Design technology transfer

Design technology transfer S A Gregory Stafford, UK

Design technology and its transfer are defined and their significance stated. The history of design technology (DT) is outlined, noting a recent change in nature. Factors influencing the development and spread of DT are investigated, first by the use of pieces of available research results, and then through analysis of 12 case summaries assembled for the purpose. Hypotheses are advanced regarding the influence of large 'fiont-runner' companies and, particularly, of companies in the information technology fields. Suggestions are offered to university departments wishing to participate more fully in design technology transfer. Keywords: Design technology, transfer, information technology Recently a number of positions have been adopted which call for a more detailed examination of the facts as they appear regarding design technology transfer (DTT). Among the positions indicated are statements regarding the industrial-academic gap, as made for instance during the ICED83 conference in Copenhagen, findings from a recent study of the use of value analysis, and a report regarding practices in connection with innovation related to industrial companies. Technology transfer is regarded today as important in the revival of industrialized economies and no less important for the development of the Third World. It is defined by Gee I as 'the application of technology to a new use or user'. A detailed elaboration of the concept 'technology transfer space' is provided by Jantsch 2. Design technology (DT) comprises general design technology and broadly applicable techniques, domainspecific procedures and techniques, and CAD systems and processes. It includes all the essentials for the execution of design work, including information gathering, storage and retrieval procedures, communication techniques and relevant management approaches. D T T consists in the application of any part of DT to a new use or user. The use or user may be anywhere within the range of present or future design-based sectors of enterprise, whether in applied art, technical industry,

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software production or social endeavours. Ideas developed in one sector may be transferred to others. Likewise useful ideas evolved outside the designorientated sectors may be imported and absorbed. Much of what is written or spoken about design today, at least in a professional sense, is to do with DT. DTT seems to be perceived, however, as dealing with training or education and is treated in terms approximating to supply-side economics - - if only enough DT is injected into the system by education, useful results will follow, particularly economic results. This tends to omit demandside influences such as need, market possibilities and competition, as well as features important in the adoption of innovations. A primary aim on this occasion has been to attempt to provide a first review of the field by exploiting information which could be brought together rapidly and be easily checked by those knowledgeable in the field. Arising from this it was hoped to gain insights respecting design technology and design technology transfer. As will be shown, this first survey gives some strong leads. However, various criticisms and qualifications must be obvious. For example, it can be argued that the case material presented deals with rather general approaches to design, some having applicability well beyond the confines of design. What would happen if we were able to

0142-.694X/84/040203-16 $03.00 © 1984Butterworth& Co (Publishers) Ltd

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pursue narrower aspects of design technology? What would happen if we were able to collect and investigate aspects of CAD? It has to be made clear that what is being offered at this stage is material which provides initial credibility for a class of models describing design technology transfer. This helps to deal with the important question of the direction of movement between industry and university. In this respect a milestone has been passed. By undertaking more detailed studies it is hoped that we may be able to advance further. A number of areas of design technology are already being prospected for useful potential. Researchers in the field will recognize that, for any sector of design technology to be treated comparatively, it will be necessary to bring together one or more substantial clusters of techniques having the same level of significance for the purpose. Moreover, for these techniques it must be possible and practicable to gain the kinds of information required in the study. The models suggested below are such that they have the possibility of being shown to be false provided that suitable new data can be made available. It is intended to search for such possibilities in the most likely areas.

HISTORY A N D CHANGE Until the onset of the Industrial Revolution the principal mode of D T T was through apprenticeship or by working as an assistant in an atelier or drawing office. Although people collected details of interesting artefacts, as shown in notebooks which have been preserved, it was the product or proposals which were central to attention rather than the way of arriving at them. Leonardo da Vinci gave some ideas of ways of arriving at patterns and in sketches some of the tasks to be dealt with in developing specific designs for products. To a considerable extent most of DTT must have been informal, by example, or by suggestion and trial. Trial was important particularly in the development of the design of artillery. From Galileo onwards there gradually evolved a flow of new knowledge regarding subjects such as the strength of materials. In the time of Elizabeth I there was a considerable attempt in England to import industrial technology of many kinds, backed by a newly-introduced patent system, but in this DT appears to have had little place. The early patents were devoid of detail, but by the late seventeenth century descriptions were published independently, e.g. by Houghton 3, regarding the practice of free brass casting. The use of sketches to help in the development of concepts and to tell others about them was an obvious accompaniment of the early notebooks. The application of calculations in design is less obvious. Careful drawings with attention to such aspects as scale and level of detail became necessary for providing instructions for the building of boats and other complex objects. This has been illustrated well by Baynes and Pugh 4. Publication of practical design drawings became active in the eighteenth century. Widespread teaching of geometrical drawing

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and/or ornamental drawing commenced in the nineteenth century to help provide recruits for industry. The history of technical drawing has been treated by Booker 5. Although noted engineers, such as Brindley, might work out requirements mentally without the production of drawings, the provision of drawings, particularly in coloured form, seemed to be important in helping the customer to make positive decisions, or to convince others. More detailed drawings were for instruction regarding the future embodiment. Design, in the sense of providing a quantitative specification, was mainly based on precedent - - an object of a given size and shape had worked satisfactorily in the past and so it was reasonable to reproduce it. Occasionally risks had to be taken or experiments made. Success provided further precedents. Some eighteenth century engineers used quantitative methods and experiments as a matter of course. Watt and Smeaton are good examples. In the nineteenth century some pioneers of new artefacts developed specific and detailed design techniques. Parsons is an outstanding case in respect of his steam turbines. The new technologies of the Industrial Revolution brought in domainspecific methods of design applicable to such artefacts as steam engines, steam locomotives, etc. DT was largely associated with the drawing office in such sectors and important draughtsmen/designers may be named. Here was an expanded locus of one kind of DTT. Scientific analysis of the working principles of industrial equipment seems to have been a speciality of France. Books were published and papers printed about the theory of watermills, efficiency of steam engines, the principles of dyeing, and the fundamentals of many of the important industrial products and processes of the time. This kind of information did not flow immediately or easily into the principal areas of practice, most of which were in the UK. This has been a source of concern, even of confusion, among economic historians. At a high level new ideas were transferred through meetings of a regional nature like those of the Birmingham Lunar Society or the more formal Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. Much early nineteenth century teaching in the UK was associated with the mechanics' institutes and this tended not to embrace the higher flights of theory allied to industrial technology. Only gradually did teaching of this character reach the universities. Ashby6 links this with Continental influences whereas Armytage 7 sees it as arising both from the mechanics' institutes and the efforts of individuals occasionally backed by the British Association for the Advancement of Science. By the mid-1800s some key textbooks related to design had appeared. Professional private schools had been set up for several sectors of industrial activity and a few university departments of engineering established. Through such gradual progress institutional teaching of such topics as strength of materials, thermodynamics and the synthesis of mechanisms became possible. The early university professors had considerable practical involvements outside their teaching. Through the demands of teaching there was brought about accumulation of detailed information

