Concurrent Engineering: Methodology and Applications(Advances in Industrial Engineering)

Increasing global competition in a product-oriented industry has required manufacturing enterprises to continuously improve product quality, functionality, and features, as well as implementing a reduction in product cost and time to market. The traditional approach to product development requires a substantial amount of time to evolve the product design from its initial configuration to the final product. Since 70% or more of the total product cost is determined in the design stages, significant potential savings can be achieved by improving traditional design practices. Because of its effectiveness and great potential in product design, concurrent engineering (CE) is attracting great interest from both industry and academia. The thirteen research papers in this volume provide a current overview on progress in concurrent engineering. Divided into two parts, Part I primarily focuses on methodology and applications of CE, while Part II discusses product design and information modelling. The articles will be of interest to all those involved in the multidisciplinary process of design, including experts from product design, control system design, electronics design, manufacturing, production planning, maintenance, quality control, service, and marketing, etc. Enhancing knowledge on the development of new products and modifications on existing products, whilst simultaneously considering product functions, features, manufacturability, assemblability, reliability, and disposability. Consequently facilitating rapid and cost effective development of initial designs which are close to optimum.

Table of Contents:
Part I: Methodology and Applications. Constraint management in design fusion (D. Navin Chandra et al.). Consistency and completeness of multiple models in product development (H. Schmekel, L. Wingard). A design trade-off methodology for concurrent engineering practices (H.H. Jo, H.R. Parsaei). Concurrent engineering: an automated design-space exploration approach (T.P. Darr, W.P. Birmingham). Concurrent engineering using an enterprise modelling system (A. Chan et al.). ICIMIDES: Intelligent concurrent integrated manufacturing information and data exchange system - a distributed blackboard approach (B.S. Lim). Using negotiation in DAI to support concurrent engineering (K.J. Werkman). Part II. Product Information Modelling and Exchange. Using persistent object technology to support concurrent engineering systems (D.L. Spooner, M. Hardwick). Concurrent product design evaluation and decision support (C.-S. Chen et al.). A STEP-based generic product model for concurrent engineering (K. Chan, P. Gu). Product data sharing with STEP (S. Chan et al.). Product modeling and data exchange (C.-S. Chen, J. Wu). Explanation in concurrent design (J.D. Jones et al.).

About the Author :
Andrew Kusiak is Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. He obtained a Ph.D. degree in Operations Research from the Polish Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kusiak has worked and consulted for a number of corporations and consorita. One of the most noted ones is the Next Generation Manufacturing Systems consortium of over twenty corporations including Caterpillar, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Sandia, Rockwell, Nokia, Renault, Fujii, Kawasaki, Honda, and other leading global companies. His papers have appeared in major design and manufacturing journals sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and other professional societies. He is an author and editor of fourteen books and handbooks. He has also served in various editorial capacities of most major design and manufacturing journals, including IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, IIE Transactions, and the Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars, and workshops on engineering design, process engineering, manufacturing, medical technology, and informatics.