treslan,for his assistance, guidanc e, andinfo rma tion .Gratitude is also extendedto Dr. GeorgeHachefor hisknowl edgeandassistance throughoutthe study.Withou t their direct ion andin s ight, thi s thesis wouldhave been much longerreach ing its completion .
I would also like to extend a special thank yo utomy fr i e nd, my colleague, andmy fiance, Chr i stine Gorman, who notonl ypr ovide d so many words of enc ouragementand wisdom, but alsospentman y long hoursproofreadingduring the ti me this the s is was beingdeveloped. I would neverhave finis he d th isthes iswithouthercontinualsupport.
I wouldlike toacknowledgethe assistanceof the Engineering Department of the Cabot college of Applied Arts, Technology, and Continuing Educationfor allowing me to
utilize their Internet access as well as many other resources. specialtha n k s isalsoexte nde d to alltho s e persons who were involved in both the National DelphipaneI and the Provincial Delphi panel.
I wouldlik e to thank alsomy children andmy friends who providedsupport and encouragementwhile thisdocument was compiled.
vi
Tabl e ofCon t e n t s
Abatract ii
Acknowledgemp.nts v
List of Figures x
List of Tables xi
Chapter 1: Backgroundof the project 1
Introduction 1
The PrototypeConcept 2
Statement of the Problem 4
Significanceof the Study 5
Delimitationsof the Study 6
Limitations of the Study, , ,., , ,?
Def i n"i.tion s of Terms•. . ., ,.,., " ". ,?
Organizationof the Study." ,. , ,14 Chapter 2:Reviewof Related Literatu re , , 16
Int r odu cti o n., , , 16
2~ckgroundee the Study ,..,., " .1?
Int el l e c t u al Pr o p e rt y ,." ".., 24 To t a l QualityManagement , , .•. ... . . . ..., 28 Concur rent Engineering ,.. ....• .., 34
vii
Computer Int egrat edManufacturi ng•••••.•••. ••• •• •.43 Co n c eptualM:xielfora Pr o t o typ l ng Centre..••.•• • •58 NeedsAssess ment•••.• ••• •••.•• •••• .. • ..• •. .... .•. . 61 DelphiTechnique•••... ... . . . .. . ... . ....65 SUllliaary•••••• ••••• • •••• •• ••• • • • •• ••••• • ••••• •••••• 68 Chapter 3. Met hod ology of Study.• . •.•.• ••.•.• •••.•.•... 71 Int r o d uct io n.••.••..• ... ...•. •.••.•.. ... ..• ..•71 De ve l o pment of the Inte r view Guide s... .... .. ....•71 Dete rm i n a ti o n of thePa nel of Experts.. . ••• .•• •.•.72 Admi nistr at io nof theStu d y.. • ... • . •• . .•...• • . . .74 Data AnalysisProcedure•••.•.•.•• •• •. • •... •. ...76 Cha p t e r 4:Fin d ings of the Study.•. ..•.. .•. . • . ...•. •79 Introducti o n•••• . •••• ... •.•...••••••••••••. .•••..•79 ResearchQuestio n s••... ..•.•.•••••..•.. .. . •.• .•81 Nati onal Del p hi Panel Responses•• • •••.. ...•... •81 ProvincialDelph i PanelResponse s.• •..• .... .... ...97 Summary.••••• • •.••••••.••• •• • •• •• •••• •• ••• •• •• • ••124 Chapt ll!! r 5: Concl u sionsand Re c o mme n da t i o n s••.•• •• •.••• 137 Summaryof Study.... ... .. ... . ..••. . .• . .•....••. ••13 7 Conclusi ons.. • .. .• ••..•...•. . • •.• • • •. • •• •.... •. •. 138 Recommendations..•.. . • . . • ••• . . . •.•.. ••.•.. • • .•..•141 Refer e n c es.••• •. .•.•.•• ... . . . ..•.•.•....•••••.••..•143
vi i i
AppendixA: RoundOneDel p hiQuestio nna ire ..•... ..15 2 AppendixB: RoundOne ClosureLetter••.. ..••.. . ... .156 AppendixC: RoundTwoDelphiQuestionna ire...•. • . ....158
ix
List of Figures
Figure1: ClassicalDesignEngine eringApproach 37 Figure2: Concu r r ent Eng i neeringModeL •....•.. ... .• . . 41 Figure3: Comp u t e r Integrate dManufact uringWheel 47 Figure 4: Ma n u f a c t ur i n g sroceecLayouts.. . ... 52 Fi gu r e 5: Prototyping Ce n t r eMode L. ... . .. 60
Listof Tables
Table1: Research and DevelopmentExpenditures 19 Table 2: Locationof PrototypingAc t i vi t y
Provincial Panel Responses 99
Table 3: Amount of In-housePrototypeFabrication ProvincialPanel Responses 100 Table-4: MathematicalModelling Usage
Provincial Panel Responses 101
Table 5: IntroductionTimeof New Pr oduc t
Provincial PanelResponses 103 Table 6; era TechnologyRequirements
ProvincialPanelResponses 120
xi
CHAPTER ONE Background of the proj ect
Int r o d u c tio n
On October 14, 1994, the Honourable BrianTobin , Ministerof Fish eriesandOc eans, la unc h e d National Science andTechn ology Weekat the grandopeni ng ceremonyfor the EngineeringTe c h nologyCen t r e of CabotCollege. In his address Tobinstated:
Canada needs innovationif Canada is going tocreate newwe a l t h...and to be competitive , to be able to competeand win withnew productsand servicesaround the world. Fosteringinnovationtoday ,requires a culture inwh ich communities , individuals , and ins t i t u t i o n svalu e ani embrace science,engineering, and technology.That is an important chall e nge today forNewfoundla nd andLa b r a dor . (Tob i n , B., personal communication, Oc tobe r 14, 1994)
However, emerginghighte c hnology companiesare intheir in f a n cy in Newfoundlandand Labrador, and all too often workers withne wl y obtainedskills in information technologiesand inother emerging technologiesmust seek work outside thepr ovinc e. The infrastructure required to
support fledgling hightechnology companies is not yet ful ly in place.AccordingtoHoff~,Manager of the Cabot college Office of Industria l Assistance, innovationsdeveloped by Newfoundlandentrepreneursoftenrequireconside rable supportfrom outside the Province to bui ldand develop the manu facturableprototypestha t are a necessary step in the product developmentprocess. (Hoffe, personal commun ication , January, 19931
The prototype Concept
pugh (1991) cites that models orpr o t o t yp e s serve three mainfunc tio ns :
(1) They establishthete c hn i c al feasibi l ityof the product.
(2 ) Theygiveme mbers of the design team atent a t ive understanding of the interactionsbetween th e components embodied in the product, whi c h collectivelymake up thewhole. (3) The yhelp members of the teamto ga inan
understan d i ng of thepossibl e fu nction s of the pr od uc t . This becomes more andmor e impor tantand
essent i alas the design becomesmore and mor e innova t i v e. (p. 175)
The te r m prototype isde f ine das the firstor primary typ e of anything: a pattern ,model,st andar d, exemplar , archetype (Sho r t e r Ox fo r d EnglishDf.ct.Lonar'y, p,16 061 .An alternative defin ition is, "amodelsuitable forus e in completeevaluation of form,desi gn ,.and pe r-Eormarrce"
(Di c tionaryofScientif ic And Tec hnic alTe rms, 1~ 8 4 ,p.
1270 ) .Amo r e comprehen sive de fi ni tio n fora pro t o t ype th at willbe used in this stud y is:
... the term used at that stage in the design process when the componenthasbe e n realizedphysical ly in a form that sati s fie s the funct i onal, env i ron menta l , reliability,mai ntainability ,packaging,and ot her requirements, bu twhen the designdoes no t necessaril y reflect the techniquesof ma nuf a c tur e by whichit will beul t i ma t e ly produced in qua ntity. (Ma n n , 1987,p.
