Nowadays, new paradigm of enterprise organization i s constantly changing due to the emergence of the global marketplace, the rise of information technology, and the emphasis of the social developments. This re quires...Nowadays, new paradigm of enterprise organization i s constantly changing due to the emergence of the global marketplace, the rise of information technology, and the emphasis of the social developments. This re quires a more flexible form of organization that are more adaptable to rapid cha nges in business environment such as autonomous work groups (AWGs) in order to achieve higher productivity and effectiveness. AWGs are work units responsib le for the production of goods and the provision of services. They involve team members in making decisions that are traditionally the responsibility of the sup ervisors and managers (Cohen & Bailey, 1997). Team members of AWGs are allowed t o self-regulate their behavior on jobs such as task assignments, methods for ca rrying out the work, and scheduling of activities etc. (Cohen & Ledford, 1994). For example, Motorola achieved a high organizational performance due to the succ essful implementation of AWGs in quality management (Piczak & Hauser, 1996). Xer ox also reported their operational successes based on the team-oriented work gr oups (Wageman, 1997). In recent years many organizations have replaced the traditional layers of manag ement with autonomous team-based work arrangements. Surveys indicated that the adoption of AWGs has soared in responding to the competitive business challenges . Many enterprises are making a deliberate effort to use AWGs to carry out work and operational processes as an alternative for hierarchical approaches (Lawler et al., 1995). There is a growing body of evidence that AWGs are more effective than traditionally managed groups and they contributes to organizational perform ance, such as improvement in operational performance, productivity, quality, cos t savings, employee attitude and behavior, and employee satisfaction (e.g. Pears on, 1992; Cohen & Ledford, 1994; Seers et al. 1995). Given the complexity and cognitive nature of team-based organizations, the mech anisms that the enterprises use in the development of the increasingly sophistic ated models, which can contribute to the effective functioning of AWGs, are extr emely important. The process of developing effective AWGs enables enterprises to inherent built-in intelligence of the organizations so that they will be more able to accommodate to external pressures and changes. The context of this paper is the construction of a dynamics framework and a stra tegic path for autonomous work groups in the technology-oriented manufacturing organization re-design. The framework is a conceptual one drawn from the litera ture survey. The importance of studying autonomous work groups for today’s manuf acturing organizations is claimed. Based on the General System Theory (GST), the characterization of AWGs is addressed. Three-dimensional domains such as t echnical content, service content, and relationship content are identified. A st rategic path is proposed to guide the organizations how the development of AWGs progresses at different levels of maturity that are associated with organization al effectiveness and performance. The utility of the model for AWGs is expected to provide technology-oriented organizations with a strategic path to achieve h igher organizational performance.展开更多
A typical contemporary computerized product develop me nt workflow is outlined in Fig.1. Product geometry information is first prep ared with computer-aided design (CAD) software. The CAD format can then be com munica...A typical contemporary computerized product develop me nt workflow is outlined in Fig.1. Product geometry information is first prep ared with computer-aided design (CAD) software. The CAD format can then be com municated to other downstream-computerized applications like, computer-aided e ngineering analysis (CAE), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and/or rapid prot otyping. Since design may need to be modified to incorporate new requirements, a loop back path is also depicted in Fig.1. The design engineers will check ac cording to their experience, result of physical test and CAE simulation to decid e whether redesign is needed or not. If the design passes all tests, its pr ototype or product can be produced. Otherwise, the current practice is to chang e its geometry and/or select a more appropriate material. The iteration repeat s until the latest version satisfies the engineering specification and