DESIGN STUDIES

about classes of machines, processes and elements, and this helped the trend to generalization which, with the help of experiments to test principles rather than specific designs, made it possible to escape in part from the bonds of precedent although these bonds might still tie prospective purchasers. In application the leading individuals and groups were strongly related to the newer growth industries of the time. Notwithstanding the successive endeavours to incorporate teaching about industrial operations into the higher education system it tended to reflect aspects of science and to avoid much of the substance of what is now recognized as design. What occurred was effectively a move to enhance engineering capability on a foundation related to science. Only at a low level was effort clearly related to DT. It was not until after World War II that stronger impulses in favour of high-level interest in education concerning DT in the engineering fields became obvious. This may be traced particularly by the examination of university-level textbooks in specific domains or the study of technical papers presented and published. In part the latter provide source material for the former. The demands of World War I had stimulated thought about the bases of certain industrial technologies. It seems that one of the influences of World War II had been its demand for great effort in the development and application of new artefacts. This was succeeded by massive new projects in reconstruction, by massive shifts into new industrial sectors. In some of this scientists themselves had become immersed in the tasks of design with subsequent enquiry into the fundamentals. The notion of a systems approach became widespread. Individuals set about making their own design procedures more rational and, in a handful of companies, there was an organizational effort to standardize and promote perceived good practice. Design techniques of broad application were developed. DT moved to a higher level and became more coherent. But it was through efforts made outside the university sector. The specific areas of industry which tended to promote the new growths were the 'frontrunner' industries of the period (Table 1). For them an Table 1. Front-runner sectors: active in design technology application and origination Advertising/marketing consultancies Aerospace hardware production Aerospace products utilization Automobile production Building and civil engineering specialist groups Chemical plant contractors Chemical process industries Complete plant and system suppliers Computer aided design: system and software suppliers Computer-based system supply Computer manufacture Electronic systems supply Management consultancies Military system planning (defence ministry) and supply Nuclear energy (research/planning/systemsupply/operation) Pharmaceuticals R&D etc.

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improved and broadly applied design capability was important. Although such DT was primarily domainspecific a dream emerged for some kind of universality. From the systems approach it was a short step to take on what became known as systems engineering, even though some of its founders may not have seen beyond the boundaries of their own domain-specific industrial sectors. Many of the important techniques of the 1940s were multidisciplinary in application, partly because of the tasks that they had to deal with. The dream affected some university departments in the late 1950s and became obvious in the early 1960s. Over the same period the application of computers has contributed to the possibilities and practices of CAD. The rise of CAD has interacted with the emerging interests in DT, possibly emphasizing domain-specific interests although implicitly based on generality. But the onward progress of CAD has been driven by strong commercial interests which have become an important factor in DTT. Phases of development within CAD may be related to the use of specific algorithms, the practice of interactive working, design management programmes which reflect successive phases of design, and data-base systems. More details about some of the recent changes .(excluding CAD) are provided below.

D T OLD AND NEW: SOME SPECULATIONS An important question is that which asks about the extent to which the old-style DT has been displaced by the new-style DT developed by front-runner industrial companies and academic pioneers. A difficulty in offering any attempt at a comprehensive answer is that no adequate study has been made available to help with evidence. From the academic side this would seem to require an analysis of the contents of old and new syllabuses, as well as some measure of the extent of their performance. However, there are fragments of information from research studies which may be used to provide an introductory survey. A first piece is that which comes from a study by Ehrlenspiel on value analysis8. Table 2 shows that only two new techniques in costing for design were used out of a list of nine, and that, at most, only 14% of the companies (covering automobile trades, general engineering and precision engineering) were familiar with an advanced technique (relative costs catalogue, VDITable 2. Use of techniques in design for cost in 42 companies (as 100%) (Ehrlenspiel)

74% personal contact 63% cost schedules from previous design 57% cost equations for bought-in parts 29% price/kg data for own production 23% estimator calculations 20% price/kg data for bought-in parts 14% relative costs catalogue 9% VDI-Richtlinie 2225 17% special

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Richtlinie 2225). This difference in the level of knowledge of techniques is supported by the earlier field study of Hykin 9 who found that the users of new D T were scanty. Information from a different direction comes from analyses of a collection of case material dealing with innovation by Parker l°. In this he lists procedures and techniques recommended as useful in innovation and identifies the extent to which selected small companies promote, adopt, or use them. Some of the data are given in Figure 1. In Parker's opinion the use of elements associated with new DT, etc, is determined by management attitudes, and is influenced to a high degree by the technological level of the companies concerned. At low technological levels the advice is not applicable, whereas for high technological levels companies tend not to need advice about the use of advanced techniques. The companies which need critical new inputs, such as DT, tend to be those at a medium technological level. (How technological level is defined and measured is suggested by Parker but there seems to be a need for modification.) Evidence available to the present author from two studies suggests that large front-runner companies play an important part in the introduction of new DT into industry. Gregory and Price 11 undertook a market study of the requirements of companies of various sizes within the chemical process industries for skills needed at fresh graduate and postexperience stages. Included in the list of skills were a number of aspects of new DT. What emerged was that the needs of companies with large groups of technical specialists differed from the needs of companies with successively smaller technical groups.

Further, it emerged that new DT already practised by the large groups and for which there was no further input need stated remained an input need of smaller groups. This is shown in one aspect by a comparison of needs forecast for 5-10 years ahead. The requirements of design involving safety, systems synthesis, direct digital control and reliability, are stated by Group B companies although they are already possessed by Group A companies (Table 3) which not only pioneered their application but to a considerable extent took part in their inception. In an allied study Gregory and Commander 12 reported the significance of company size in relationship to decisions on the adoption of new materials, particularly the effect of size on the type of job undertaken by the members of the decision group, showing a rising level of specialization among members. There was also some differentiation according to kind of industry. It has already been argued elsewhere 13 that design effort falls off as products mature. Design effort is related essentially to new investment and preparation for the future. In industries, particularly the automobile industry, opportunities continue to occur for the exploitation of design skills, although they shift in emphasis, and design effort overall remains important. Studies of the introduction of new plant and processes into industry, e.g. by Nabseth and Ray ~4, suggest that new technology tends to be linked with major new investment such as on a 'greenfield' manufacturing site. Earlier vintages of plant and equipment are not updated unless considerable advantage may come. Modifications rather than novel features may be introduced in the early days of an installation in order to bring performance up to a

1

a. Draw up list of design and development needs for products whose market share requires increase b. Secure commercial application of RD&D output by an accountable team c. Promote awareness of current technologies and methodologies; include psychology of creativity d. Use appropriate methodologies, e.g. function cost analysis, value analysis, morphological analysis e. Look for anomalous good behaviour as basis for further development f. Describe each product in terms of elements and subelements; consider alternative assembly modes g. Head of design function to be a senior executive coordinating all activities relevant to product h. Appoint designers of highest possible competence

Adopted

Partly adopted

Not adopted

Not applicable

2

Company code number 3 4 5 6

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Companies differ in their basic technologies and tend to be small. Technological level is seen as the discriminating influence. Medium-level companies need special inputs most

Figure 1. Selected design guidelines: application m eight companies (Parker)

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Table 3. Differences in expected skill needs 5-10 years ahead from 1975 (Gregory and Price)