42 3 )
A sequential process is normally utilizedin the development, andcommercializationof a new product that includesthe activiti esof idea generation, testing,
prototyping, developmentand int rod u c t i o n (Zahra, Nash, &.
Bickford, 1994, p.83).An alternativeto this approach suggeststhatsuch activities ca n be done concurrently .
Ina parallelprocess, the engineering , marketing, and manufacturingpersonnel workclosel yon completing a gi ve n activityor phase, the rebyencouraging the speedy developmentof the technology . This approach aleo reducesinterdepartmental conflicts, disseminates informationquickly, and eliminatesthe bottlenecks cr e a ted by different schedules. (za hr a et al.,p. 83)
Statement Of the Prahlem
The use of advanced technologyin manufacturingin Newf oundl a n d and Labrador is inite infancy.Simple tasks suc h as constructinga plasticmold or fabricating an electronic printedci r c u it boardha d to be re f err e d to expertsand fabricatorslocated outside of the Province . Projectsfunded by the Office ofInd us t rial Assistance, such as those found in the me di c a l deviceElector. areexemplary (I n k pen, 1993) .Such examples could serve to provide evidence that nichemanufacturing markets developedfor
Newfoundland and Labrador ha v e much pot ential forfurther development.
However. there is noCentre loca tedin theProvinceto assist entrepreneurs in developingthe manufacturable prototypes tha t are requil-edprior to comme rci a l i z i ng product s. It wasproposed, therefore, that a study comme nce tospecificallyadd r e ss the followingquestions : 1. What systems and res ources sho uld be inc orporatedinto
apro t otyp i ng cent re?
2. Isthe r e a need for a Provincial protot ypingCentre in Newfound landand Labrador?
.s.lgnlli cance of the...s.t.1.u:b
Sincea Provinc ial PL'ototypingCentredi d not exist in Newfoundl.andand Labrador, thi s st ud y provides beth federal and provincial agencieswithinf ormati on toassist in decision making prior to implementionof a manufacturable prototyping ce nt re for high tec hnologycompanies in th is provi nce. The study also providesinformation regardi ng be n e fi t s to be derivedfrom impl e me n ti ng a Provincial PrototypingCentre.As well. the administ rationof the Cabot
Colle gecan benefitfrom the inf ormation in this study and may co nsiderexpandingthe capabilitiesof theOf f if :e of Industrial Assistance.
The expansionofthe Of f i c e ofIndu s t r i a l Assistance is in keeping withthe articles gove r ni ng t.he Co l l e ge s of App l i e d Arts, Technology, andCont i nu i ng Education.
Spe cif ica lly, one article sta tes :
To meet the needsof the labour marketbyassisting with th e dev e Lcpme nt; of the skillsof the labourfo r c e to respondto economicandtec hnological change and to create a capacity for technologytransfer. (Gove r nme nt ofNe wf oundla n d and Labrador, 1991, p, 2)
neli mitat ionsof the Study
This studywas delimited toascertainingthe need for and the resources that would berequired fora prototyping Centreby accessingexpert opinion from national experts.
The information gathered from these national experts was then applied to ascertainingthe needfor a Prototypng Centrein Newfoundlandand Labrador.No attempt was made to carry out a cost-analysis of the implementation of such a
Pro v incialPrototypi ng Cen tre .
r.imit.ar.i<lwL...O.LtJlp~
Whil e conduc ting th i s study, thefollowi ng limitations wererec ogn ize d:
1. The study depended uponthecoo perat ion of the respondents.
2. The study was li mitedby theex pertkno wl e dge of theDe l phi paneU.stsava ilableand ac cessiblet:o the researcher .
3. The study was l.imited bythe se 'Ieot. Lonproceen uti li z e d to deeemune the Delphipanelists. 4. The studywas l imi tedto the mo nt hs ofApril, Ma y .
June, and July of 1995.
~jtjQnpf Terms.
For the purposes of this study. the followingterms and definitionsappl y.
Compu t e r AidedDe sign (CAD) :Sof t wa r e packagesthat utilizetheca p a b il i t i e s of computers to create
architectural,mechanical,and electronicsdrawings . Essentiallythe computerisusedas a design and draftingtool where designmodificationsand improvemen tscan easily be made. (Reis s, 1989, p.196 ) Computeraided engineering (CAE): The analysisand evaluationof the engineering designusing ccmput.ee-baeedte c hni q u es to calculateproduct operational, functional, and manufacturing parameters too complexfo r classicalmethods.
(Rehg, 1994 , p.138)
Compute r.AidedManufacturing (CAM): The effective us e of computer technologyin the planning , management, and controlof productionfor the ent e r pris e. (Rehg, 1994, p. 17l)
Compute~Integrated Manu facturing(ClM):
Inte g r a t i o n of the tC'ltal manufacturingenterprise through theuse of integrated systems andda t a communicat ionscoupl ed withnew managerial philosophiesthatimpr o v e organi za tiona l and personnel efficie ncy. (Rehg , 1994, p. 16 ) ConaurrentEngineering (CE): A systemat icapproach
to the integrated , simultaneousdesignof both products and their relatedprocesses, in c l ud i ng manuf a cturin g, test, and support. (Turino ,199 2, p .3)
De l ph i Method:The Delphi technique is a formof structur ed int eraction thathas been utilize d foran ass ortmentofne e d s assessmen t studies . It has bee n usedfor the setting of prioritiesaswell as establishinga certain level ofcon s e n s us. El ectrCiIIledicalEquipment: Electricallypowered equipme nt or equipment th a t generateselectrical potentials for us e inth e medical diagnosis, treatmen t ,mitigation , or prevention of a disease or the symptomsthereof in a patient. {Ca na di an Standards Association (e SA], 1984, p. 13) Flexi ble Manuf a ctu ringSys tem.(FMS ):A fully, nearly fullyautomated system whichco ns i s t s of at least twonumericallycont rol ledmachine tools interconnectedby meansof an automated system for the handling and storageof material andsometimes tools,and control ledby anintegrated computer
10 syste mor a programmab l e logic a l circuit.
(EhrnbergandJacobs s o n, 1993 . p ,33 ) Fused Depo8ition Modelling(FDM):A ra p id prototyping tec hniqu eth a t builds up each cros s se ctio nbymov i ng a thi n extruded"wi renof plastic or wa x justabovethepart LccatLonand he a t ingittoit s me ltingpoint. (Re hg, 1994, p , 158)
:Innovation : Thecostlyproc e s s oflaunchi nganew idea and itsproducts ":'n the market pla ce .
(Br a unstein, Baumol,&Ma n s fi eld, 1980, p, 25) :InternetI Thetechnical ter mfor connectinganetwork of net works. The In t e r ne t was started by th e U.S. Adv an c ed ResearchPro j ectsAgencyas a meansto economi zeonthe use of broadba ndtelephone linesby utilizingapacket -swi t c h i ngnetwork.