customer requirements. Note that the material is homogeneous in the part to be designed. With the advent of functionally graded material (FGM) research, a new workflow will become possible. Components incorporating FGM’s can be designed to achieve levels of performance superior to that of homogeneous materials by combining the desirable properties of each constituent phase. Theoretically, the material composition can be tailo red within a component to achieve local control of properties; for example, form ability, corrosion resistance, hardness, toughness, and so on. By such local co ntrol, monolithic components can be created that integrate the function of multi ple discrete components, saving part count, space, weight, and enabling concepts that would otherwise be impractical. Controlling the spatial distribution of p roperties via composition will allow for control of the state of the entire comp onent (the state of residual stress in a component). There are various methods p roposed to produce FGM components. In particular, solid freeform fabrication ( SFF) methods are commonly used to directly fabricate an FGM part in an additive fashion directly from a computer controlled, layer-by-layer, additive process in which a standard CAD is sliced into a series of horizontal planes. Common SF F techniques being investigated include three-dimensional printing (3DP), Lamin ate Object Manufacturing (LOM), Extrusion Freeform Fabrication (EFF), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and even Stereolithography (SL). Fig.1 Current CAE design workflow Fig.2 Proposed CAE design workflow for FGM Albeit the feasibility to fabricate FGM components, one gap still needs to be fi lled for real life FGM product design; namely, where and how to grade the compon ent. This paper will, thus, address issues on incorporating FGM for design impr ovement. Rather than changing the geometry or reselecting a new material, a FGM approach can be employed in design enhancement as shown in Fig.2. The same geo metry and material is retained except that functional property in needed regions is selectively reinforced. As in conventional workflow, CAE simulation is perf ormed after CAD modelling. CAE simulation is preferred since physical test is v ery expensive and most of them are destructive. Moreover, the experience of the engineers may not be accurate. More importantly, the result of CAE simulation is used in this research to produce a stress intensity map for selective reinfor cement. The map will be converted to tool path control signals for generating FG component via SFF machine. On the implementation side, SolidWorks is used fo r CAD modeling, COSMOS/Works is used for CAE simulation. The model is then selec tively reinforced according to the simulation result to produce a FGM enriched p ath plan to drive the Z-corp machine. Case studies are performed to verify the approach. The preliminary result is positive. Future extension to material oth er than starch and plaster powders and enhancement other than stress distributio n may be explored. In conclusion, a CAE-based methodology for FGM product des ign展开更多
Product data management (PDM) has been accepted as an important tool for the manufacturing industries. In recent years, more and mor e researches have been conducted in the development of PDM. Their research area s in...Product data management (PDM) has been accepted as an important tool for the manufacturing industries. In recent years, more and mor e researches have been conducted in the development of PDM. Their research area s include system design, integration of object-oriented technology, data distri bution, collaborative and distributed manufacturing working environment, secur ity, and web-based integration. However, there are limitations on their rese arches. In particular, they cannot cater for PDM in distributed manufacturing e nvironment. This is especially true in South China, where many Hong Kong (HK) ma nufacturers have moved their production plants to different locations in Pearl R iver Delta for cost reduction. However, they retain their main offices in HK. Development of PDM system is inherently complex. Product related data cover prod uct name, product part number (product identification), drawings, material speci fications, dimension requirement, quality specification, test result, log size, production schedules, product data version and date of release, special tooling (e.g. jig and fixture), mould design, project engineering in charge, cost spread sheets, while process data includes engineering release, engineering change info rmation management, and