Group A companies (above 75 TSs) Group B companies (25-75 TSs) 1. Flexibility in process design 2. Recognition of errors of principle and detail arising from extensive computerization 3. CAD techniques 4. Sound understanding of principles 5. Incorporation of safety and environmental consideration into process design without loss of operability Low-grade energy processes

1. Operational safety 2. Safety System synthesis 3. Broader basis of knowledge to help identify key areas 4. Process safety training Direct digital control 5. Reliable, robust and unsophisticated systems and equipment 6. Process creativity and design 7. Environment. Safety. Reliability

Note: the above sequence of listed needs in any group is based on time accorded to design, with greatest time at the beginning of the table. A most important distinction is that the needs of Group B have largely been met already in Group A where the companies concerned have their own internal specialists and experience in the fields felt to be lacking by Group B. Thus Group A contains companies which have their own front-rank safety specialists, their own direct digital control experts, etc. In the overall study of 34 companies the subjects were all from the same industrial sector, the principal difference being size. Technological level could not be identified as an adequate discriminator for the use of advanced techniques. required standard but, gradually, as the rate of change drops, the specialist technical staff members are withdrawn and operation is continued on a routine basis as far as possible. This is evidence to show that, as with the value analysis of a product, it may be worth considering some changes in the lifetime of production processes and plant as a source of increased profit. The best example of such a study is that by Hollander 15 who participated in and monitored such work in the US viscose rayon industry, identifying substantial contributions to profit. As with value analysis such an effort cannot be repeated much during the lifecycle of the relevant unit. By analogy it is hypothesized that the continuing pattern of DT employed by a group tends to be that which prevailed at the time of its setting up. In part this pattern of DT has inertia which is likely to be supported by bureaucratic and building features. Observers such as Pelz and Andrews 16 have indicated that performances of a technical group falls off with passage of time. It is possible to offset this by turnover of staff members. No observations have been made of DT change without change of staff except in the case of the introduction of CAD. Effective introduction is quite slow, as shown by Arnold and Senker 17. Again by analogy, it is hypothesized that the most recent advances in DT will tend to be used by recently formed organizations, particularly in growth areas based on technical expertise.

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Although it is not yet possible to show the effect of recency in formation it is possible to make some indication of the joint effects of size and technological effort as in Figure 2. This indicates differences in the way in which DT inputs may have to be achieved, the small organizations requiring consultant help (with skill in relevant DT) from outside, the medium-size organizations requiring something like a multi-specialist or a part-timer to pick up a new DT from outside for internal application by company staff members, whereas the large organizations have their own specialists, possibly internal consultants. Some idea of the availability of current DT, even of some faded DT, may be gathered from a useful set of lists issued by the Design Council is. In Table 4 a summary is presented based on the printed lists extended by some findings among the entry contents. This outlines the kind of possibility available to small and some mediumsize companies. Various studies have been made retrospectively of the technological and other knowledge required for the production of new systems. In particular the study of the derivation of new weapon systems in 'Project Hindsight' reported by Isenson 19 indicated that usefully applicable 'events' (new inputs) began accumulating about 20 years before the engineering design date of a #oven system which used them. The rate of accumulation increased to peak one or two years before the system design, then decreased. 'Our first conclusion is that engineering design of military weapon systems primarily consists of skilfully selecting and integrating a large number of innovations in order to produce, by synergistic effects, the high performance demanded.' Other conclusions are listed also. A range of arguments have been put forward on the kX X X X X ~

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Measure of technoloocal e ~ r t Use of external Internal 'multi- Internal speciafists consultants specialists' and consultants and external consultants (aspects of: technological level, resources for future corporate decisions)

Figure 2. Hypothetical relationship: adoptionlpromotion of design technology relative to size and technological effort

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Table 4. Design techniques available/applied on a wide basis (not exhaustive but based on examination of listing and entry contents of Design Expertise 1982)

Appearance design Appraisal CAD/CAM Competitor evaluation Computer applicatons Control engineering Cost estimation Design audit Design for production Economic/technicalevaluation Energy conservation Environmental problems Ergonomics Failure analysis Feasibility studies Finite element analysis

Manufacturing methods Market opportunity definition Marketability improvement Marketing research Materials evaluation/selection Mathematical modelling Microprocessor application Product evaluation Product liability analysis Product styling Quality assurance Reliability studies Risk Assessment Stress analysis Systems engineering Technical audit

Hazard analysis Health and Safety

Value analysis/engineering Vibration analysis

The widest range of services is likely to be from university groups and from a few consultant companies (including subsidiaries of major industrial companies) and some national research institutions. In the directory, selvices are split into three broad groups: generallyapplicable techniques; engineering or applied art domains; and detailed technical skills. basis of results from Project Hindsight. One of the most important is that which suggests an ongoing requirement to maintain a high standard of capability through design education which is in touch with new technical advances across a spread of relevant disciplines. Again, by analogy it may be hypothesized that design capability needs to be maintained at a high level in DT itself in order to be ready for new developments. In pursuit of the general line of thought it may be further hypothesized that the greatest interest in DT and DT developments is likely to be found in the present leadership of the front-runner industries. This leadership is taken to be that of the overall information technology sector. Although no detailed study has yet become available there are suggestive instances of the advanced level of DT here. These include: • • • • •

the application of CAD to the layout of printed circuit boards and, later, to the design of microchips the use of uncommitted logic array chips the development of a new method of design optimisation, as recently reported by Kirkpatrick et al z° the great emphasis upon software engineering and fault-free design the breadth of concern with application of various aspects of psychology, as shown by Shneiderman2] and others.

The application of CAD has been proceeding apace

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within the design-intensive industries. There are differences upon demands for skill and a recent suggestion that professionals need to rethink their use of CAD equipment. It may well be that the timing and rate of application of CAD within a given company or engineering domain may be used as part of a measure of technological effort. In view of the suggestion regarding Figure 2 that DTT is possible between companies within a common industry (usually by intermediaries), by analogy it might be expected that there should be DTT between frontrunner companies and others across industrial sectors. This should include both CAD techniques, promoted by commercial organizations, and other DT, assisted by a variety of agents and channels.

AN ANALYSIS OF CASE MATERIAL What has been presented so far involves a number of hypotheses initiated in part from experience and in part from pieces of research information from elsewhere. Some of the hypotheses can only satisfactorily be evaluated in the light of specific new investigations. One central hypotheses has been that large front-runner organizations are those among which there is a tendency to develop and adopt new DT. Given availability of historical material it should be possible to probe the validity of this hypotheses across different industrial sectors. As noted earlier, DT briefly comprises • • •

broadly applicable techniques domain-specific techniques CAD.

Domain-specific techniques appear to be eliminated initially as a subject of study because of the need to cover a variety of subject disciplines. Within CAD there are broad patterns as well as domain-specific developments and it could be argued that effort should be devoted to case material collection here. However, because of much previous interest in broadly applicable techniques (Class 1) there is much information ready to be collected. Class 1 contains hundreds of techniques. The Design Council Directory22 lists traded items. Jones provides details of some of the more widely used versions. Raybould and Minter24 mention many others, unfortunately without an index. Rickards2s brings together aids to create work. Nadler 26 provides procedures for social design and planning. It was decided to choose 12 procedures of various kinds which have played a significant part in the buildup of present-day DT and have relevance both to industry and to academia. Although some of these are well known by name, others, although practised in some way, have no class name. The 12 procedures are presented later in this paper and the contents have been analysed in terms of what are believed to be important aspects of DT and DTT and which are readily ascertainable (Table 5).