(Dern , 1994, p,12 )
Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM):A ra p i d prot otyp ing technique th at buil dsupcross sections thatare cutfrom th in shee tsof stock. Ea ch shee t is glu e d withadhesive to the alread y
con str uc t ed part, then tr i mmed wit ha laser. (R e hg, 1994, p.159)
Medical Devi c e:The termdev i ce means instrument, apparatus,imple ment , mac h i ne, contrivanc e, implant,invi t ro reagent , orothe r similar or rela t ed art i cle. inc l uding any compon ent ,part , or acc esso ry , whi ch19--
~) recognized inth eoff i c i al National For mulary , orthe United Sta t e s Pharma c op oeia , or any
supplementto them,
2) intende d forus e in th e diag nosis of di seas e or other condi tions, orin thecur e, mi t igat i on, treat ment, orpr event i onofdi sease, inmanor
other animals . or
3) int e n ded to affect the structureor any func tion of thebody of manor ot her animals , and whichdo es not achieve an y of its principal intendedpurposes through chemi c al actionwi thi n or onthe bod y of man or other animalsand which is not dependentuponbeing metabolizedfor the achievementof any of its principal intended
11
purposes. (U.S.Depa rtmentofHe althandHuma n Services, 199 2 ,p.37 )
Medium.s!zedcompany : A companywi t h between 100 and 999 employees. (Canad a '5 TechnologyIndustrie s 1n the]9909, 1991,p. 11)
Prototype:The term usedat that stagein the designprocess whe n the componen thas been realized physically in a form that satisfies the functional,environmental, reliability, maintainability .packaging, and other requirements, butwhenthe clasign does not ne c e s s ari l y reflectthe techniques of manufacture by wh i c h itwi llbeult i mat ely produc edin quantity. (Mann,198 7 . p • 423)
Rapid Prototyping: Ate chn i qu e ueed to build a sa mpleof a ne wdesignquicklybypa rt it i oni n g a 3-DCAD model of a part intohorizont a l croee-ee c cfcnafslices and thentransfo rmi ng the design, la yer bylaye r intoa ph y sica l model or prot ot yp e . (Rehg,1994,p. 1.56)
RoundlA setofquestionspo s ed to aDelphipan e l.
12
13 In f o r ma t i o n obtained from thisset of questionsis analyzed and returned to theDelphi panelists in order to achieve a level of consensus.
Se l e c t iv e laser sintering (SLB): Atech n i qu e that employs a high energy laser to fuse or sinter powder into a solid object . (Rehg, 1994, p. 157) Small-sized comp any:Acompany with less than100 employees. (Canada'sTechnology Ind u s t ri e s in the
~. 1991,p. 11)
Ste r e o li t h ogr a p h y (BTL ):A rapidproto typ!ng techniquethat utilizes a tank of photosensitive polyme r and a servo-control led la s e r that is focused on the surfaceof the liquid polymerall linkedtoa3-DCAD system. The computer reads the CADfil efo r the prototypepar t andcausesthe laser to trace the areaof the bottom cross section on the liquid polymer. The laser light causes the polymerto harden.Bylowe r i n g atable inthe vat of li qu i d polymer su c c ess iv e lay ers of theprototypepar t can be bui ltup unti l the entire part is created from the ha r dened polymer.
14 (Rehg , 1994,p , 15 6)
Systemseng ineering:The proce ssof identifyingan operational requirement, translatingthe statement of need into a seriesof parameters whichdescribe the str uctureand performanceof a system, and finally constructing and testing aus eful prototypeof the system fordeployment and user satisfaction. (Wenk er, 1987, p. 103)
TotalQua l i t y Management (TQM) : A philosophy and a set of guidingprinciplesthat represent the fo u nd a t i on of a continuously improving organization.It is theapplicat ionof quantitative methodsandhuman resourcesto imp ro v e all the processeswith i n an organization and exceed cu sto mer needs nowand in the future . (Besterfi eld, 1994 ,p. 443)
Organ; zatj0D Of th e St u dy
This study is organizedin the followingmanne r : Chapter 2 contains a reviewot therele v antli t e r a t u r e regardingprot o t yp i ng , intellect ua l pr ope r t y considerations ,
15 to t al qualitymanagement,computer integrated manufacturing , and concurrentengineeri ngpractises current l ybeing pr a c ti s e d .
Chapter 3 profil esthe methodologyusedinthe co nducting ofthi s study.
Chapter 4repo r t s andprov i de s a qua l itat i ve analys is of the res ult s of the data gatheredduringthest u dy.
Cha pter 5draw s conclusionsfrom the study and makes recommendationsfor futurestudy.
CHAPTER TWO
Reviewof Related Litera ture In trod u ctj p n
Research anddevelopment (R&D) can be consideredtobe a seriesof activitiesor stages. Schumpe ter(as citedin Braunste inet a L, , 1980) dividedthe process of researchand development int o stages whichwere identified as : invention, innovation,and diffusion(imitation). Scherer (citedin Br au ns t e i n et a1., 1980) suggestedthatmod e rn R&D activitiescanbenefitfr o m a further class i f icationof th e s e threestages intoinv e n t i o n , entrepreneu rship , investment, development., and diffus ion. The entrepreneurship stage occurs when a business person seeks out theinve nt o r' s ide a and starts thepr o c e s s of commercializa tion . Inve s t men t is thededicationofre s our c e s to impl e me nt the R&D process, and developmentis the activityre qui r ed to movethe innovation intothe realworl d.
The purpose of research is tore vealne wknowl ed ge ,but the purposeof design - productdi~signat least - is to creat enewproducts. Themeaningof development varies from sector to sect or,but normal lyhastodo with
17 product improvement. (Constable, 1994. p, 81l
BackgrQundto theStJldy
A recommendationbythe Study Group on Technicians and Technologists 11990) focuses on a plausiblescenario for the future development of Canada.They suggested:
.. . to prosper in the years ahead, Canada will have to successfully competein a knowledge-based, technology driven world. Our future economic survivalwi ll increasingly depend on our ability to develop and apply new forms of technology. as well as our capacity to provide goods and services that are research, information, and knowledge-intensive. Indeed science and technologyare emerging as an important basis of national comparative advantage. (p. 16)
As the above suggests, research and development activity is considered vital to the economy of Canada.
However, this vital activity is underemphasized by some Cana diancompanies.According to Canada'B Te c hnQ) Ogy IndllBtrieg ipthe 1990s, "suoceaefu.t technology companies
18 must maintai na strong researchand development (R&D) effort, work i ng con tinuallyto improvethe quality of thedr products, to speedup the i r de ve l opme nt processes and thei r distribu tionchannels" (1991, p. 1).
Ta b l e 1 showsa dr op of 0.5\in expe ndituresas a percentage of revenu es betwe en1988 and1990 in Canadian technology intensivecompanies. For start-up, sma ll, and medium-sizedcompanies, this trend is ominous. In the United States.however, overal l expenditureas a percentage of revenue onR&Dis expected to increase from 9. Stto 9.Btin fiveye ars .
R'-D Expend.i turelalla Percent ag eof Revenulls
Canada
CQIlIpanySize 198 8 1989 19 90
Small 13.2 12.8 11.2
Medium 5.' 5.1
. . .
..
" , . 5.' 5.' 5.'AllCompani es '.1
,., 5 .'
Source IErnst" Young/Hutc hisonRosearebCanadbnstudy
uni t ed Statel!
Company Size. CUrrent Infiv e yea rD
Dev el opi ng 20.8 13.9
Small 12.8 10.8
Mld-dze 10.:1
,.,
.. "' .
e.e. . ,
TopTier
' .3
, .aAllCompani es
' .5
,.aSource:Em s tr.YoungunitedSta tes study
Table1:Research and Develop me nt Expenditures (cana da 's Te c hn ologyIndust rie s inthe19 9 0 B, p. 11)
"
20 These small and medium-sized companies, as well as star t-upfirms, are challenged to become competitive onan international scale quicklydue tothe threat of increased global competitionthat is fuelledby advancing te c hnol og i e s. By quicklybecomingint e r na t i o n a lly competitive, these companies will nolo nger be dependenton a small local market for theirsurvival.