other workflow related to the process information. Accor ding to Cornelissen et al., the contemporary PDM system should contains manageme nt functions in structure, retrieval, release, change, and workflow. In system design, development and implementation, a formal specification is nece ssary. However, there is no formal representation model for PDM system. Theref ore a graphical representation model is constructed to express the various scena rios of interactions between users and the PDM system. Statechart is then used to model the operations of PDM system, Fig.1. Statechart model bridges the curr ent gap between requirements, scenarios, and the initial design specifications o f PDM system. After properly analyzing the PDM system, a new distributed PDM (DPDM) system is proposed. Both graphical representation and statechart models are constructed f or the new DPDM system, Fig.2. New product data of DPDM and new system function s are then investigated to support product information flow in the new distribut ed environment. It is found that statecharts allow formal representations to capture the informa tion and control flows of both PDM and DPDM. In particular, statechart offers a dditional expressive power, when compared to conventional state transition diagr am, in terms of hierarchy, concurrency, history, and timing for DPDM behavioral modeling.展开更多
文摘Nowadays, new paradigm of enterprise organization i s constantly changing due to the emergence of the global marketplace, the rise of information technology, and the emphasis of the social developments. This re quires a more flexible form of organization that are more adaptable to rapid cha nges in business environment such as autonomous work groups (AWGs) in order to achieve higher productivity and effectiveness. AWGs are work units responsib le for the production of goods and the provision of services. They involve team members in making decisions that are traditionally the responsibility of the sup ervisors and managers (Cohen & Bailey, 1997). Team members of AWGs are allowed t o self-regulate their behavior on jobs such as task assignments, methods for ca rrying out the work, and scheduling of activities etc. (Cohen & Ledford, 1994). For example, Motorola achieved a high organizational performance due to the succ essful implementation of AWGs in quality management (Piczak & Hauser, 1996). Xer ox also reported their operational successes based on the team-oriented work gr oups (Wageman, 1997). In recent years many organizations have replaced the traditional layers of manag ement with autonomous team-based work arrangements. Surveys indicated that the adoption of AWGs has soared in responding to the competitive business challenges . Many enterprises are making a deliberate effort to use AWGs to carry out work and operational processes as an alternative for hierarchical approaches (Lawler et al., 1995). There is a growing body of evidence that AWGs are more effective than traditionally managed groups and they contributes to organizational perform ance, such as improvement in operational performance, productivity, quality, cos t savings, employee attitude and behavior, and employee satisfaction (e.g. Pears on, 1992; Cohen & Ledford, 1994; Seers et al. 1995). Given the complexity and cognitive nature of team-based organizations, the mech anisms that the enterprises use in the development of the increasingly sophistic ated models, which can contribute to the effective functioning of AWGs, are extr emely important. The process of developing effective AWGs enables enterprises to inherent built-in intelligence of the organizations so that they will be more able to accommodate to external pressures and changes. The context of this paper is the construction of a dynamics framework and a stra tegic path for autonomous work groups in the technology-oriented manufacturing organization re-design. The framework is a conceptual one drawn from the litera ture survey. The importance of studying autonomous work groups for today’s manuf acturing organizations is claimed. Based on the General System Theory (GST), the characterization of AWGs is addressed. Three-dimensional domains such as t echnical content, service content, and relationship content are identified. A st rategic path is proposed to guide the organizations how the development of AWGs progresses at different levels of maturity that are associated with organization al effectiveness and performance. The utility of the model for AWGs is expected to provide technology-oriented organizations with a strategic path to achieve h igher organizational performance.