DESIGN STUDIES

Table 5. Summarized information from 12 procedure reviews Procedure(s) 1. 2. 3. 4.

Initiating background

Brainstorming Costing for design Design heuristics Functional analysis

Advertising Industry Industry Consultancy/ Industry 5. Hazard analysis Industry 6. Morphological analysis ? Industry 7. Operational research Military 8 Overall domain-specific Industry/ procedure University 9. Reliability studies Military 10. Synectics Consultancy 11. System engineering Industry 12. Value analysis/ Industry engineering

Major support by executive

Identified developer(s)

Book(s)

Supporting society

University R&D input

Widespread teaching

x x

x ? x x

x x x x

x x x

x x x x

? ? x

? x ?

x x Many Many

? ? x x

? ? x -

x x x x

? ? x x

x x x x

Many x x x

x x x x

? ?

x x ? x

? ? ?

ACTORS IN DTT The initiating organization, whether industrial, military, or consultant, certainly appears to be in either a design-intensive or a problem solving-intensive situation. Where industry only is concerned the originating organization is, with one exception, both large and wellknown. In most cases it is possible to identify one or more significant developers (this term is used to avoid suggesting invention). Often the significant developers have been supported, even specifically directed, in some way by one or more leading executives within the initiating organization. It is worth noting that there is a close connection between the achievement of such support and the naming or identification of the package of the procedures involved. In one case only promotion of the package rests upon commercial exploitation and nothing else. In a number of cases support has been contributed by government agencies by one means or another. In at least one of the cases the use of the specific procedure has been written into government-placed contracts. In another case legal requirements have tended to ensure application. Although university inputs by R&D appear to have been made for the great majority of procedures this does not seem to have been much reflected in undergraduate teaching although identifiable in published research papers. Published books come from industrial sources where the developed procedure has been identified with the company involved. University-based books tend to be associated with the rationalization of prior diffused material. There is evidence in an important case of transfer by means of people moving from one job to another.

CHANNELS

IN DTT

In the study of new materials Gregory and Commander 27 identified significant channels for the movement of information and noted that the worth of channels depended upon the kind of industry involved. There was

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evidence that large organizations with relevant specialists tended to use a pattern of channels different from medium and small organizations. With respect to the 12 cases it is not possible to obtain comparable information. It is, however, possible to identify some specific channels. These include: organization internal courses; external conferences with government or other backing; specialist society meetings; books; journals; university lectures at undergraduate, postgraduate, and postexperience levels. There is also transfer by people, as noted, by informal discussion, and by fallout from the employment of consultants.

INFLUENCES AFFECTING D T USE Some of the influences affecting D T use and D T T have already been noted and there has been allusion to others. Table 6 presents a preliminary schedule of likely influences to which additions will doubtless be suggested. The setting down of so extensive a schedule immediately provokes questions. If we accept the undoubted effects of management attitudes and pressures and take organizational size and technical effort as plausible influences then two areas of possible interest are those which deal with individual designers' behaviour and D T characteristics as such. In respect of individual designer behaviour it might be expected, for example, that personality profile would tend to influence choice of specific techniques with, say a preference for algorithmic techniques by those who have difficulty in dealing with uncertainty, and a preference for open-ended techniques by those who are selfconfident and flexible. In respect of D T characteristics it might be expected that many of the features noted as important for adoption of an innovation, as listed by Rogers and Shoemaker 2s will help in the adoption of a technique of the procedure. In considering the 12 procedures some aspects which seemed to be significant in helping adoption included:

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Table 6. Range of possible influences in corporate design technology use Demographic/social factors:

Legislation

Company size Company features:

Management perception/ethos/drive Sector of industry: level of technology modes of supporting professionalisms rate of change level of profitability

Market features:

Competitor effort Product life-cycle position Business cycle position and effect; political inputs Kondratiev cycle (technological change) Market-design linkage: mode (before/ after sale) visibility of effects speed of response

Design task interactions: Company climate Extent of company-wide/interdepartmental/departmental support and understanding Customer technical sophistication and demands Departmental technical traditions Departmental leadership Task group experience and skills Individual designer behaviour: Preferred self-image/style Prior experience/track record Specific professional mode/level of ability Influence on others Intellectual factors: flexibility/richness Personality factors: level of neuroticism; Value need for certainty system

Motivational factors: own/task/company/ social

Design technology characteristics

• • • • • • • • •

presentation of the item in a well-defined package, including a clear title specificity in nature, rather than abstract in presentation or use potential relevance to immediate tasks rather than acting as an infrastructure for design track record of success within reason potentiality for competitive advantage and legal or contractual compliance ease of application ease in acquisition ready identifiability quality of research work, argument, presentation

Among the 12 cases are examples which reflect instances of the various aspects noted. Brainstorming is readily identified and, through the book by Osborne 29 and the later book by Rickards 3°, which gives modifications,

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exists in a well-defined form, although not necessarily practised as such. Costing for design 31 does not have a special tide and well-defined packages exist only for some technical domains and these are not clearly designorientated in the sense of relating cost procedures to specific design task phases. Design heuristics is not yet readily identified as a DT subject and its elaboration to include procedures which relate to specific task phases is still awaited. Limited material exists in package form but this is of high quality, e.g. that by Rudd et a132 and that by Ehrlenspie133. These relate to specific technical domains. Functional analysis is not immediately identified in the UK although identifiable in the USA. The UK umbrella title of work study remains a source of confusion. Although functional analysis now forms part of other procedures, e.g. value analysis, there is a lack of a modern book which deals solely with its application in design areas. Hazard analysis is identifiable, has a relevant title, but lacks a well-defined package although there are some well-defined subsidiary techniques. The best-known scheme is hazop but this still has problems in application, needing careful training and the generation of situation-specific frameworks. Morphological analysis has a more-or-less well-defmed package but its title does not make for easy communication or identifiability. Its track record of practical success has been overlaid by other factors. However, it is adopted as a subsidiary part particularly of German-language based domain-specific procedures. Operational research has changed its effective title several times but this may be explained by endeavours to adapt to changing demands. It contains much highly Specific material, has a track record of success, is likely in part to be significant in dealing with immediate tasks, and is teachable and examinable by traditional methods. Overall domain-specific procedures is an umbrella category for a range of well-defined procedures of which the scheme in VDI-Richtlinie 223534 is perhaps the best current example. Schemes of this kind, although embracing the ideas of systems engineering, functional analysis, morphological analysis, costing for design, and design heuristics, etc, are set out in compact packages adapted to specific sectors of engineering and backed with quality. They have potential for ease in acquisition (at least in part) and application and have potential relevance to immediate needs. A tendency, however, will be to treat them as DT infrastructure. There is a relevant title for reliability studies and schemes are available in well-defined packages which are specific and have value for immediate needs. Synectics have become well known as a title although it does not readily convey the contents of the package. It has immediate practical relevance in specific circumstances and a good track record but it is not easy to apply without help. Systems engineering (in its broadest sense) is a well-defined package with a relevant title but tends to be abstract in nature. It has become a conceptual contributor to DT infrastructure. Value analysis has a well-defined package with a relevant title. It is specific with potential immediate relevance and a track record of success.