The same challengesthat face Canada as a result of the changing global economy also affect Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, a newvision forthi s Province'seconomy has beenart icubted in the documententitled~ Challenge.A Strategic BcoDpmic'Plan faT Newfqundland and
~ ,·Our economic vision for Newfoundland and Labrador is that of an enterprising,educated, distinctive and prosperous people working together to create a competitive economy based on innovation,creativity, productivity, and quality" (Gove r nmen t of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1992, p, 13 ).
In this document, the Provincial government recommends th a t the privatesector address the advantages of innovation
21 thr ough th e useof new te c hnol ogic a l dev e lop me n tan d adapta tion.The reportident ifiesprogramsto transfer technology th a t will bemade availableto the private eector
toenhancetheir competitivead van tage.
In pa rt ne r s hi p withthe Federal gov e r nme n t implement pr og r a ms tocommercializeand ma r ke t ne w techn ol og i es , productsand processes, and to encou r age qual ity en h a nceme n t , plant mod erniza tion and tr aining . (Gove r nme nt of Newfoundlandand Labrador, 1992, p.37)
The Provincialgovernment re c ommendsthat Memorial Unive rsityof Newfoundlandandtheother post- se co ndary institutions develop better links andpartnerships with the
private sector.Bydoingso. thelocal researchand development capabilities inherent in theseorganizationscan be utilized moreaggressively (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador,1992) .
The NationalResearch Council (NRC) inCa na d a is designed toplayakey role in enhancingmanufacturers' ability to competein the global economy .According to
22
Inkpen (199 3) . th e NRC supports 16 different in s t i tu te s, 11 based inOt t awaand there maind e r locatedacrossthe country , includi ngthe InstituteforMarineDynamics inSt.
John's, Newfoundland.TheIndustria l ResearchAssi stance Progranvne (IRAP )wa s establ i shedby the NRC in1964 to support and encourage appl i e d re s e a r c h and development. lRAPhasitsown presence in Ne wf ou ndl a nd through ten Ind ust r i a l Tech nology Advisor s (IT A's) whohe lpcompa n i e s identifyopportunities, solveprob lems, and identif y expertisein the co mmunitythat couldbe ta p pe d toadd r e s s su c h problemsandopportuni ties. Some of the s e ITA's are directlyemployedby th e NRC, while others are employeesof EnterpriseNewfoundla nd and Labrador. Inkpen (1 9 93 ) cites D.
Rideout, Regional Dire c t o r for IRAP in Newfoundlandand Labrador:
Last year,we had athree million dol br bUdget , of which, twomillionwa s allo c ate dto some 250 pro j e ct s in the Pro vi nc e.A largeporti on ofthismoneywas dispe ns ed through th e Co nt ribution Agre ement s tha t we have wit hvarious or g aniza tions, such astheCabot
23
College. Ip, 2)
The Officeof Ind ustrial Ass ist anceuse s the Co ntribut i o nAgr eeme ntfu nding as ameane toinitiate vari o u s pro jec teso that thereis nomonetarycost to clients atth eprelimi naryst a ges of a proj e ct.Beyond this preliminary stage , i fa projectis con s ideredfeasible, funding canbe soughtfrom vari ou s agenciessuchas IRAP and the Atla nticCanada Oppoz-t.undtLe uAge nc y (ACOA) and the clientis enc ourag ed tofund approxim at ely 25 \'of the cost. At the presentti me. the Officeof Indu strial As s is t a n c e has co mpletedapproximately20 projectstha t havecon t ribu t e d to th e economi c act ivity of the prov i n c e (D. Hea ke , personal communic a tion. Sept embe r. 1994).One proj ect inparticular was significant enoughto trigger andincreasethe staffing of a small company from3 to 10 people.
The goalsand object.ivesof theOf fice of Indust ria l Assistance are to , "Es t ab li shCabot College as a le ad ing edgeApp lied neeeercb Orga ni za tion offerin g a ful l complementof Indu stri alAs s i stanc e services" (Cabot Co ll ege of App liedArts,Te chnology ,andCont i nuing Ed u c at i o n , 1992,
24
p. 2). In order forth e Officeof IndustrialAssistanceto attainthis goal, all the elements related to a state ofthe artfull prototypingcapabilitymay need consideration.
Intellectua l Prqperty
One of the considerationst.hat mu s t be incorporated into the manageme ntstructureof a Provincial prototyping Centre is the protec tionof any form of intellectual propertyof the client.Thereare severa l te c h niqu e s that have beenutilizedto protect: such property. The s e are patents, copy right,trademarking, and ind u str i al design registration.Allof the s e techniqueshave hadtheir share of successes and fa ilu r e s.
when a fi rm comes up wi t ha valuableidea, it is attractiveto thosewho do not wish to duplicateth e originalresearch.Therefore, hi t c h i ng a fr ee ride on the original fir m' s re s e a r c h is apo s s i bil i tythatdegrades the Lnveetment;process. Th e end resul t of this practi seis that fi r ms ar eless wi ll i ng to ma ke the investment re quire d to evolve val u a ble ideas, regardlessof tht!!:ir be n efi t to
25
society.
A monopoly is conducive to research because it capturesall of the rewards from such research rather than havingto share the m with tho s e who did not participate in theorig i n at ion of the innovation .Theco nc e p t of
monop o lizedinnovation, however,may defeatit s intent.
Compani es that hav e anef fe c t ive monopoly will have l i t t le or no incentive to innovate. This lackof innovation leads to stagnation and lossof marketshare. Braunsteinet al.
(19 80 ) described thisphenomenonand postulated why a company shou l d take on the riskof further resear chwhen they have a safe market monopoly and profits.Additional research into the innovationmay disc overcheaper and easier ways to producetheinn o v a tio n which would make the entry of rivals evenmo r e possible . On l y competi t ivepressures, it seems, ca n force inno v a t i on upon an industry.with competition, a companymust innovateor risk beingnon- comp e t itive in its own market. According toKamien and Schwartz (cited in Braunstein et aI.,1980 ), a new empiricallyinspired hypothesis has emerged to explain that
2.
a marketstructu reintermedi a t ebetweenmonopol y andperfe c t competitionwouldpromotet.he highestrate of inven tive ac t i v ity.
The pat ent sys tem wasdevel o ped to circumve nt thi s free -rider pr o b lem ass ociatedwith R&D. Essenti ally, a mono po l yin the form of exclusive ri g htsoverth efinanc ial benefitsof the innovationis awardedto the Innova tox for the lifeof the pate nt in thehop eofelinli na t i ng the fre e- riderpr o bl C!!m.An ad di t i ona l purpose of the patent syste m is to pro v i dediscl osure of ne w invent ions.Pa tented idea~aremade availab l e tothe publ i cthro ug h offic e s suc h asthe Of fice of Ind u st ri a l Assis t a nc e at the Cabot Coll eg e whichserves as a patentin t e rmedi a ryfor clients.Th is offi c eis alsoca pa b l e of perform ingpate nt innova t ion searc hesfor it s clien t s.
zahra, Nash. an d Bi c kf ord (1 99 4 )stat ethatcompa nies con t i nu e to apply forpatents in reco rdnumbers or to ask cour t s to protect th e ir patents. Evenso ,patents offe r poor protectionof a pioneer'stechnology. Inasurvey of ~50 man agers in130 indus t rie s, Zahraet a'l, (1994) found that
27 of the differentapproaches that companies mightuse to protect their inte l l e c t u a l property (e.g .• patents, trade secrets, and copyrights). these executives rated patents as thele a st effective form of protection.Patents le a ke dvi t a l informationtocompetito rs. Patentscan, howeve r ,be a source of revenue thr oug hthe process of licens ing.
