Towards Achieving Agility in Web-based Virtual Enterprises: A Decision-centric Approach

Virtual enterprises are groups of loosely connected companies, eachproviding certain core competencies and working collaboratively towardsachieving a common objective. Agility of a web-based virtual enterprise refersto its capability to successfully and rapidly adapt to changes in its operatingenvironment. Although, agility has been addressed in the literature with regardto manufacturing processes and product requirements, design processes havenot been leveraged to address agility in web-based virtual enterprises. In thispaper, we present a strategy that involves (1) designing the design processesalong with products, (2) flexibility in the interfaces between different parts of avirtual enterprise, (3) standardisation and (4) integrated modelling of processesassociated with all elements of a value chain. We propose a domainindependent decision-centric framework for modelling the value chainprocesses. It allows a variety of stakeholders to structure, organise and modelprocesses using a common framework. It also balances the need for flexibilityof interfaces and the standardisation of information from individualstakeholders, thereby providing adaptability to changes in the web-basedvirtual enterprise

A GENERAL DECISION-MAKING METHOD FOR THE RAPID MANUFACTURING OF CUSTOMIZED PARTS

ABSTRACT In this paper we propose a general method for making process parameter decisions in the development of a rapid manufacturing system. Given a level of demand, the designer can use our method to select the appropriate type of rapid prototyping machine, the number of machines, the batch size, and other process parameters (layer thickness, road width, etc.) in order to achieve an ideal cost, throughput, and quality. We illustrate our method through the application of Stratasys' Fused Deposition Modeling technology to rapidly manufacture customized hearing aid shells. We close with a look ahead to a larger problem: the use of our method to select the proper rapid prototyping technology for use in rapid manufacturing

Fostering Collaborative Learning and Educational Mass Customization in a Graduate Level Engineering Design Course

The rapid progress of globalization has lead to many unprecedented changes in the world in whichour students will practice. New product development paradigms such as mass collaboration areredefining the way in which products are realized. The authors believe that in the light of thesechanges, new approaches to educating the next generation of engineers are needed. Towards thisgoal, the authors present a pedagogical approach to allow students to experience mass collaborationand to improve their understanding of emerging trends in product development. The approachis designed to foster collective learning and to apply mass customization in education. It ispresented in the context of a graduate engineering design courseÐ`Designing Open EngineeringSystems'. Two of the main features of the approach are: (1) providing the students with theopportunity to define their own learning goals, and (2) posing a broad question to which thestudents are required to develop an answer by the end of the semester. All activities of the course are geared towards answering this questionÐboth individually and collectively. Collective learning isfacilitated through semester-long continuous development of a collaborative answer to the Q4S bythe entire class. Mass customization of education is achieved by having students define theirpersonal semester goals as well as personalizing their answer to the Q4S. A web-based collaborativelearning framework is developed for this course using social networking tools to facilitatecommunication, and to simulate a mass collaborative environment. The authors believe that suchpedagogical approaches are essential for developing a foundation for next generation educationalenvironments

Strategic Design of Engineering Education for the Flat World

We believe that two critical success factors for an engineer in the flat world are an ability to adapt to changes and to be able to work at the interface of different disciplines. Instead of educating traditional domain-specific and analysis-orientated engineers, we believe that the focus should be on educating and graduating strategic engineers who can realize complex systems for changing markets in a collaborative, globally distributed environment. We identify three key drivers that we believe are foundational to future engineering design education programs. These drivers are a) emphasis on strategic engineering, b) mass customization of courses, c) utilization of IT-enabled environments for distributed education. Strategic engineering is a field that relates to the design and creation of complex systems that are adaptable to changes. Mass customization of courses refers to adapting the course material to educational goals and learning styles of different students. IT enabled environments bring distributed students and instructors closer in the form of a virtual classroom

Network-based modeling and analysis in design

In the last two decades, network science has emerged as a vibrant interdisciplinary field and has affected our understanding in many domains, including biology, physics, computer science, economics, and social sciences. One might claim that networks are now considered as a common metaphor to describe various aspects of our social and economic lives, as well as many new technologies of the last decade. Despite its success, applications of network science have, to a large extent, focused on understanding various mechanisms related to complex systems, and to a lesser extent on using this understanding as an engineering tool. As network science is coming of age, and as engineering systems are becoming more complex, it is an appropriate time to highlight network-based modeling and analysis as an important area in design research. It is in light of such a need that we introduce this Thematic Collection

Innovative Design Education in a Global Distance Learning Setting

A lot has been written about how much the world has changed since the advent of Globalization and that engineering education, in response to that needs to be addressed from a more holistic point of view. In this paper, we present an innovative approach to design education that represents a transformation from traditional in-class education to a globally distributed collaborative distance learning setting that mirrors real-world design experience