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Internet applications in product design and manufacturing
Materials & Design Materials and Design 25 (2004) 541–542 www.elsevier.com/locate/matdes
Book review Internet applications in product design and manufacturing G.Q. Huang and K.L. Mak (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, 2003, ISBN: 3-540-43465-8, 272 pp. £56.00, US$89.95, SFR 133.0, EUR 79.95 This book describes Web applications in product design and manufacture, and will therefore have broad appeal and relevance to all who use or need to use the Internet to support research, development and design. Although not your normal text for traditional researchers in materials and design, there are specific areas of this book that could be very useful and provide direction for the future. The Internet features strongly in most aspects of professional life and this book highlights developments within manufacturing and product development. The authors are Dr. George Huang, Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Hong Kong, and Professor K.L. Mak, Head of Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. Both authors were educated in the UK, are chartered engineers and have complementary research interests conducive to the subject of this book. The book is based extensively on the results of various research projects sponsored through a number of research grants awarded to the authors from various funding bodies. Dr. HuangÕs research interests in particular focuses on digital manufacture, with an emphasis on the development and adoption of web and Internet applications in product design and manufacture. The book is divided in two main parts, the first part gives an overview of Web and Internet applications in product design and manufacture, and the second part explaining several specific but typical Web applications. The first part of the book introduces Web applications in business and the concept of digital enterprises, setting the context for the rest of the book. It also reviews recent developments of Web applications in product design and manufacture as well as some of the challenges being faced, including those related to operation, development, deployment and synchronisation. This part of the book concludes with a chapter devoted to business models of digital manufacturing portals. The second part of the book begins with an outline of the design, development and operation of a special purpose search engine for Web apdoi:10.1016/j.matdes.2004.01.006
plications in product introduction. The remaining chapters describe specific applications, including Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Engineering Change Management, supply chain management, collaborative product definition, collaborative product design review, and finally courseware development for supporting teaching and learning in product engineering and manufacturing technology. The shelf life of books based around computing technology is normally short, however the publication of books dealing with specific domains like design and manufacture is to be welcomed as it consolidates the subject. The Internet is a popular and powerful means of accessing information and the authors of this book have managed to highlight current and future applications in manufacturing. Despite its specialist approach, the content is applicable to both potential users and practitioners of Web applications. The language can get tedious for those without an information technology background, however the bulk of the material is easily comprehensible, despite the over use of acronyms. This is particularly evident in the latter chapters but once you get past the technology and deal directly with the subject of the application you are on familiar ground. The early part of the book although important for those in the field has a tendency to be rather abstract for those with specific interests. Throughout the book useful links are provided to websites to explore additional sources of information, however some of these sites are now not maintained. A traditional hardcopy reference list is also included at the end of the book. The last chapter describes the increasingly popular means of teaching Ôon-lineÕ, although a specific case, courseware is rapidly becoming mainstream in a lot of educational establishments, supplementing and/or replacing traditional teaching methods. Each chapter follows a similar format with a broadly introductory section and ending with a useful summary. A particularly useful aspect of most chapters is the attempt to forecast future developments, so critical in computer-based material because changes are so rapid. Overall the material of the book is well structured and leads the reader from the general to the specific, both at a book and chapter level. The book is aimed at both practitioners and researchers, although there is more of a bias towards the latter, presumably an academic influence of the authors. The book has a very high quality
542
Book review / Materials and Design 25 (2004) 541–542
of reproduction, illustrated with line diagrams and computer screen dumps, although some of these are too small to read. The book is good value for money and highly recommended for academic researchers in product design and manufacturing who either exploit the Web as part of their research or actually develop Web applications.
K.L. Edwards School of Computing and Technology University of Derby, Kedleston Road Derby DE22 1GB UK Tel.: +44-1332-591-729; fax: +44-1332-622-739 E-mail address: [email protected]
Book review Internet applications in product design and manufacturing G.Q. Huang and K.L. Mak (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, 2003, ISBN: 3-540-43465-8, 272 pp. £56.00, US$89.95, SFR 133.0, EUR 79.95 This book describes Web applications in product design and manufacture, and will therefore have broad appeal and relevance to all who use or need to use the Internet to support research, development and design. Although not your normal text for traditional researchers in materials and design, there are specific areas of this book that could be very useful and provide direction for the future. The Internet features strongly in most aspects of professional life and this book highlights developments within manufacturing and product development. The authors are Dr. George Huang, Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Hong Kong, and Professor K.L. Mak, Head of Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. Both authors were educated in the UK, are chartered engineers and have complementary research interests conducive to the subject of this book. The book is based extensively on the results of various research projects sponsored through a number of research grants awarded to the authors from various funding bodies. Dr. HuangÕs research interests in particular focuses on digital manufacture, with an emphasis on the development and adoption of web and Internet applications in product design and manufacture. The book is divided in two main parts, the first part gives an overview of Web and Internet applications in product design and manufacture, and the second part explaining several specific but typical Web applications. The first part of the book introduces Web applications in business and the concept of digital enterprises, setting the context for the rest of the book. It also reviews recent developments of Web applications in product design and manufacture as well as some of the challenges being faced, including those related to operation, development, deployment and synchronisation. This part of the book concludes with a chapter devoted to business models of digital manufacturing portals. The second part of the book begins with an outline of the design, development and operation of a special purpose search engine for Web apdoi:10.1016/j.matdes.2004.01.006
plications in product introduction. The remaining chapters describe specific applications, including Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Engineering Change Management, supply chain management, collaborative product definition, collaborative product design review, and finally courseware development for supporting teaching and learning in product engineering and manufacturing technology. The shelf life of books based around computing technology is normally short, however the publication of books dealing with specific domains like design and manufacture is to be welcomed as it consolidates the subject. The Internet is a popular and powerful means of accessing information and the authors of this book have managed to highlight current and future applications in manufacturing. Despite its specialist approach, the content is applicable to both potential users and practitioners of Web applications. The language can get tedious for those without an information technology background, however the bulk of the material is easily comprehensible, despite the over use of acronyms. This is particularly evident in the latter chapters but once you get past the technology and deal directly with the subject of the application you are on familiar ground. The early part of the book although important for those in the field has a tendency to be rather abstract for those with specific interests. Throughout the book useful links are provided to websites to explore additional sources of information, however some of these sites are now not maintained. A traditional hardcopy reference list is also included at the end of the book. The last chapter describes the increasingly popular means of teaching Ôon-lineÕ, although a specific case, courseware is rapidly becoming mainstream in a lot of educational establishments, supplementing and/or replacing traditional teaching methods. Each chapter follows a similar format with a broadly introductory section and ending with a useful summary. A particularly useful aspect of most chapters is the attempt to forecast future developments, so critical in computer-based material because changes are so rapid. Overall the material of the book is well structured and leads the reader from the general to the specific, both at a book and chapter level. The book is aimed at both practitioners and researchers, although there is more of a bias towards the latter, presumably an academic influence of the authors. The book has a very high quality
542
Book review / Materials and Design 25 (2004) 541–542
of reproduction, illustrated with line diagrams and computer screen dumps, although some of these are too small to read. The book is good value for money and highly recommended for academic researchers in product design and manufacturing who either exploit the Web as part of their research or actually develop Web applications.
K.L. Edwards School of Computing and Technology University of Derby, Kedleston Road Derby DE22 1GB UK Tel.: +44-1332-591-729; fax: +44-1332-622-739 E-mail address: [email protected]