The software industryis also plaguedwith violations ofcopy r i g ht. Several of the largete c hnolog i c al pioneersin thesoftwareindustryarecurrentlyembroiled intidAdebate overintellec tual propertypr ot e c tion (Zahra et al., 1994 ). Perhaps the best formof protectionfortechnological pioneeringis the technologyitself.The moreproprietary features that are incorporatedinto the innovation, the more diffi c u l t it is forrivals to reverse engineer or copy i t.
In the medical devi ce industry, accordi ng to Harris&
Associa tes (1982), a survey of medical devicemanu factu rers documentedanextrao rdi narylevel of innov a tive activity.
Nearly half (45\ )of the establishmentsreport tha t the i r establishmentshavein t r od uc e d a reall ynew medical deviceproduc t since197 2tha t wouldgenerally
2B be considereda I:li gnificant innovat ion in the fi e l d.
Thisis a profileof an industry wh e r e innovationis the norm rather than the exception. {p , 10 6) Newproduct introduction,according to Harris&Associates
(1982) , maybe a better measureof inno vat ionthanpatent awards in the medical device sector.Th i s is dueto the tim e, costs and staffingrequirements necessa r yto pursue patent ac t i v i ty which may discourage smaller companiesfrom applyingfor patents.
.TQ.t..a.l...lalityMa n age me n t
On average.American productscost too muchto design, develop,and bui ld.Onavera ge , Americangoods have also la gge d in qua lity- firstin qualityof man u fa c t ur e (conformanceto designspeci f ications). mor e recent ly in qual i t y of design (f u nc ti ona l performanceandcus t o mer appeal) . (Alic, J.A., 1993 , 359-360)
Growi ng trade and fina ncial deficitsfaced North American firms aft e r the economic rec e s sion of the early
as 1980 ' s. Kana(1 9 9 3)stated thatthissituationmotivatedtop managementinseveral leadingcompa n i e s in Americato play an importantrolein leadingthe quality movement..As a result, ma nagemen t. commi tme ntto qua li t y became a re quirementfor survivalinthe midstof world-class compet ition .Qualitybegantoemerge as a key management focuswhichha s influencednear lyevery indus try asse rts Eas ton (199 3).Accordingto Belohlav (1993)quality became a tangible con ce p t. tha t ensures th e deliveryof value as cu s tomers ne e d s ch an g e ; anda mechanismtomobi l i ze and mainta inthe in t ensityof individual actio n.
Cr e a t i o n ofthe Malc olmBaldrigeNationalQualityAward byCongres s in 1987 contributed toth e national vi s i b i lit y of qua l i ty managementand thus to the momentum of the U.S.qualitymanagement movement.
(Easto n, p, 32)
Th i s typ e ofor g a n i zation a l milieu or corporateculture can be developedby a te chn i que called TotalQualit y Ma nage men t. TQM, according to 8esterfield (1994), is both a philosop hy anda se t of guidingpr i n ciplesthat outlinesthe
ao found ation ofa continuouslyimproving(Jrganizat ion.TQMis qua l i t ydri ve n and, most importantly, oriented towards meetingor exce edingcu stomer sa tisfact ion. Theke y to an effe ctiveTQMprog ram is tha t th ewho l e en terprisemus t foc u s onthe customer.
Th e TOM movement hasits roots inthe conceptof the TheoryZorganization po s t ula t edbyOUch! (19S 1). OUch!
stated th a t Theory Zcompanies:
.. . havethe objective of develo pingtheabi l ityof the organization to coordinatepe ople , not tech no logy, to achieveproductivity. In part, thisin v o l v e s developing pe op l e' s skills, but inpa r t it also involvesthe creationof newst ructures, incentives,anda new philosophyof managament. (p. 83)
Accord ingtoMa r t i n Starr (1988). "improving the quality of such customerintegratedproces s becomesthe tool to assur ecustomer satisfaction and to ampl i fy the custome r'srole as a dri ving force of the enterp r ise" (p. 142). Emerging high -techno logycompaniesthatcou l dut i li ze the resourcesof a Provincia l Prototyping Ce nt r e woul dbe
31 faced withthe challengeofobt a i ni nglo ng- t e r msus t a i nabl e successor in otherwords becoming a viable business.Price ,. Chen (1993) state tha t TQMsetsthe founda tion for thetwo critica lsuccessfact o rs f.or such companies : ra pid time- t o- market and productdifferentiation .TOM adoptionhasbeco me an essentialingredient in encouragingcreativity, ini t i at iv e, and ensu r i ng that theor ga n i zat i o n canreac t quicklyto cha n ge.
ATQ!<1organization se e ks 1:0cont i nu a lly improveupon thequa li t yof its productsand/orproceases. In the context ofTQM,qualityhasapre c ise meaningand is definedbythe In te r nat i onalStandards Or g anizat i on (ISO 8402 - 1986: Qua lity-Voc abu l a ry) as:
The totality offeaturesand characteristi csof a productorse rv i c e that bear on itsltbi lit y to satisfy st a ted orimplie d needs.(cit r.-d inSt eb b ing , 1989,p. 11
Additionally,therearemanystanda rds associatedwith the conceptof quaLi.ty andqua l i t y assurance ,whic hare often us e d synonymously wit hTQM.
32
Fina l ly, the TQM approach invo l ves theworker as the method for continuouslyimp rov i ng.Custome:t:s kn owwhat they want , but the empl oyees of t e n knowhow to deliveri t.Ea s t on
(19 9 3 )sta testh a t theremust be widespread empj.cyee involvemen t inquality improv ementte a ms.
The tr e ndof seeking contdnur ua imp rove men t impl ies thatthe orga n i za t i on must continuouslyresp ondto intent ionalchangesas well as adjustingtoth e unexpected
con s equ e ncesof predictablechan g e s.The r e f o r e , fle x ibi l i t y within an organization is not onl yde s i r a ble but alsoa necessity . Flexibility,accordingto Bahram! (19 93 ) . isCi
mul tidimensionalconceptthat demandsagilityand versatil~it)lthat isassocietedwi t h innov a t i o n. change ,and nov e lty. It is alsocoupledwith robustnessand resili ence implyj ng st ab il ity , sustainable:. advantage, and capabilities that rna?;.·evolve overtime. Cont i nuo us improvement concepts mustfocus on the or!!.;,nizationas a whole, and onproviding {le:Kibility allowingwo r ke r s,at all le v e l s , to suggestand ac t onimp ro ve me n t s to thework flo wof the organization.
TotalQualityManagement is , therefore , a technique
33 that focuses on meeting or exceeding customerexpectations by involving thewo r kforc e in continually improvingthe way work is performedwit hin the organization.Much of the TQM movement is based ontoo l s and techniquesdeveloped by Japanese qualitymanagement over the past fortyyears, such as statistical process control, Taguchimethods, and quality function deployment.
8elohlav (U93) noted that as quality increases, costs will go down because people, floor space, andre s o u r c e s used for finding and fixing things, whichshould have been done right the first time,are no longer required.Motor~la (as cited in Belohlav,1993) noted that an average organization tends to operate in a 4 sigma range (a method of classifying error or defect rates)or about 6210 defects per mil lion parts, while a 6 sig:na organization creates only about 3.-4 defects per million parts. "Motorola' a experience has also shown that a -4sigm..1 manufacturer will spend in excess of 10\ cf the sales dollar on internal and external repair. A 6 sigma manufacturer will spend less than 1\" (Belohlav, 1993).Quality, therefore , reducescoat.
34 MacCormack,Newman, and Rosenfield (1994), cite a 1990 surv e y of senior manage rs in260Americanhighte c hn ol ogy fi rms thatindicatedthat 22\ha d TQM programs in all man u f a cturing areas. This indicates tha t thele a ders inhigh technology innovationvalue the contribu tionand effectiveness of theto t al qualitymanagement philosop hy.
