Survey on the status of Computational Design research and practice

This report presents the results from a survey of current practice in the use of design optimization conducted amongst UK companies. The survey was completed by the Design Optimization Group in the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University. The general aims of this research were to understand the current status of design optimization research and practice and to identify ways in which the use of design optimization methods and tools could be improved.

Product intelligence: Theory and practice

Are there any benefits in allowing orders and products to be able to manage their own progress through a supply chain? The notion of associating (and even embedding) information management and reasoning capabilities with a physical product has been discussed for over ten years now. This talk will review the notions of product intelligence and examine the rationales for these models and the practicality of their implementation. Both theoretical and practical issues associated with product intelligence will be examined referencing a number of trial deployments in manufacturing, logistics and aerospace equipment servicing. © 2012 IFAC.

Product intelligence in industrial control: Theory and practice

This paper explores the evolving industrial control paradigm of product intelligence. The approach seeks to give a customer greater control over the processing of an order - by integrating technologies which allow for greater tracking of the order and methodologies which allow the customer [via the order] to dynamically influence the way the order is produced, stored or transported. The paper examines developments from four distinct perspectives: conceptual developments, theoretical issues, practical deployment and business opportunities. In each area, existing work is reviewed and open challenges for research are identified. The paper concludes by identifying four key obstacles to be overcome in order to successfully deploy product intelligence in an industrial application. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.