DESIGN STUDIES

ACADEMIC OPTIONS, DTT AND MARKET ENTRY Undergraduate design education at university level depends in part upon the technical domain catered for, any requirements for professional qualification, and the balance between operation/design/research foreseen for graduates. Given a significant pressure to provide design education there will be a tendency for it to be seen in terms of DT infrastructure. This will provide a generalized capability rather than dealing with very specific skills and techniques. Further, because of the structure of university teaching, there will be a tendency to exclude multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary topics. Moreover university teaching will tend to recapitulate traditional aspects of the subject and material which is readily available in compact published form. In various ways university teaching is unlikely to transfer much advanced DT or specific DT for which companies may have a critical demand. Universities do not often take part in market research regarding their products. There are some exceptions which attempt not only to react to customer needs but also show themselves capable of responding swiftly. More advanced training by university departments is to be expected through postgraduate and postexperience courses. This can be brought about with the help of

part-time lecturers from industry, by university staff members with close industrial connections, and through material based on recent internal research. The relevance and level of the training, particularly in the case of postexperience courses, may be gauged by the magnitude of attendance, the design-intensiveness of the sponsoring companies, and the level of fee extracted. Industrial companies are unlikely to pay for material which has a bias towards DT infrastructure, can be obtained by book study, has little of immediate application, and offers no advantage over the grade of DT which they already have developed or adopted. To be able to deal with front-runner companies, university departments need to offer relevant material based on new research or on aspects of DT which have so far eluded the companies concerned. To be able to mount postexperience courses at this level is a major indicator of achievement in DTT. University departments wishing to participate in active and valued DTT with industrial companies should be prepared to evaluate their own capabilities and adopt a marketing approach, recognizing competitors and alternatives (as, for example, listed in the Design Council Directory), taking account of expected demand and developments in DT. Some aspects of DTT in which university departments may participate are indicated qualitatively in Figure 3. This suggests options with respect to level of work. It

Jv

Id

Company A1 (top management + management + specialist effort)

Alternative channels

Company Bl

Consultant I I I

Company B3

I

V

Computer-based system supplier

i

/Research

University department

Alternative channels

Company B2

I ~ [--'~---] Educational_ [ Alternative channels [ L _ ~ eff°rt ~ / ~

Company B4

Actors - company managers; company specialists; computer-based system supplier; consultants; recruits (fresh/with experience); salesmen; software producers; trainers; university departments; university researchers Alternative channels - audio recording; book; conference; consultation; demonstration; discussion; film; in-house formal/informal; iournal paper; newspaper; radio; TV; videocassette; workshop Figure 3. Some design technologyflow patterns

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also includes the assumption that a significant part is now played by computer-based systems suppliers who, apart from developing or gathering new DT, exert considerable sales effort in a manner largely unfamiliar in university practice.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS • • •

• •

•

•

•

It is possible to define the fields of DT and DTT. No adequate overall study of the field of DTT has yet been made. From various pieces of research information and through the light of experience it is possible to bring together models of broad applicability. These show the influences of management, size of organization, and technical effort. Further information may be gathered by the compilation of available case material and its analysis. Analysis shows the significance of actors, channels, and DT packages. Front-runner organizations are seen to be important in DT development and DTT. University departments which wish to participate more effectively in DTT need to be familiar with these results, appraise their own strengths and weaknesses, study possible markets. To advance knowledge about DTT more case material should be collected. Areas of interest have been suggested, including personality factors and DT features; developments in CAD; and the generation and application of DT within the information technology sectors. There should be examination of the practice in front-runner industries, particularly in the field of information technology to identify new items of DT with a view to their transfer elsewhere.

TWELVE D T PROCEDURES

Brainstorming in its usually accepted technical sense was introduced by Alex F Osborn. This was against his background of work as a partner in the advertising agency of Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn. Earlier he had been a teacher with an interest in writing and had been encouraged by the editor of Readers' Digest in 1939 to develop the subject of creativity. The first edition of his book Applied Imagination, came out in 195335 and was taken up and used the same year by Prof J Arnold at MIT and by a number of leading engineering firms, some of which had already shown great interest in the development of relevant intra-mural courses. Of particular note were Chrysler Motors, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, International Business Machines and US Rubber. In 1954 US defence agencies and other federal departments and bureaux adopted the book's procedures. The same year the Creative Education Foundation was set up, financed by royalties from the author's teaching materials. In 1955 widespread training for all kinds of employees was introduced by industrial

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companies and the same year a Creative Problem-solving Institute was held jointly with the State University of New York at Buffalo. Annual events of this kind have been held at Buffalo for nearly 30 years. In 1955 the Foundation financed a study of the psychological background to the principles and procedures of the text (R Youtz, Barnard College, Columbia University). Independent researches on brainstorming and associated procedures have taken place since then in a number of centres and important modifications suggested, some of which are noted by Rickards. A decay of interest in brainstorming was noted by Jantsch in 196736 but present evidence is that the use of brainstorming remains widespread, forming a valuable part in handling design-linked problems such as concept generation and value analysis. How efficiently the brainstorming process is handled is not known. There are grounds for believing that much of what is taught about brainstorming is inadequate, particularly with respect to the methods of working. Apart from the CPSI at Buffalo there is little in the way of organizations which may be said specifically to promote brainstorming. With one or two exceptions, consultancies, networks, etc. appear to be more concerned with promoting the use of a range of techniques among which brainstorming, in some variant form or forms, plays a part. Costing for design is largely of recent emergence although the practice of costing itself is old, with its derivative cost estimating - - what is needed for any transaction in advance of manufacture - - of comparable age. Costing techniques have largely been developed within industry to suit specific needs. The broad lines of development of cost estimating have been reviewed by Gregory3~ and there is a rough distinction between the needs of building and construction, plant projects, and mass production operations. In both building and plant projects costs are expected to be checked in detail at completion. In mass production operations work, etc. tends to continue for long periods while, at the same time, output is being sold. For each of these the cost of manufacture is ultimately established. Design, however, takes place in advance. By some means it is necessary to construct from direct experience, or other ways, plausible estimates which are sufficient for the purpose of steering design. It is obvious that a cost cannot be estimated for a design on the basis of drawings that have yet to be made. Those industries which have to submit tenders in advance of detailed design have been those where the major efforts to achieve short-cut methods have been made. Here there is a split in practice between the building and construction industry and the plant projects industry. In the former it has frequently been the practice for a consultant to prepare drawings and then for a quantity surveyor to prepare bills of quantities from them upon which potential contractors have made bids. In the plant industry the general practice has been for estimates to be prepared solely by the potential contractors. For building and construction the pressure has been upon quantity surveyors to fmd short-cuts to