~ntEn gi neeri n g
Pr oduc t cos t is highlydependent uponthe design decis ionmade atanearlyst a ge of apr od uc t li f e cyc l e.
For instance, theau t o mob ile h'dus triesreportedthat althoughonly about 5\ of thet; ...',cost of an automobileis spent on the design activity itself ,the de sign decision determinesabout70%of the total productcost . (Oh" Park, 1994 , p,279) It becomes nec essary,according toCr e a s e and Moore (a s cit ed in oh&Pa r k , H94) toemp loy aphilosop hy for imprOVing quality, reducing costs, and re du cing the lead ti me fro mpr o d uct concep tion topr oduc t developmentfor new produ c ts as we ll as pr oduct modifications. Bythelate
35 1970' S, Alic (1 993) stated that Xerox Corporation discovered that its manufacturing costs were 50\ or higher than its competitors from Japan.Xerox traced about half of its cost disadvantages to product design, noting that its overseas rivals could design a new copier and getit in t o production in12-18months, comparedto 24-36months forXerox.
The conceptof continuous improvement hasle d to the development of a new engineering management technique termed concurrent engineering. This is a cor-t Lnuoua design improvement process that allows organizationsto reduce time-t o-marketand to improve both design and product quality while improving company profitability and competitiveness (Turino. 1992).Customer satisfaction can also increase through the adoption of concurrent engineering practises.
Concurrentengineering is the direct involvement of all parts of an organization into the conceptualization, specification, development, manufacturing and support of new products. Successful new product development is not longer the sale responsibilityof the R&D
36
department , but isth e combinationof the efforts, teamworkand cooperation of theentire organizat ion .
IShina, un, p. 2)
Alic (1993 )postulates thatrein teg r a t i n g de s ign and
productionis partlya matterof management,partlya mat t.er of pure l y technics.l tools an dtechniques.The class ical approach to the productdevelopmen tprocess 10 shownin Fi g ure1.
37
Des ignsTos sedOve,'he PrOYlrbIBI"Br lck WaU" 1
Figure1.Clas sicalDesignAp:,roach (Tur i no, 1992 ,p. 4)
The R&D department (asshown in Figu r e 1)was separated from the other department swho mightbe keenlyant.creeeedin providinginput to thedesign process. Product designswe r e developedin isolationby engineers whodidno t re c eiv e input from othergroups . The completed de s i g n with ful l y detai ledengineeringdrawingswaspassedovertothe production engineersin manufacturingwho then developed the productionsyste msinisolation .Eventually, thissection passed the completed production informationto the shop
3.
floorshort lybeforethe onsetof productionactivity. Those groups responsiblefor documentation and servicing strategiesoft e n werenot involvedin the product deve l o p ment processuntilit left the factor'/. Disposal of the e-roduct; in a way thatwouLd notharm the environment after a usefullifewas rarelycons i d e r ed.
Th e problemwiththi s app roachisthat the further along the pathwayto productionthat a faultoccurs, or ano the r it eration is needed, the more costlywill be the necessary re-work. In a concur rentengineeringenvironment, itis theresponsi b ilityof everyone withi nthe organizati on to ensure maximumefficiency , economy, and quali ty throughout the stages of product innovation.development, marketing,and disposal (Turino, 1992 ) .
Theconcurrent engineeringprocess, as elucidatedby Turino (1992), cons i s t s of five activities:
1. Design for performance (OFP ) - ensures that al l us e ful functions tha t arecustomer- requiredare implemented ;that the producthaa met or surpassed all reliability goals; that safety and ergonomic
"
issues have beenaddreased; and that the prod uct performs as specified.
2. Design for manufac turabilit y (OFM) - ensures th a t the product ut ilizes a minimumnumber of standard parts.This facilitateserror-f reeassemblyas well as fi t t i ng the product designint o the proc ess th a t wi l lpe r f o rm assembly.
3. Design for testability (OFT) . ensures tha t al l possibl e faults that canoccurin a product are te ste d for duringmanufacturingand alsoduri n g the product'sus e f u l life in a timely and ef f icient manner.
4. De signfor serviceabil ity (CFS)- ensuresthat the produc t can be servicedand maintainedin<lmanner thatis efficientand effective . Di agnostic software , built-in tests, re mot e diagno sticsas wel l as parti t ioningdesignsinto modularsections areexampl es of techniquesthat aid in th i s pr o c e s s. Althoug h such itemsmay infla tedesign cos t initi ally, they se rv e toredu c e overall
busir.ess coststh rough o ut the product's useful life.
5. Design forcompl ia nce (DFC) - ensures that all re gu latoryrequi r e ments aremet in thos e areas wherethe devicewill bemarketed as wellas planningfo r compliancewithetllE!rgingregula tio n s . Thi s requiresexpertise in the regulations developedbyvarious standards-produci ng organizationsthroughoutthe world such as the CSA. UnderwritersLaboratory.and the Inte r nat i onal St andard s organization.
Byco mbi n i ng al loftheabcve-nentIcned five points. a model of the concurrenteng i neer i ng processcanbe developed.ThislllOde l is showin Figu re 2. Thi s model cen beilllplemented manua lly orwi th CAE toole.ThelllOde l is not meanttobeca pit al int ens i v e , rather, it ~gcOlllllUl1ications in tensive .Everyonein the organization!lUst betra i nedin the concu rre nt enginee ring doctrine ,the ymus t speak the sa me language and sha re agreed uponcommon go al s, NewCAE and netwo rki ng toolscansimplify the change to a concur rent
41
engineeringenv ironme n t , but are not necessary to implement this cross-functional , teams-orientedapproachto product design engineering.
Figure 2: Concurrent En g i ne e ri ng Model (Turino, p,69).
Individualsusingconcurrentengineering principlesin pr od u c t designgive consideration to the totalityof the prod uctfrominnovationtodi s pos al . This includesdesign relatedcustomerneeds, quality, and overallbusiness costs.
42
It also requires thatthe expertiseofthe design engineer be multi~funct ional and promotesthe useof teams . Bahrami
(1993)sta t e s :
...teams are in tr i n s i c all y flexible; theycan be formed, reformed, and disbande dwith relat ive ease;
theycan bypassth e traditional hierarchy; and their composition canevol v e over time in orde r toblend different skillsto address changing priorit ies. (p. 25 1
A changeto a concurrent engineering process, Berardinis (19 94 ) suggests, inv o lvestheadaptationof new tools,newtechnology and a newdeve lopment process.Ol der CAD/CAMtools pr omo t e d sequential product development;wh il e a more streamlineddevelopmentprocess involvesautomated design and manufacturingtools that promote concu rrent engineeringand rapid design ite rations.A method for ensuringthat all of the design effortsare collaborative and focused onsati s fyi ngcustomers' re quire me nt s (Le.
impl emen tingthe CE philosophy) is termed qualityfunction deployment (QFD).Ac c o r d i ng to Jackson and Frigon (1994),
43 QFDut.ilizesa seriesof management and planning to o l s to identify and prioriti ze customer re qu i r e me nt s , and to tra nslate the s e requirementsinto engineering requ irements for product development and/or improvement.QFDassures tha t the CE philosophyresultsin an increasedre s pon sive ne s s to customer needs, shortenedproduct designtimes and li t t l e or no ~edesign.
Aneconomicanal ysis wh i c h reflectedsome of the benefitsof concurrentengineering was performed by Oh and Pa r k (1994).Remarkable improvementsin operating performances we r e observed, includingconsiderablereduction in defect rates, notab ledeclines in throughputtimes and improved z-eapons Lveneaeand quality.
