Mehdi Shahbazpour

Design communication for mass customisation

Implementing a system of mass customisation requires the firm to co-design a product with its customers. To facilitate mass customisation, many customisers are using product configurators to automate the sales and design process. However, the addition of a configurator drastically alters the flow of design communication, as well as the roles of varying departments throughout the firm. For instance, the design and marketing departments need to shift their focus to the development and support of the product configurator and product platforms. This paper focuses on the changes that a firm may be required to make for the successful implementation of mass customisation. A model that explains the flow of design-related information throughout a firm is proposed, building on the principles from popular literature throughout the field.

Strategic manufacturing system and process innovation through elimination of trade-offs

For many years, there has been a debate among researchers and practitioners about the notion of trade-offs and their role in manufacturing strategy. This paper examines the practical issues surrounding trade-offs and manufacturing strategy, and offers a framework for better management of trade-offs. The analysis indicates that current views on trade-offs are either impractical or static. The authors propose a consolidated approach in which the focus of strategic improvement process is divided into short-term and long-term strategies. It is suggested that in the short term, strategic initiatives must focus on overcoming ‘perceived’ trade-offs and system constraints in order to achieve the firms Manufacturing Performance Potential. In the long term, they must focus on eliminating the ‘real’ trade-offs and technical constraints of the system in order to achieve world-class levels of performance. While the current approaches to trade-off improvement focus on compromises and/or application of current ‘best practices’, manufacturing system and process innovation are proposed as the key to the elimination of trade-offs. Two problem-solving methodologies, Theory of Constraints and Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, were found to provide useful tools necessary for system and process innovation. With the aid of a case study, we demonstrate how these methodologies can be used to eliminate manufacturing trade-offs, in order to improve a companys competitiveness.

AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO DEVELOP STUDENTS' INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

This paper presents details of the multi-disciplinary capstone course ‘Advanced Innovation and New Product Development’, which was developed by the INNOVATIONZ research group at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The course is run in collaboration with the University’s Business and Creative Arts faculties, and with a range of industry partners, design consultants and business professionals, and is aimed at providing Engineering students with practice-relevant and multi-disciplinary learning experiences in the areas of product design, new product development and innovation management. The course includes a number of features and approaches which create a rich and integrated learning environment that helps students develop interdisciplinary product development knowledge, practise their teamwork and communication skills, and experience the new product development process through real-life project work. In the paper we provide an overview of the general concept and structure of our course, including course philosophy, course design and course objectives, which are in line with the needs of industry and with the requirements of the Engineering profession. This is followed by a more detailed discussion of a number of key aspects of our approach, which are particularly relevant to the achievement of our course objectives and outcomes. The main areas we discuss are our project-based learning approach and the associated assessment procedures, which are designed to support those aspects of learning we find particularly relevant for our students. Another important aspect covered in the paper is our approach to fostering the development of multi-disciplinary teamwork skills, which are critical for the successful involvement of professional engineers in the product development process. We conclude the paper with a selection of feedback comments from our students, which illustrate the effectiveness and the educational value of our course.

A non-queue-based paradigm in Discrete-Event-Simulation modelling for construction operations

Abstract Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) is an event-driven simulation approach in which a real dynamic process is imitated as it progresses over time. It has been recognized as a powerful technique for the quantitative analysis of complex construction operations. However, current DES modelling strategies/frameworks implicitly rely on queuing structures which are too rigid to easily describe systems with complex behaviour common in construction, e.g., multi-tasking resources and/or role changes of entities. Queuing networks are one of the most common elements of DES systems and have been used to model a wide range of problems, but they lack the generality to easily model the complex decision mechanisms required to, e.g., efficiently multi-task or dynamically determine the best role for an entity. This research proposes a new modelling approach for construction that replaces Queue-Based (QB) DES, with its implicit queuing network control, with Non-Queue-Based (NQB) DES that explicitly defines the decision mechanisms of a model. It utilises a new conceptual modelling paradigm for simulation, Hierarchical Control Conceptual Modelling, which was developed to address similar issues with control mechanisms in health care simulation. This new approach is especially beneficial for the construction industry where determining effective decision making mechanisms is of significant importance for optimising, e.g., logistics and resource utilisation. This research investigates the benefits of the proposed approach for DES models in construction by investigating three earthmoving case studies. Although the scope of this research is limited to DES modelling in construction, the outcomes of the proposed NQB paradigm in construction translate to other domains that utilise DES for solving complex problems.

A three-dimensional innovation process capability assessment tool

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new perspective on evaluating the overall innovation process performance of enterprises by using an innovation process capability assessment tool. The three dimensions of this tool include the determinants of the innovation process, key process domains and a capability maturity model. Because of this structure of the tool, it is not only able to evaluate innovation process capabilities, but also enables organisations to achieve a higher level of innovation performance. This paper is structured into four parts. Initially, the authors briefly introduce the background, aim and structure of this paper. Next, the three dimensions of this assessment tool are illustrated. After that, the three-dimensional Innovation Process Capability Assessment Tool (IPCAT) is introduced. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of this development are discussed.