Desarrollo de nuevos productos: caso Grupo «Industrias Alimentarias de Navarra»

Una versión preliminar de este caso fue presentada como ponencia en el «Second European Conference on Management of Technology» (EUROMOT), celebrado en septiembre de 2006 en Birmingham.

Designing for validation of medical devices and equipment

Validation is important in the design, development and production of medical devices since effective and appropriate validation plays a vital role in defining the success of a product in both technical and economic terms. Regulations and quality standards lay out the requirements for product validation, but it is left to each individual manufacturer to establish and maintain their own validation procedures. More recently, there has also been a change of emphasis in the regulations and standards that encourage the integration of validation into the development process. However, this poses particular challenges to the manufacturer since there is a distinct lack of guidance to assist this integration. This workbook provides the first real guidance on good design practices for medical device development. It has been developed through extensive consultation with device manufacturers and analysis of regulatory requirements. The approach is intended to assist manufacturers in meeting the new regulations.

Informazio-iturrien garrantzia berrikuntza teknologikoko jardueretarako

[EU]Gaur egunean bizi dugun krisi ekonomiko, produkzio ereduen transformazio eta globalizazioko testuinguruan, ikerketa, garapena eta berrikuntza (I+G+b) ezinbesteko faktoreak bilakatu dira herrialdeen hazkunde eta enpresen lidergo zein biziraupenerako. Berritasunaren bilatze horretan, egungo merkatuan enpresek etengabe egin beharreko egokitzapen teknologikoak direla eta, berrikuntza teknologikoak, hau da, produktuan edo prozesuan berritzeak, berebiziko garrantzia du. Gainera, oro har, lehiakortasunik ez galtzeko informazio estrategikoaren jabe izatea enpresentzat funtsezkoa bada ere, berrikuntza jarduerak aurrera eramateko oraindik ere gailentasun handiagoa dauka. Informazio estrategikoa iturri ezberdinetatik jaso daiteke eta horietako bakoitzari ematen zaion garrantzia ezberdina da. Lan honen helburua erlazio hori aztertzearena izanik, ondoriozta dezakegu, alde batetik, produktuan zein prozesuan berritzen duten enpresek, berrikuntza teknologikoak aurrera eramateko garaian, enpresa barnetik jasotako informazioari ematen diotela garrantzi gehien. Eta bestaldetik, instituzio publikoetatik, hau da, unibertsitate edo goi-ikasketetako zentroetatik, ikerketako erakunde publikoetatik edota zentro teknologikoetatik jasotako informazioari garrantzi gutxi ematen zaiola.

Significance of the photoperiod for the development of Cyclops vicinus. [Translation from: Zoologischer Anzeiger Supplementband 33, 190-195, 1969.]

The significance of the photoperiod, a well-known phenomenon with arthropods, for the development of Cyclops vicinus were studied in laboratory conditions. There are indications that the point of the development process (development of the eggs and proportion of sexes) can be influenced through the photoperiod.

Integrando multiagentes em ambientes 3D: um serious game para estimulação cognitiva

Sistemas Multiagentes estão recebendo cada vez mais a atenção de pesquisadores e desenvolvedores de jogos virtuais. O uso de agentes permite controlar o desempenho do usuário, adaptando a interface e alterando automaticamente o nível de dificuldade das tarefas. Este trabalho descreve uma estratégia de integração de sistemas multiagentes e ambientes virtuais tridimensionais e exemplifica a viabilidade dessa integração através do desenvolvimento de um jogo com características de Serious game. Este jogo visa estimular as funções cognitivas, tais como atenção e memória e é voltado para pessoas portadoras de diferentes distúrbios neuropsiquiátricos. A construção do jogo foi apoiada em um processo de desenvolvimento composto por várias etapas: estudos teóricos sobre as áreas envolvidas, estudo de tecnologias capazes de apoiar essa integração, levantamento de requisitos com especialistas, implementação e avaliação com especialistas. O produto final foi avaliado por especialistas da área médica, que consideraram os resultados como positivos.

