The communication bottleneck in knitwear design: Analysis and computing solutions

Communication between different members of a designteam often poses difficulties. This paper reports onthe results of a detailed empirical study ofcommunication in over twenty British, German andItalian knitwear companies. The knitwear designprocess is shared by the designers, who plan thevisual and tactile appearance of the garments, and thetechnicians, who have to realise the garment on aknitting machine. They comprise a typical but smalldesign team whose members have different backgroundsand expertise. Knitwear design allows a detailedanalysis of the causes and effects of communicationbreakdown. Designers specify their designsinaccurately, incompletely and inconsistently;technicians interpret these specifications accordingto their previous experience of similar designs, andproduce garments very different from the designers'original intentions. Knitwear is inherently difficultto describe, as no simple and complete notationexists; and the relationship between visual appearanceand structure and technical properties of knittedfabric is subtle and complex. Designers andtechnicians have different cognitive approaches andare very different people. At the same time theinteraction between designers and technicians is badlymanaged in many companies. This paper argues thatimproving the accuracy and reliability of designers'specifications would significantly enhance the designprocess. It concludes with a description of thearchitecture of an intelligent automatic design systemthat generates technically correct designs from thedesigners' customary notations

Coralline algal facies and their palaeoenvironments in the Late Eocene of Northern Italy (Calcare di Nago, Trento)

The Calcare di Nago is a carbonate unit of Middle- Late Eocene (Bartonian and Priabonian) age which is well exposed at the north-eastern end of Lake Garda, on the western margin of the Lessini Shelf (Southern Alps). This unit is highly fossiliferous as far as the coralline red algae and large foraminifera are concerned. Corals, bryozoans, echinoderms, and molluscs are also present. The present study deals with the relationships among the coralline taxa, the coralline growth-forms, and their facies development in the Priabonian part of the type section of the Calcare di Nago. The taxonomic investigation led to the identification of 15 coralline red algal species belonging to 7 non-geniculate and 2 geniculate genera. One species of Peyssonneliacean (red alga) and one of Halimedacean (green alga) were also recognized. The quantitative and qualitative analyses based on coralline red algae and large foraminifera enabled five facies to be distinguished: Algal crust-branch rudstone, AlgallDiscocyclina packstone, Coralalgal boundstone, Rhodolith mound wacke/packstone, and Rhodolith pavement. According to the coralline assemblages, coralline growth-forms, and large foraminiferal associations, the five facies reflect solid and soft substrate types. Some of these facies are dominated by in situ rhodoliths, others by reworked algal debris. In the architecture of an interpreted prograding carbonate ramp, shallow water facies are dominated by members of the subfamily Mastophoroideae, while deeper water facies are dominated by those of the subfamily Melobesioideae and family Sporolithaceae. There is a significant increase both in size and in constructional voids of the rhodoliths with depth. A concomitant decrease in algal species diversity with depth has been also recognized. Large Discocyclina assemblages are localized across the inner and mid ramp boundary. Pellatispira and Biplanispira are present only in the uppermost mid-ramp. Nummulites, Assilina, and Spiroclypeus are dominant together with small orthophragminids both in the mid- and uppermost outer ramp facies