文摘A typical contemporary computerized product develop me nt workflow is outlined in Fig.1. Product geometry information is first prep ared with computer-aided design (CAD) software. The CAD format can then be com municated to other downstream-computerized applications like, computer-aided e ngineering analysis (CAE), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and/or rapid prot otyping. Since design may need to be modified to incorporate new requirements, a loop back path is also depicted in Fig.1. The design engineers will check ac cording to their experience, result of physical test and CAE simulation to decid e whether redesign is needed or not. If the design passes all tests, its pr ototype or product can be produced. Otherwise, the current practice is to chang e its geometry and/or select a more appropriate material. The iteration repeat s until the latest version satisfies the engineering specification and customer requirements. Note that the material is homogeneous in the part to be designed. With the advent of functionally graded material (FGM) research, a new workflow will become possible. Components incorporating FGM’s can be designed to achieve levels of performance superior to that of homogeneous materials by combining the desirable properties of each constituent phase. Theoretically, the material composition can be tailo red within a component to achieve local control of properties; for example, form ability, corrosion resistance, hardness, toughness, and so on. By such local co ntrol, monolithic components can be created that integrate the function of multi ple discrete components, saving part count, space, weight, and enabling concepts that would otherwise be impractical. Controlling the spatial distribution of p roperties via composition will allow for control of the state of the entire comp onent (the state of residual stress in a component). There are various methods p roposed to produce FGM components. In particular, solid freeform fabrication ( SFF) methods are commonly used to directly fabricate an FGM part in an additive fashion directly from a computer controlled, layer-by-layer, additive process in which a standard CAD is sliced into a series of horizontal planes. Common SF F techniques being investigated include three-dimensional printing (3DP), Lamin ate Object Manufacturing (LOM), Extrusion Freeform Fabrication (EFF), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and even Stereolithography (SL). Fig.1 Current CAE design workflow Fig.2 Proposed CAE design workflow for FGM Albeit the feasibility to fabricate FGM components, one gap still needs to be fi lled for real life FGM product design; namely, where and how to grade the compon ent. This paper will, thus, address issues on incorporating FGM for design impr ovement. Rather than changing the geometry or reselecting a new material, a FGM approach can be employed in design enhancement as shown in Fig.2. The same geo metry and material is retained except that functional property in needed regions is selectively reinforced. As in conventional workflow, CAE simulation is perf ormed after CAD modelling. CAE simulation is preferred since physical test is v ery expensive and most of them are destructive. Moreover, the experience of the engineers may not be accurate. More importantly, the result of CAE simulation is used in this research to produce a stress intensity map for selective reinfor cement. The map will be converted to tool path control signals for generating FG component via SFF machine. On the implementation side, SolidWorks is used fo r CAD modeling, COSMOS/Works is used for CAE simulation. The model is then selec tively reinforced according to the simulation result to produce a FGM enriched p ath plan to drive the Z-corp machine. Case studies are performed to verify the approach. The preliminary result is positive. Future extension to material oth er than starch and plaster powders and enhancement other than stress distributio n may be explored. In conclusion, a CAE-based methodology for FGM product des ign
文摘Product data management (PDM) has been accepted as an important tool for the manufacturing industries. In recent years, more and mor e researches have been conducted in the development of PDM. Their research area s include system design, integration of object-oriented technology, data distri bution, collaborative and distributed manufacturing working environment, secur ity, and web-based integration. However, there are limitations on their rese arches. In particular, they cannot cater for PDM in distributed manufacturing e nvironment. This is especially true in South China, where many Hong Kong (HK) ma nufacturers have moved their production plants to different locations in Pearl R iver Delta for cost reduction. However, they retain their main offices in HK. Development of PDM system is inherently complex. Product related data cover prod uct name, product part number (product identification), drawings, material speci fications, dimension requirement, quality specification, test result, log size, production schedules, product data version and date of release, special tooling (e.g. jig and fixture), mould design, project engineering in charge, cost spread sheets, while process data includes engineering release, engineering change info rmation management, and other workflow related to the process information. Accor ding to Cornelissen et al., the contemporary PDM system should contains manageme nt functions in structure, retrieval, release, change, and workflow. In system design, development and implementation, a formal specification is nece ssary. However, there is no formal representation model for PDM system. Theref ore a graphical representation model is constructed to express the various scena rios of interactions between users and the PDM system. Statechart is then used to model the operations of PDM system, Fig.1. Statechart model bridges the curr ent gap between requirements, scenarios, and the initial design specifications o f PDM system. After properly analyzing the PDM system, a new distributed PDM (DPDM) system is proposed. Both graphical representation and statechart models are constructed f or the new DPDM system, Fig.2. New product data of DPDM and new system function s are then investigated to support product information flow in the new distribut ed environment. It is found that statecharts allow formal representations to capture the informa tion and control flows of both PDM and DPDM. In particular, statechart offers a dditional expressive power, when compared to conventional state transition diagr am, in terms of hierarchy, concurrency, history, and timing for DPDM behavioral modeling.
