Roxana Belecheanu

Crossing the agent technology chasm: Lessons, experiences and challenges in commercial applications of agents

Agent software technologies are currently still in an early stage of market development, where, arguably, the majority of users adopting the technology are visionaries who have recognized the long-term potential of agent systems. Some current adopters also see short-term net commercial benefits from the technology, and more potential users will need to perceive such benefits if agent technologies are to become widely used. One way to assist potential adopters to assess the costs and benefits of agent technologies is through the sharing of actual deployment histories of these technologies. Working in collaboration with several companies and organizations in Europe and North America, we have studied deployed applications of agent technologies, and we present these case studies in detail in this paper. We also review the lessons learnt, and the key issues arising from the deployments, to guide decision-making in research, in development and in implementation of agent software technologies.

The application of case based reasoning to decision support in new product development

This paper describes the application of case based reasoning (CBR) to decision support for design managers and engineers during the early phases of new product development projects, in a concurrent engineering environment. The paper discusses the rationale of using CBR, emphasising its suitability for ill‐defined, unstructured problems, in comparison with traditional knowledge‐based systems. The overall research approach is presented, the importance of case collection, case base maintenance and user training is highlighted and the pre‐requisites for effective use of the system are discussed. Finally, the benefits and costs of the CBR system, as perceived by the user companies, are discussed. The experimental nature of the approach is emphasised and it is shown that the industrial environment for which the system is designed and in which it is used has great bearing on its capability.

Commercial applications of agents: lessons, experiences and challenges

As has been argued very eloquently and effectively, there is a chasm that needs to be crossed in the adoption of any new technology [8], and the marketing of such technologies must somehow try to bridge the gap that arises. Many currently see agent technologies in the middle of that chasm period of adoption, where addressing the visionaries as well as the pragmatists (or early adopters) who avoid risks but readily see the advantages of tested technologies [11], is necessary. As part of the needed marketing exercise, we believe that a catalogue of case studies of deployed applications with real quantified business benefit, can help convince those wavering pragmatists. Perhaps more importantly, the lessons that can be drawn from such case studies may also be used to guide the efforts of new commercial agent technology providers, both in developing the technology itself, and in understanding the concerns and constraints of early adopters.

A Conceptualisation of Design Context to Explain Design Trade-Offs in the Automotive Industry

The paper explores decision-making rationale when making trade-offs in design. A case study of a mass-market car manufacturer was conducted using interviews, qualitative questionnaires and observation. It revealed that decision-making practices in trade-off situations depend on the way that decision makers perceive the relative importance of design targets and trade-off criteria. These practices are unformalised and embedded in the larger processes of car development and often contradict the technical guidelines for making trade-offs that exist in the company. The paper presents a conceptual framework to explain the rationale of trade-offs in different design contexts. How to apply this framework to understand design trade-offs is described with an illustration of its use in two real life examples.

Aricon Initiative: Barriers in Adopting the Virtual Enterprise Approach in the New Product Development (NPD) Context

This paper provides an overview of the ARICON1 project and some of its findings to date. ARICON aims to develop a readiness assessment tool and methodology, for evaluating companies’ capability to enter and perform in a Virtual Enterprise arrangement. This paper reports on the empirical stage of the project, namely the elicitation of typical problems and barriers for co-operation in a Virtual Enterprise. These problems have been collected through an iterative process, in which questionnaires and interactive workshops and seminars have been used. The participating companies included a large Aerospace & Defence manufacturer, a large automotive manufacturer and 9 SMEs in the aerospace, energy, telecommunications and mechanical sectors.

An investigation of design trade-offs in the automotive industry

This study aims to improve the understanding of the rationale behind decision trade-offs in design. A case study of a mass-market car manufacturer was conducted, through interviews, qualitative questionnaires and observation. The study revealed that decision making practices in trade-off situations follow a series of patterns, in the way that decision makers perceive the relative importance of the design targets and the criteria involved in the trade-off. These practices are not formalised and remain implicit in the larger mechanisms of car design and development and often contradict the technical guidelines for making trade-offs that exist in the company. These patterns have been formalised into a framework which explains the rationale of design trade-offs. The paper shows how this framework can be applied to the analysis of design trade-offs in a general design organisation and discusses its importance for practitioner designers and design researchers.