Métodos e técnicas de Design Centrado no Usuário: um levantamento a partir da usabilidade de produtos do CTIC/Fiocruz

A relação causal entre métodos de projeto e a usabilidade de produtos de comunicação e informação foi o tema desse estudo que buscou identificar o estado da arte sobre um processo de projeto que resulte em mais usabilidade na web. A partir dessa identificação, avaliou-se as melhorias que poderiam ser adotadas nos processos de desenvolvimento de interfaces utilizados por uma equipe específica da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (CTIC - Fiocruz). Entendeu-se que um método de projeto deve estar atualizado em relação aos conhecimentos de áreas como a Ergonomia, a Interação Humano-computador e o Design de Interação. Para isso, adotou-se a hipótese de que o processo de projeto deve combinar três aspectos: a) um significativo envolvimento do usuário ao longo do processo; b) o uso de sucessivas iterações para configurar o produto e c) uma combinação mínima de técnicas relacionadas a objetivos específicos de cada fase de uma abordagem de Design Centrado no Usuário. Para contribuir com o desenvolvimento de métodos e técnicas que melhorem a usabilidade, descreveu-se as características dos métodos registrados na literatura e praticados por profissionais externos à Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz). A partir dessas informações, o estudo direcionou-se para o segundo objetivo específico: identificar melhorias nos métodos e técnicas aplicáveis no caso do CTIC Fiocruz. Através da combinação da revisão de literatura e da pesquisa de campo foram produzidas informações sobre tipos de fluxo dos métodos, tipos de envolvimento dos usuários, quantidade e gravidade de problemas de usabilidade observadas pelos profissionais e a validade de base geral de método para diferentes produtos. A primeira rodada de entrevista foi realizada para melhor entender o contexto da hipótese e a relação entre suas variáveis. A segunda rodada identificou as características do processo de projeto utilizado no CTIC. A partir dessas informações, aplicou-se duas técnicas com profissionais externos. Um questionário on-line foi utilizado para levantar informações bem específicas, em sua maioria de características quantitativas. A última técnica aplicada foi um card sorting on-line que apresentou um caso de projeto em que os profissionais indicaram quais técnicas seriam utilizadas diante de dois cenários diferentes: um mais favorável e outro restritivo. A análise demonstrou que a maioria dos profissionais acredita que os problemas de usabilidade são consequência da falta de determinadas abordagens e técnicas. Por isso, esses profissionais combinam fluxos iterativos com um significativo envolvimento do usuário no processo. Foram sugeridas melhorias para o método utilizado no CTIC sintetizadas através de um processo de Design Centrado no Usuário como ponto de partida que aplica o conceito tradicional de usabilidade (performance). Assim que possível, esse processo deve ser aperfeiçoado ao incluir o conceito de experiência do usuário que considera também os aspectos emocionais e hedonômicos na interação.

Building more sustainable solutions in production-consumption systems: the case of food for people with reduced access

In new product development, the ability to integrate different dimensions of sustainability at a value chain level is still a complex, problematic goal. As product-service approaches are increasingly enabling the introduction of more sustainable paths, this paper describes the authors' experience thus far when building insights into conditions for the implementation of integrated solutions in a process of co-development and testing in real life conditions, which are driven by a social need focusing on food for people with reduced access. Throughout this process, which brought together producers, consumers and other stakeholders to design and test industrialised, sustainable solutions, empirical evidence demonstrates feasibility and usefulness of the approach and insight into the conditions for implementing interactive, comprehensive multi-stakeholder processes in real life situations. In addition, results show that the delivery of innovative solutions enabled to offer social added value, economic profits and environmental improvements under specific experimental conditions. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A workbook-based methodology for implementing concurrent engineering

Concurrent Engineering demands a new way of working and many organisations experience difficulty during implementation. The research described in this paper has the aim to develop a paper-based workbook style methodology that companies can use to increase the benefits generated by Concurrent Engineering, while reducing implementation costs, risk and time. The three-stage methodology provides guidance based on knowledge accumulated from implementation experience and best practitioners. It encourages companies to learn to manage their Concurrent Engineering implementation by taking actions which expose them to new and valuable experiences. This helps to continuously improve understanding of how to maximise the benefits from Concurrent Engineering. The methodology is particularly designed to cater for organisational and contextual uniqueness, as Concurrent Engineering implementations will vary from company to company. Using key actions which improve the Concurrent Engineering implementation process, individual companies can develop their own 'best practice' for product development. The methodology ensures that key implementation issues, which are primarily human and organisational, are addressed using simple but proven techniques. This paper describes the key issues that the majority of companies face when implementing Concurrent Engineering. The structure of the methodology is described to show how the issues are addressed and resolved. The key actions used to improve the Concurrent Engineering implementation process are explained and their inclusion in the implementation methodology described. Relevance to industry. Implementation of Concurrent Engineering concepts in manufacturing industry has not been a straightforward process. This paper describes a workbook-style tool that manufacturing companies can use to accelerate and improve their Concurrent Engineering implementation. © 1995.