ComputerIn t egr a t e d MaDufactlJ.I:ing
Product life cycles are rapidlydecliningandcustomers inc rea singly prefe r customized ra t her thangenericpr od uc t s assert Mac."a z mac k,Newman, and Rosenfie l d (1994). Inorde r to providemanufacturableprototypes of high qualityto customers, there is a needfo r advanced ma nufa ctur ing
44 capab dLdtLe u,Dean&Snell (1 991 ) stateth a t advanced manufactur ingte c h nolo gyinclud e s suchco mpu t e r- ba s e d te c hn o log i e s as computer-aideddesign, engineering and manufacturing (CAD, CAE, CAM).The potent ial forintegration is a key characteristicof advanced manufac tur ing te chnology.
Advancedmanufac turingtechnologyprovides theme a ns for the computeri zedin t e gra tion of previou~lydistinct stages.Forexamp le ,Ltformationabout; a particu lar partcollec tedatone stage of a process ma ybe fe d fo r ward to a laterstageto adjust howthe partis tr e a t e d atth a t stage. (Bo ddy &Buchanancited inDea n
&Snel l,1991)
A subset of advanced manufac turi ngtechnologyis flexiblemanufacturingsystems (FMS). FMS integrates comp ut er-c o n t r olle d toolsan dma t e r i a l handli n g sys tems with a centralizedmonitoringand scheduling fun c t i on. Whe ne ver the nature of product demand requires differentiation, FMS of f er si g nificantadvantagesoverother manufa c turin g methods. "InEurope, the establishedbase has gr own at
45
around 33 percent annually . Inth e UnitedStatesand~Tapi'\n, diffusionhas been even faster; thenumber of installed FMS's appears to be do ubl i ng everytwo years" (Ma c Co rmac k, Newman, &Rosenfiel d, 1994 , p, 72).
Elango&Meinhart (1994) assert thattheimpleme ntat i on of anFMS increases the chances of product differeatiation, marke t segmentation, and re d uc e s product life cycles.
Enhanced entry p:>tential inother industries wh e r e similar products areproducedis alsoanadvantage of the implementation of an FMS.
Costs, quality, and fle xib ility depend onwo r k orga nization, traini ng, and managementaswe l lason product design andthe equipmentfound on the fa cto ryfloor.Al ie (1993) assertsthat managementbearsthe respons ibilityfor the linkages between softwareand hardwarethat determine h?w wel l a firm util izestheski l lsof itsemployees.
Anillust rationof the integ rationof theto t al manufacturing enterprisewithnewmanagerial ph iloso phies that improve organizational and pe r s onne l effic iency is showninFigure 3.Sobczak,as cited inRe hg (1994 ) . st ates
..
loba t thisfigurewas developed bytheComputerand Automati onSyste msAssociation of the SOCie t y of Manufac turi ng Engineersin 1984an d is referredto as the elM wh e e l.Manufacturersseekingtoimprove in one area of thecr x wheel often de90at the expense of otherareae.An islandof automationmay exist. but the overallproduct ivity of the ente rprisemay slip. All aep e c e e of the el M whe el must. beattended to in order toboo s t product i vity.
The elMwheel usesa se t of nestedci r cle s to describe th e computer integratedmanufacturingproc e s s. Th e outer circlewhic h is co mpo s ed of th e four segments of marketing . strategicple,mi ng. financeand manu fa c turi n g
management / humanresource managementrepresents the general businessaspects of the enterprise.The midd le circlewhi ch is made up of the threeprocesssegments of prodL::t and proc e s s def i n it i t:>n . manufacturing pl a nning and control, and factory automationtakes ther.:oncept from innova tionth rough to comple ted merc hand is e. Finally. the inne r circleconsis ts of twoseg me n t s (c ommo n databaseand informat ion res ourc e manage ment and communications) that describethe
47 inf r a st ru c t ure and resourcesre quired to supportthe activitiesof theout e r layersof themodel.
Figure 3: elM Wheel (Re hg , p. 17) .
One ofthe new developments in CAD/ CAMsystems is the
48 emergingtec h n o l ogy of three dimensional printingthat allows de sign engineers to scul p t an object on their compute r screensutilizing CAD techniques andthe n,mi nu t e s later, hold a plastic, ceramic , or pape r versionof that shape in theirhands.This process of solid modellingis te rme d rapid prototyping.Whee le r (19 9 2) statesthat this te c hn i qu e can shortenthe time between the product' s conception toits executionontih efa c t o ry floor. Rapid prototypingal lowsengineers, designers, sales personnel, technical publication wr i t e r s , and clients to check form, fi t ,andfunctionin a matter of hours.All of the systems cur rent lyavailable such as SLS, FDM, LaM,and STLarebased ontheide atha t thre e - d i me ns i o n al objects can be built up la y e r by layer. The differenceis in the waythela ye r s are built up.
As the rapidprototyping concept increases its capabilityto generate more complex shapes, the soft ware requiredto support such activitieshas alsohad to increase incomplexity.
Standard comput e r programs and "'slicing ' algorithms ,
..
which break down graphic re p r e s e n t a t i o n s of ",bject.s intola y ers, have been devisedto helpease the conversionof ehape a describedin three-dimensional softwaretoHn dshed objects. Increasingly, tho s e who wr itegraphicsprograms are also plann ingfor th r e e- di me n sion a l output. (Wheeler, 1992, p. Al Rapidprototyping, states cassista (cited inWood, 19 91 ). isonly a smallpart of the possibilities of sol id - object modelling. Due to thevolumetric informationit supplies. one can do toleranceanalyses, evaluatewhat-if scenarios for manufactur ing,or trydi f f ere n t materials beforemakingthe part.Wood (199 1) contends that the r e are over40 CADpackages availablethat support the
stereolithographyformat of rapid prototyplng.
Asuccessful CIM implementation ,according to Rehg (1994). must follow a threestep process:
1. assessmentof the enterprise in thethr eeareasof technology, human resources. and systems. 2. simplification - elimination of wa s t e ; 3. implementationwi t h performancemeasure s.
50
Although the elM wheel concept is baseduponmanufacturi ng indust ry requirements ,theob j e c t i veof the Provincial pro totypi ngCentre wou l d be to delivertothe cu stomera satisfactorymanufacturableproto type.
Rehg (1 994) cl a s s ifie s the manufacturingprocessinto fivegroup s :
1. Proje c tl Productsin thiscategoryarelarge, complex ,andmost of t e nar eone of a kindsuch as cr u i s e ships, passengerairc ra ft, or large office buildings.
2. Job sh opI Thi s ca t e go ry produceslow volume products.Distinguishing features of jo b shop productsLncLuder less than 20 percent repeat production onthe same part, and raw material is us u a lly purchased against an order and not kept in stock.
3. Re p e t i ti veIOrders for repeat business usual ly ceecb100percent and contractswithcustomers for multi-yearsoccur fr equentlyin this group. Automotivesubcontractors are examplesof this
51
category.
4. Li ne: Theline ma nu f a c t u ri ngsys t e m canbe identifiedbyava r i ety of optionsormode l s existingwithin the productline and a Bupplyof subassembliesusually being stocked. Ca r and truck manufacturers utilize this strategy.
5. ContinU01,l BIThe followingcharacteri s tics distinguishthiscategory:manufacturinglead time is greaterthan thele a d timestated to the customer; product demand is predictable;product inv entor yis maintained,vo lume is high ;and there are few opt ions fo r the product.The productionof chemicaland petroleum products are examples of this type.
Manufacturers woul d normallyemploya mixture of one or more of these fivete c hn i qu e s. Rarelywoulda manufacture r have only one systemut il ize d on the factory floo r.By uaing a mixtureof systems,the manufacture rcan best sui t the assembly process to the special requirementsdictatedby that specificproduct.