DESIGN STUDIES

arriving at bills of quantities whereas for plant contractors the pressure has been upon finding short-cuts to overall prices. In each case there is a gap between the use of short-cut methods of the kinds stated and what is needed by designers. This has been adequately identified in both fields and the lines traced back, usually with the help of some academic research. For the preparation of estimates more suitable for the designer it has been necessary to collect data from earlier projects, standardize them, then submit them to statistical analysis according to the detail available. From such work it has been possible to develop ways of arriving at cost per unit of function, parametric cost (related to some measurable aspect of the finished item e.g. cost per kg), and to show the validity of using ratios of various kinds which tend to be constant. The arrival of cheap computation has made the calculations much easier. With the selection of technical approaches now shown to be useful it is possible to assign techniques to stages of design, as is done both for building and construction and for plant projects. For these areas there are books and publications, fairly widespread teaching, and relevant subject associations. For mass production operations there is still a gap between what is done by estimating in the works and what has been developed by university researchers. Important developments here have been concerned with making allowance for the number of items of a kind manufactured (this makes the field different from the two project-based industries already treated above). Otherwise the general principles are the same for the three sectors: use of ratios, parametric costing, and function costing, the last still to be achieved in mass production. Design heuristics are essentially rules of thumb which suggest one or more directions in which to work but without guarantee of success. The use of such heuristics is very old. Leonardo da Vinci wrote of ways to get suggestions in painting and it is likely that the informal teaching of heuristics was important within some ateliers concerned with painting. Heuristics are mostly to be expected to come from practitioners. Within industry and for each company there are likely to be specific heuristics which relate to the design of the products involved, e.g. for the design of new aero-engines, or for the design of heat exchangers (probably company specific). Heuristics may be very general in application, possibly at the strategic level, or within a broad approach methodology such as the work study improvement rule: eliminate, combine, modify, change. They may be specific to an engineering technical domain of the kinds already mentioned. They may be applicable solely at the detailing stage. In the days of apprenticeship the assimilation of heuristics took place informally in the workshop or design office. In many cases such heuristics would hardly have appeared as the subjects of high-level management promotion. Only recently has the study of heuristics for design become interesting to academics. This has taken place party because of the drive towards computer-based design. The interest has been at such a level as to overcome some of the previously widespread

Vol 5 No 4 October 1984

distaste among academics for non-algorithmic procedures. Within chemical engineering Rudd et al 3s, for example, from amid a world-wide flurry of related activity, collected, examined, and showed how to deploy relevant heuristics in process design. In mechanical engineering Ehrlenspiel et a139 have brought together relevant heuristics with respect to cost and manufacture. A method for deploying them is shown in the summary of VDI Richtlinie 2235 .°. Within electronics the drive to reduction of the number of parts to be assembled is now often mentioned as a company objective and is based on a design rule. Sinclair, for example, speaks of this and other rules of thumb. University teaching of heuristics is still apparently coming largely from individuals who have taken part in the development of the field, or from their students, rather than being suggested by syllabus. Functional analysis has a relatively long history of evolutionary development. It emerged in some formal way in method study and work measurement and can be traced back to the Gilbreths who operated a consultancy which served US manufacturing industry largely to improve labour productivity. Others took up such approaches in the 1920s and 1930s. New impulses came from Allen H Mogenson at the Industrial Management Center training school, Lake Placid, in 1939, with his ideas on work simplification. After World War II the practice of work study was particularly developed within the UK by Imperial Chemical Industries from 1947 onwards. Beeching was the internal management promoter and Currie the task specialist. Work study was promoted widely outside ICI and this was helped greatly by Currie's book41, published in 1959. The notion of applying work study to design was taken up by Wade of Birmingham Technical College and transferred to the Engineering Employers' West of England Association at Bristol where Matchett took on a special study of application to design and was teaching it by 1962. From this came several identifiable derivatives, e.g. by the Admiralty and the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. Application t,f work study methods to process design and the process industries continued to be promoted within ICI. A central feature of their approach is 'critical examination' which calls for answers to the key questions: what?, where?, when?, who?, how? These answers are then questioned and alternatives are called for from which selection has to be made. The starting question 'What is achieved?' requires a function statement as answer. Such a functional analysis was early identified as part of systems engineering (as conceived and practised within the telecommunications industry). Functional analysis has helped greatly in the building of value analysis (as has the rather less specific attribute listing) and, further, it has been the progenitor of later and more specialized procedures, e.g. hazard analysis. Functional analysis itself has been examined in finer detail, covering function statement, function structure and subfunctions. It has led to the assembly of solutionsin-principle and to 'design catalogues'. Some of this work has been done in one of several technical domains and has then been re-invented elsewhere. Partly inspired by value

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analysis, and now perhaps because of the needs of 'front-end' design, the concept of function costing is spreading, more successfully in some domains than in others. At the most general level functional analysis is now treated as a key step in a systems approach, at the beginning, and at successively lower hierarchical levels. Whatever the system has to do, old or new, physical or human, we need to identify first the necessary functions free from any kind of embodiment, often using block diagrams (where relevant) and exploring alternative ways of fulfdling the functions. In many modern systems the spread of alternatives is likely to be across previously perceived disciplinary boundaries. Because of its centrality and power the concept of functional analysis has tended to diffuse into most design methodologies. No modern book is known in the English language which deals with functional analysis and design in an up-to-date manner. Although there is an interested society - - the Institute of Work Study Practitioners - - it has a faded image in industry and its most recent publication of substance by, Raybould and Minter 4~, has little to do with design as such. Functional analysis appears to be taught at university by those who came under the old work study influence. Hazard analysis derives from industries and technical domains in which the possiblity of major disasters assumes significance. In some cases pressure for safety through design has been applied by law or directive, and in other cases because of the likelihood of very large fmancial loss. For some situations, e.g. dam design, there is an obligation for the engineer conerned to be registered. Design practice in the US aerospace industry has been influenced by the need to operate within a safe design code. This repeats earlier practice with respect to building and construction. In the UK the requirement in aerospace, in nuclear power, and increasingly in other industries, is the demonstration of provision for safety through design. This embraces more than the old design of items to standards acceptable by insurance companies, e.g. as for pressure vessels, which itself may be traced back to the widespread nineteenth century experience of exploding boilers, particularly in the USA. The new requirements relate to complex systems. Techniques developed for aiding safety through design appear to have received particular impetus from the Boeing company-- an aerospace industry leader - - which held the 'systems safety' symposium in Seattle in 1965. Here the application of fault trees was particularly promoted. In this the propagation of faults was shown through diagrams in a qualitative manner. Decision theory problems had been met in World War II operational research and academic interest had been stimulated which led later to the notions of dynamic programming and decision-making under uncertainty. For these, relevant branching diagrams had been introduced together with methods of use. The use of the event tree (which sees the event as a species of decision) seems to have been developed in the UK nuclear power industry by Farmer 43 using the OR stimulus. Failure mode and effects analysis developed further in the aerospace

