Concurrent engineering tools: are the human issues being ignored?

Concurrent engineering (CE) tools are intended to increase the concurrency of multidisciplinary design by integrating various enabling technologies such as computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, group decision support systems, expert systems, and communication networks. If the long term viability of CE depends on effectively developing and deploying CE tools, the assumptions about how CE design tasks are most successfully performed and the roles of tools in facilitating that work should be carefully reviewed. This paper identifies the human factors assumptions made by the CE tool development community and compares them to conclusions drawn from existing literature on the role of technologies in performing technical work. This comparison suggests that the assumptions made by the CE tool development community are likely to inhibit CE tools from successfully enabling the CE process. Recommendations for remedying this state of affairs are offered in the form of restated assumptions that are consistent with documented behaviors of people using similar technologies and potential development strategies for CE tool developers.

[1]  R. Reddy,et al.  Concurrent engineering: The DARPA initiative: encouraging new industrial practices , 1991, IEEE Spectrum.

[2]  K. Wei,et al.  An Empirical Study of the Task Dimension of Group Support System , 1994, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Syst..

[3]  J. Rasmussen,et al.  A taxonomy for analysis of cognitive work , 1992, Conference Record for 1992 Fifth Conference on Human Factors and Power Plants.

[4]  John C. Tang.  Findings from Observational Studies of Collaborative Work , 1991, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[5]  De Meyer,et al.  The development/manufacturing interface: Empirical analysis of the 1990 European manufacturing futures Survey , 1992 .

[6]  Morten Kyng,et al.  Designing for cooperation: cooperating in design , 1991, CACM.

[7]  P. Rabbit.  Human information processing , 1977, Nature.

[8]  Oscar Hauptman,et al.  Effectiveness of Organizational Responses to Technological Change in the Production Process , 1992 .

[9]  John Stark.  Engineering Information Management Systems: Beyond CAD/CAM to Concurrent Engineering Support , 1992 .

[10]  Kjeld Schmidt,et al.  CSCW: Four Characters in Search of a Context , 1989, ECSCW.

[11]  Mark R. Cutkosky,et al.  PACT: an experiment in integrating concurrent engineering systems , 1993, Computer.

[12]  I. Nonaka.  The knowledge creating company". Harvard Business Review : . , 1991 .

[13]  Jon R. Katzenbach,et al.  The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization , 1992 .

[14]  T. Allen.  Managing the flow of technology , 1977 .

[15]  P. H. Lindsay.  Human Information Processing , 1977 .

[16]  Donald E. Carter,et al.  Ce Concurrent Engineering: The Product Development Environment for the 1990s , 1992 .

[17]  Philip V. Howie.  Developing the MD Explorer , 1993 .

[18]  Elke U. Weber,et al.  Descriptive and prescriptive models of decision-making: implications for the development of decision aids , 1990, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[19]  Robert R. Korfhage,et al.  TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION, AND THE INDIVIDUAL , 1991 .

[20]  Michael S. P. Lucas,et al.  DARPA Initiative in Concurrent Engineering (DICE) Phase 4. Electronics Pilot Project Final Technical Report , 1992 .

[21]  Kevin B. Bennett,et al.  Explorations in joint human-machine cognitive systems , 1990 .

[22]  Robert Morris Cohen.  A collaborative model for providing intelligent computer assistance to experts in decision-making and design , 1990 .

[23]  Olivia R. Liu Sheng,et al.  Integrating expert systems with group decision support systems , 1991, TOIS.

[24]  Andrew Brown,et al.  Managing Technology in the Decentralized Firm , 1991 .

[25]  Loren G. Terveen,et al.  From “folklore” to “living design memory” , 1993, INTERCHI.

[26]  Clarence A. Ellis,et al.  Groupware: some issues and experiences , 1991, CACM.

[27]  Leland Teschler,et al.  LESSONS FROM THE BEST , 1998 .

[28]  C. Wiseman.  Strategic Information Systems: Trends and Challenges over the Next Decade. , 1988 .

[29]  G. R. Firdman.  Strategic Information Systems: Forging the Business and Technology Alliance , 1991 .

[30]  M. J. Safoutin,et al.  A communications-based technique for interdisciplinary design team management , 1993 .

[31]  Eric Trist,et al.  The Social Engagement of Social Science, Volume 2: A Tavistock Anthology--The Socio-Technical Perspective , 1993 .

[32]  John Bowers,et al.  Studies in computer supported cooperative work: theory, practice and design , 1990 .

[33]  Robert D. Logcher,et al.  DICE: An object-oriented programming environment for cooperative engineering design , 1992 .

[34]  James D. Herbsleb,et al.  Preserving knowledge in design projects: what designers need to know , 1993, INTERCHI.

[35]  Janet Fulk,et al.  Emerging Theories of Communication in Organizations , 1991 .

[36]  Abigail Sellen,et al.  One is not enough: multiple views in a media space , 1993, INTERCHI.

[37]  Richard N. Pelavin,et al.  Spreadsheet-like design through knowledge-based tool integration , 1992 .

[38]  Thore Danielsen,et al.  Describing cooperation—the creation of different psychological phenomena , 1990 .

[39]  Robin Jeffries,et al.  Where did you put it? Issues in the design and use of a group memory , 1993, INTERCHI.

[40]  Paul S. Adler,et al.  CAD/CAM: managerial challenges and research issues , 1989 .

[41]  Y. Kalay.  Modeling objects and environments , 1989 .

[42]  Les Gasser,et al.  Towards a Conceptual Framework for Specifying Manufacturing Workgroups Congruent with Technological Change , 1992 .

[43]  Shoshana Zuboff,et al.  In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power , 1989 .

[44]  A. J. Medland.  The Computer-Based Design Process , 1985 .

[45]  Paul ten Hagen,et al.  Intelligent user interface for intelligent CAD , 1992 .

[46]  K. Eason.  Information Technology and Organizational Change , 1989 .

[47]  Jane M. Carey,et al.  Human factors in information systems : an organizational perspective , 1991 .

[48]  Maureen S. Battistella,et al.  Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization , 1991 .

[49]  S. Kiesler,et al.  Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization. , 1992 .

[50]  M. Graham.  Integrating Design and Manufacturing for Competitive Advantage , 1994 .

[51]  Glenda Y. Nogami,et al.  Cognitive complexity and team decision making. , 1992 .

[52]  Chelsea C. White,et al.  A survey on the integration of decision analysis and expert systems for decision support , 1990, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[53]  Tora K. Bikson,et al.  Flexible Interactive Technologies for Multi-Person Tasks: Current Problems and Future Prospects , 1989 .

[54]  Jonathan Grudin,et al.  Groupware and social dynamics: eight challenges for developers , 1994, CACM.

[55]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  The Importance of Models in Making Complex Systems Comprehensible , 1991 .

[56]  Kaj Grønbæk,et al.  CSCW challenges: cooperative design in engineering projects , 1993, CACM.

[57]  R. I. Winner,et al.  The Role of Concurrent Engineering in Weapons System Acquisition , 1988 .

[58]  J. McGrath,et al.  Groups Interacting with Technology: Ideas, Evidence, Issues and an Agenda , 1993 .

[59]  S. Asch.  Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. , 1956 .

[60]  Jerry Avorn.  Technology , 1929, Nature.

[61]  Siu Shing Tong,et al.  Engineous: A unified method for design automation, optimization, and integration , 1992 .

[62]  Erik Hollnagel.  Information and Reasoning in Intelligent Decision Support Systems , 1987, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[63]  Thomas R. Gruber,et al.  Learning why by being told what: interactive acquisition of justifications , 1991, IEEE Expert.