Oncea manufact\o<ring systemis decide dupon , the or g a ni za t ion has achoiceof threedifferent approaches to plant layout: fixed position, pro c ess , and productflow.
Figure 4showseachof these plant layouts.
8~
~ I -1 -1-1 -- 1
LJ -I-I - I ":'~
-L.
~ DODD 0
- p 0 0
0'0
0 0=
DO 0 0Fi gure4:Produ c tionProcess Layouts (Rehg, p. 27 ) .
Themanufactur ing systemthat best describesthe 52
53 production of manufacturable prototypes would be the job shop category. This category would utilize the process layout shown in Figure-4, section (hi. Parts wou ldbe moved or routed between fixed production work cells for the purpose of producing the manufacturable prototype.
The selectionof the manufacturing system or systems and the plant layout influences the choice of automation equipment and CAD/CAE/CAMsoftware that the product development process would require. Therefore, the choice of the specific way thatthe product will be assembled should be made prior to the selection of computer systems and automation software that will run onthese computer platforms.
The majority of product design departments have enthusiastically embraced the use of new CAD!CAE technologiesthat eliminate a variety of tedious tasks in the design process.One such example of this type of emerging technology is an integrated solid modeller software package called I-DEAS that was developed by Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (Solomon, 1994).The I-DEAS
54 softwa re , whe n utilizedinaconcurre nt engine eri ng envi ronment ,can help the conc u rren t team determ ine alte rna tiv e wa ys of defi n i ngpac ka g i ng volumes,
manufa c t ur ingtechniques , andassemblyme thod spriorto the rap idprototypl ng imp l emen t a t i o n.
For example, Fi g g ! e Medical Systems ut i l i z e sI- DEAS to improve uponthe design of a prosthetic hip. Figg!eMe d i c a l System engineersutilizetheI-DEAS modelli ng so f t wa r e to custom fit hipprosthesesfor the speci ficana t o mi c al bone structureofeach patie nt.A Co mputerizedAxi alTomography sca nis taken of thepatien t's hi p re quiringreplace ment.
Bo nedensit ies andtissue info rma tionis downlc.adedtothe computerplatfo rmthat cont ai nC" the I-DEASsoftware und a solidmodel of a made-to-me a s u r e hipcanbeproduced in hours . Suchnewso ftwaretec hn ology canalsobe util i ze dto visual izeand model elec t rome d i c a l equi pmenttha t requires implantationinto the human body. Theseimpl a nta b l e elect rome dicaldevices requirespecializedpackag ingin unusualsha pe s inorde r to be implantedunobtrusivelyinto the body .
55 This, ho we v e r , is onlyone sectioninvolvedin the complete product developmentprocess. The utilization of CAn/CAEsystems is one sta ge in the path to enhance enterprise-wide productivity .The computer systems that support the CAD/CAEsoftware systems must alsobe fully comp a t i b l e with al l automated departments of the organizationotherwise significanttime may be wasted by transferring co mput e r software files from one department to another.
For example,the design department mayutilize one type of software tor their CAn/CAEprocesses, but the production floor may utilizeanother softwarepackage for the computerized numerical control (CNC) millingmachines. I f these software packages are incompatible. software daveLoped by a thirdpartymay be required to transfer detaileddesign specificationsfrom the design department tothe CNC machine.This third party vendor software can often provide the requiredinterface betweencomputer systems, but may not be fullycapableof integratingall of the required features of the originat ingsoftware.
56 With the advent of the single mas t e r model concept (Sol o mon , 1994), whi c h is supported by fully integ rated Boftwaresystems, allmembers of the concurrentengineering team can utilizethe same computer generateu model fo r a varietyof purposes.The master model would be available to the R&Ddepartmentfor furthe r design modif icat ions, as well as tothe productionengineering department, so that they couldview a profi leof the model and determinefrom that viewfurther requ irementsnecessary for theproduction process.In fact, all those whomay be involved in the product implementationprocess would have access to the master model. Changes to thema s t er modelma de by anyonein the organiza t ionare automaticallyupdated andro ut ed to other userswi t h in the organization.
The r e is a dangerinvol v e d in themaster model approach.Th e fact thatcurrent software allows changesto the master model by anyone in theorganizationwit h access to the computersystem, means that the person who makesthe la s t changewin s. Ifthe s e changes a.r'e not anticipated, key featuresof theproduct i o n processthat shouldalsobe
"
cha ngedto accommodate suc h cha ngestothe model ma ynotbe antici pated. This coul d cause si gn if icant was t e of time re - too lin g on the shop flo o r.Aconcurrentengi neeri n gprocess minimizes this risk.
onlyone teammember makes changes at a time. andonly whe n aut horized. At the same time, the mastermodel can continue to undergo re f ine me nt .As ne w version s are creaced, team members work i ngwiththe pre v i o u s version arenotified andca n choose to automatically update theirwo r k. (Solomon,p. 36)
Newly developedCAD software al lows modelling and mathematical analysistha~.utilizes embedded exper t systems.
These on-lineexpe r tsor simulatedadvisorsare capable of providing advi ce to designeng i nee rs on the bestpr ac t i s e for analysis.Anotherhelpfulfe atur eof thes enew soft ware systemsis optimization.
Optimization gi ve s de s ign e r s anot heradv anced ana lyti cal tool.When provi ded with constrai ntsand alterableconditions, the softwarehel psen gineer s modify designsto satisf y criteria such as least
5'
weight, minimumstress,or maximumstif fness. (Solomon, p. 36)
Conceptual Model for a ProtQt ypln g Centre Building a proto type to visua lizea design in three-dimensionsis an age old practise.Engineersand designerscan use the prototype to evaluateoperational features priortoth e start of produc tion. Changes to the designare much cheaperand easierto accomplishwi tha model ratherthan du ring pr oduc t i o n. Due to the ever inc r e a s i ng complexity of plast ic injection-moldedparts in new products, the prototypingprocess is becomingeven more difficult,expensive. and time consuming.Prototypingis, therefore,a criti cal aspectof the design and development process.Vivien maintains that the rearenormally four stagesinvol ve d in the prototyping process: pr oof- o f-c o nc e pt,pre-production model,prod u c t i on proto type, and finallythemanufacturableprototype (R.
Vivien, persona lcommunication,September, 19941.These stages in the proto typing pr oc e s s often involvemany
5.
iterations. When newfactors areinvolvedin anengi ne e r e d design, then iteration is both normaland desirable throughoutthede s i gn process. If, however ,as Love (UBa) elucidates, thesenew factors are not taken into account early in the design life cycle, the impact cou ldbe significantandcost factors couldincrease. If the designersdid not consider manufacturabilityin thei r design. there is a possibilityof unforeseen pr oblems occurringdur ingassembly, testing,and using. The cost of correcting such problemslate in the productdevelopment process, by redesigning for manufacturability , testability, and serviceabi l i tywil l be signi ficant.
Util i zingrapidprototyping techniques l in ked with ComputerAide d Design and ComputerAi de d Engineering.and employing thema nage me n t techniques of concurrent engineering, and total qual itymanagementwit hinthe fr a mework ofcomput e r integrated manufacturing,a Provincial prototypingCen t re could be developed.Thi s protot yping centrewouldbe a significantfocal poin t capable of developingstate-of- t he-art manufactu rab le pr o t ot yp e swh i l e
60
red u c ing t ime-t o-mar ket. for client innova tions. The pr o t o t ypi ng centre conc ept woul dfo llowthe lIIOdel shown in Figure S.
COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING
Figure5:Prot otypingCentre Mod e l. Thefocusofthis model is to deliver quality manufacturableprotot ypesby reducingthe number of de s i gn it era t i on s throughadva n ced simulationtechniques, thereby reducingboth productdeve lopment costs forNewfo undlandand