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industry. In the chemical industry Lawley44 is linked with the development of hazard and operability studies. This approach ('Hazop') considers a proposed or actual plant system, develops and uses a search procedure based on a pattern of possible malfunctions or failures in operation for which consequences are followed through. Recently, particularly in the UK nuclear industry, there has been an emergence of possible ways to analyse the effect of human failure in complex systems and likely hazards. Studies related to hazard analysis inevitably link with reliability analysis. Studies of hazard likelihood are time-consuming and expensive, usually requiring group work. They demand both imagination and practicality. It has to be assumed that they receive considerable executive support. Seminars in this field attract much backing. University research covers such subjects as the application of computers to hazard studies, and the development of standardized methods of presentation and calculation. Teaching is undertaken within relevant technical domains and safety analyses are beginning to be called for in student design projects. There are no specialist societies working in this area but rumours speak of possible developments. There are networks which are not open to the public because of problems of confidentiality. Morphological analysis, although it has clear and ancient precursors such as Kabalistic teachings and the works of Ramon Lull, was developed formally by the Swiss, Fritz Zwicky, when working at the Aerojet Engineering Corporation in Azusa, California in 1942 as noted by Jantsch 45. His first applications were to determine the totality of all jet engines in principle which are composed of simple elements and activated by chemical energy. A first evaluation was made in 1943 and revised in 1951 to allow for more parameters. Zwicky, an astronomer by training, when working at the California Institute of Technology extended application of the technique to consideration of possible modes of existence of objects in space, and to possible modes of making the moon habitable, ultimately extending his thinking to 'planetary engineering' (this includes the possibility of changing planetary orbits). Although there have been various societies for the promotion of morphological research (USA and Switzerland) both Zwicky himself and some of his supporters have managed to deflect serious consideration from the central notions. Sound practical examples exist of the application of morphological analysis to engineering and related problems. These cover both input-output systems and multiple attribute clusters. Each of these may be stated in functional terms although it is possible to use other approaches, e.g. shape. There are several wellknown examples of prior engineering work in which material has been compiled in ways implicitly suitable for morphological analysis, e.g. Reuleaux, and later Wankel. Some technical domains have prior category structures which lend themselves to morphological analysis. A recent and interesting derivative of morphological analysis has been a method of exploration for new uses of materials by Carsons and Rickards 46. It is notable that morphological analysis is

DESIGN STUDIES

not a technique immediately applicable to primary invention. It needs to be built upon prior examples upon which a search structure may be developed. It relates strongly to function structure in functional analysis. There are several books about morphological analysis but they do not adequately reflect the potential of the method. Although lip-service is paid to it any teaching is likely to be at a low level, the former Zwicky morphological box being treated solely as a matrix presentation without reflection upon the deeper principles involved. Because adequate books are not available reference to practical experience is usually neglected. Operational research (OR) became so named in 1940 following the setting up of a mixed scientific group by the Royal Air Force Fighter Command in an effort to make the best use of scarce military resources. This sprang from an initial enterprise over the introduction of radar. OR as it developed and spread was a high-level form of work study which made use of data collection and modelling techniques, including mathematical modelling. It was particularly directed at problems of supply, bombing, submarine warfare, the use of artillery and military strategy. Each of the three military groups - army, navy and air force - - had its specialist groups. After World War II many of the people involved moved into industry and elsewhere. Here the early applications dealt with production scheduling, inventory control and physical distribution. Such services were principally taken up by large organizations such as those dealing with coal, iron and steel, and oil. This initiative in the UK was taken up in the USA by 1951. By this time the development of a mathematical model had become a central feature, starting from a systems approach and carried through by a multidisciplinary team. The improvement of performance of organizations was the main target although it was recognized that OR could be applied to the design of mechanical and man-machine systems, including computer-based systems. The term systems analysis began to be used increasingly. The first major academic promotion of OR seems to have been centred around the Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, where a short course in OR was begun in 1952, and where from 1955, there existed a strong group which brought together OR, digital computation and a growing activity in automatic control engineering. These lines of thought gave a basis for the System Research Center. The lectures prepared for the short course became the basis of the first major book on OR in 195747. This drew together the principal aspects of OR, including many of the recent developments in specific techniques such as linear programming, decision processes and Monte Carlo methods, each of which had attained some significance in the US military-industrial network. Within the strategy of the systems approach OR became explicitly 'the application of mathematical and scientific methods to problems of military, business, and man-machine systems with a view toward improving the over-all performance of such systems by analysing the interactions of the various parts'. Within industry the most promising

Vol 5 No 4 October 1984

techniques (in descending order) appeared to be simulation, linear programming and critical path analysis. The use of such techniques was greatly stimulated by the increasing availability of computation. The concept of systems analysis was readily adapted to the application side of computers. Present day teaching at universities tends to operate under the name of management science or systems analysis although the Operational Reaseach Society continues as a meetings and publications organization. OR specialists tend to be employed either by large companies or consultancies. Overall domain-specific design procedures developed initially within large industrial firms as the correct bureaucratic manner of working. This was usually reflected in written procedures and related documents, and in the location and naming of offices. Historical records enable us to follow what happened in such sectors as aerospace and automobile industries. Disclosure of internal training practices, particularly by publication, brings us closer to the state of the art. The outstanding example of this relates to systems engineering which, in a sense, was an attempt to escape the bounds of being domain-specific.~ Examples of design procedures which come from particular industrial firms are those of Alger and Hays (General Electric) 4s and of Edel and colleagues (General Motors) 49. The academic development of design procedures usually came from some linkage between industrial practice and the academic world, by direct experience on the part of the academic, or through constant interaction as a consultant, or by association between someone with industrial experience in joint authorship. An important feature of some of the academically-generated books is the incorporation of concepts and knowledge not immediately accessible to those working in industry, with a few exceptions. Gosling 5°, in dealing with electronic system design, enlarges the system background, discusses rational evaluation, brings in notions from OR and cybernetics, and explores general approaches to synthesis. Rudd and Watson 51, in developing a modern text on chemical process system design, provide a background of applied mathematics and industrial experience to link together a systems approach, applications of OR, and a concern for uncertainty in various aspects, in addition to the employment of economic criteria. Several useful publications also emerged from consultancies touched by academic influences, e.g. by McCrory 52 and by Love 53. The latter, essentially linked with the manufacture of consumer durables, emphasizes the significance of iteration in design. The enlargement of the notion of the 'black box' may be traced through Gosling, with a reference to human behaviour, through McCrory where it becomes a stage in designing, to the German text of Rodenacker 54 in which are summarized rules for methodical design beginning with the black box in which has to be set down the required system conversions of energy, material and information, and the functions and alternative possibilities and combinations, etc. Subsequent academic work in Germany has tended to multiply variations of such procedures. This has been rationalized

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to some extent by the preparation and issuing of VDI Richtlinie 222255. One-page summarizing diagrams at least provide a basis for communication among the various protagonists and a sufficient guide for students. Reliability studies of an'elementary kind have always been of interest to manufacturers of engineering equipment in order to diminish the pressure of complaints, demands for service, and, sometimes, expensive replacements. The application of standard costing procedures in industry tended to throw up questions of reliability of equipment following the analysis of variance. The application of statistical methods to quality control, applicable particularly to mass production industries (and to flow production industries) helped to identify some of the contributions made by individual components to overall system reliability. In some industries companies with many branches were able to coordinate information about the causes of outrage and suitable means for preventing them. In many cases efforts to improve plant reliability led to advances in the details of design or to major changes. Practical attention to problems of reliability was intensified by UK OR studies during World War II from their beginning with the introduction and development of military radar and, later, to concern with keeping aircraft flying. Involvement with radar applications led in the early 1950s to electronic components and equipment systems, airborne and otherwise. Military demands for reliability of mechanical equipment ensured further development here and helped to bring about the recognition of the differences in possible treatments between electronic and mechanical systems. The space programme in the USA laid a further emphasis upon reliability studies. In the UK, although military pressures continued, the nuclear industry played, and plays, a considerable part in the gathering of information related to reliability and useful in design. Several organisations exist to promote reliability. There have been a number of books published which deal with theory, the application to mechanical systems, and the application to electronic systems. Wassel156 has provided a useful review which relates reliability to design needs. The British Standards Institution57 has produced a comprehensive handbook, BS 5760, which provides a brief survey of reliability theory and practice. The subject lends itself to academic teaching. Synectics comprises a battery of procedures for stimulating the generation of ideas by a group. It is often linked in some way with training in the use of the battery. Synectics was largely originated by W J J Gordon of the Invention Research Group of Arthur D Little (a wellknown US industrial consultancy company). He believed that ideas could be deliberately stimulated by the use of psychological states: detachment, deferment, and speculation, etc. He used audio-recording to examine the working of groups. In 1958 he was joined by George Prince who was particularly interested in the use of repressed thoughts. The Invention Research Group consisted at that time of eight men whose job was to develop new or improved products, processes, and procedures for client companies. The names of some of

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the group members may be identified from the preface to Gordon's book 5s and from elsewhere. In 1960 Synectics Inc was set up indepently of Arthur D Little and was devoted to invention, research into the inventive process and teaching. The first publication of findings was in the 1961 book. Application and study continued, now reinforced by video-recording and by inputs from other programmes on problem solving and the operation of groups. The background to later practice was given by Prince 59 in 1970. Training in synectics has been done directly by the originators and by licensed consultancies. One of these, Abraxas, originally sponsored university research which was completed by Saward 6° in 1976 and covered ways of improving group processes. This used video-recordings from client-based problem-solving sessions. Examples of practical experience have been given by Parker. Synectics, although it has many successes to its credit, is not readily learned from a book and demands 'hands-on' experience with possible updating. Because of the time involvement by a group of people and a need for motivation it is almost an obligation to work only on real problems of some potential significance. Pressure to apply synectics comes from the marketing efforts of a relevant consultancy and from its track record in dealing with difficult tasks. Systems engineering grew up in major industrial groups concerned with telecommunications. The most important base was Bell Telephone Laboratories and it was G W Gilman of Bell who made what was probably the first attempt to teach systems engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This led to an internal postgraduate course at Bell which began in 1955. From this was developed the book produced by Hall61 in 1962. From among various definitions of the subject that in 1959 of J A Morton, Vice-President of Bell Laboratories, is worth quoting: The System Engineeringmethod recognises that each system is an integrated whole even though composed of diverse, specialised structures and sub-functions. It further recognises that any system has a number of objectives and that the balance between them may differ widely from system to system. The methods seek to optimise the overall system functions according to the weighted objectives and to achieve maximum compatibility of its parts. In Hall's book Bender summarizes the logical use of block diagrams in the analysis-synthesis process. A block is used to represent a clearly identifiable transformation. The so-called fundamental block defines a functional relationship between overall input and output. Morton summarizes a general approach in which functional structuring precedes hardware structuring. The term 'black box' seems to have been particularly promoted from outside the original scope of systems engineering, probably because of problems of meaning. Ashby62, a cybernetician, seems particularly to have promoted 'black box' discourse although he made it clear that 'the problem of the black box' arose in electrical engineering. Most of the procedures to be found in later domainspecific applications are clearly identifiable in Hall's

DESIGN STUDIES

book. Generality and abstractness are an insufficient foundation for continuing viability. Thus although the primary ideas are echoed it is the practical linkages with specific domains which have made it possible to teach system-based design approaches. Value analysis was developed within the General Electric Company of the USA. This company has a record of involving itself in internal trainng for problem solving, the use of brainstorming, and the development of an overall design procedure. After World War II Harry Erlicher (Vice-President of Purchasing) who had observed the scope and possibilities of materials substitution when it was imposed by wartime needs directed attention to its potential in peacetime. The task of development and exploitation was assigned to Lawrence Miles in 1947. He conceived the notion of value analysis and some of the key techniques were put together and tested. The immediate advantages of the procedure were kept within the company until US defence agencies took a strong interest in acquiring and using the skills. In 1954 the Navy Bureau of Ships was the first to set up a formal value analysis programme and Miles was called in to help. In 1956 the Army Ordnance Corps became interested and GE employees were seconded to help. Following widespread awareness of the possibilities of value analysis its employment was written into the conditions of contract by many government authorities (compare this with the spread in use of critical path techniques in project planning and control). This led to adoption of value analysis by companies for their own use. Miles 63 detailed the procedure in his book. Work on value analysis and its development was supported by GE for nearly 20 years. Some of the early history is given by O'Brien 64. Value analysis was the term originally applied to the improvement of the value/cost ratio of existing components. The incorporation of relevant techniques into initial design work was the basis for the term value engineering. In developing value analysis exploited techniques already available elsewhere such as functional analysis. In application it made extra demands for rapid cost estimating. The use of value analysis was particularly attractive to manufacture who, through practical examples, could see substantial savings. Although there are several books available on the subject, 'hands-on' training tends to be the most effective way of passing on knowledge and motivating the people involved. As with other procedures the pattern of demand for knowledge is one which has a slow initial rise, then speeds up, reaches a peak, and then tends to die away. Meanwhile the essentials become built into operating procedures and educational syllabuses.

3 Houghton, J A Collection of Letters for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, London (1601-1683, 1692-1703) 4 Baynes, K and Pugh, F The Art of the Engineer Lutter-

worth, Guildford (1981) 5 Booker, P J A History of Engineering Drawing Chatto and Windus, London (1963) 6 Ashby, Sir E Technology and the Academics Macmillan, London (1958) 7 Armytage, W H G A Social History of Engineering: Faber and Faber, London (1961) Ehrlenspiel, K (1983) quoted by Gregory, S A 'Design for

cost manufacture in West Germany' Des Stud Vol 4, No 4 p 245 Hykin, D H W 'Design case histories: a field study of design in the engineering industry' Paper 4-13 Design Activity Conference, London (1973) 10 Parker, R C The Management of Innovation Wiley, Chichester (1982) 11 Gregory, S A and Price, A F 'Industry views of design training' Preprint D6 1-6 IChemE Design Congress, Birmingham (1976) 12 Gregory, S A and Commander, M W 'New materials

adoption' Des Stud Vol 1, No 2 p 102 (1979) 13 Gregory, S A 'Design as part of a job' Des Stud Vol 3, No 2 p 65 (1982) 14 Nabseth, L and Ray, G F (eds) The Diffusion of New

Industrial Processes CUP, London (1974) 15 Hollander, S The Sources of Increased Efficiency MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (1965) 16 Pelz, D C and Andrews, F M Scientists m Organizations

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DESIGN STUDIES