An analysis of factors improving technology roadmap credibility: A communications theory assessment of roadmapping processes

In recent years, many industrial firms have been able to use roadmapping as an effective process methodology for projecting future technology and for coordinating technology planning and strategy. Firms potentially realize a number of benefits in deploying technology roadmapping (TRM) processes. Roadmaps provide information identifying which new technologies will meet firms' future product demands, allowing companies to leverage R&D investments through choosing appropriately out of a range of alternative technologies. Moreover, the roadmapping process serves an important communication tool helping to bring about consensus among roadmap developers, as well as between participants brought in during the development process, who may communicate their understanding of shared corporate goals through the roadmap. However, there are few conceptual accounts or case studies have made the argument that roadmapping processes may be used effectively as communication tools. This paper, therefore, seeks to elaborate a theoretical foundation for identifying the factors that must be considered in setting up a roadmap and for analyzing the effect of these factors on technology roadmap credibility as perceived by its users. Based on the survey results of 120 different R&D units, this empirical study found that firms need to explore further how they can enable frequent interactions between the TRM development team and TRM participants. A high level of interaction will improve the credibility of a TRM, with communication channels selected by the organization also positively affecting TRM credibility. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.

Information models used to manage engineering change: A review of the literature 2005-2010

Engineering change is a significant part of any product development programme. Changes can arise at many points throughout the product life-cycle, resulting in rework which can ripple through different stages of the design process. Managing change processes is thus a critical aspect of any design project, especially in complex design. Through a literature review, this paper shows the diversity of information models used by different change management methods proposed in the literature. A classification framework for organising these change management approaches is presented. The review shows an increase in the number of cross-domain models proposed to help manage changes.

Characterising the information requests of aerospace engineering designers

During product development, engineering designers raise several information requests that make them search through human and documentary sources. This paper reports research to characterise, in detail, these requests for designers working in a major aerospace engineering company. The research found that at a high level, a distinction can be made between requests to acquire information and to process information. The former are raised to access design and domain information. The latter, instead, are formed to define designs. For researchers, this study extends existing knowledge of information requests by characterising key differences in their nature and explaining how they are used in the design process. For practitioners, these findings can be used as a basis to understand the diverseness of information requests and how to channel efforts to support designers in information seeking. In particular, the research indicates that a strategy to support designers should enable the development of engineering communities that share information effectively and the introduction of techniques that facilitate the documentation of information. © 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited.

Roadmapping an emerging energy technology: An ex-ante examination of dimethyl ether development in China

Technology roadmapping has been used to strategise the development of energy technologies. However, there have been limited roadmapping applications that analyse the emergence of a new energy technology that then forms a new industry and propels broad-based low-carbon economic growth. This paper, therefore, attempts to develop a roadmapping framework by integrating the lifecycle analysis tool, in order to strategise the emergence of dimethyl ether, an alternative energy based on advanced engineering technologies such as carbon capture and storage. This paper compares two scenarios of dimethyl ether vs. diesel and finds that the superiority of dimethyl ether will not arise until 2030, when the complementary engineering technologies become available. This proposed framework can also be generalised to other clean energy industries, and we anticipate our paper will spark inspiration for roadmapping and strategising the 'right' technologies for the growth of Chinese energy industries. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Defining product-service network configurations and location roles: A current and future state analysis framework for international engineering operations

Many manufacturing firms have developed a service dimension to their product portfolio. In response to this growing trend of servitisation, organisations, often involved in complex, long-lifecycle product-service system (PSS) provision, need to reconfigure their global engineering networks to support integrated PSS offerings. Drawing on parallel concepts in 'production' networks, the idea of 'location role' now becomes increasingly complex, in terms of service delivery. As new markets develop, locations in a specific region may need to grow/adapt engineering service 'competencies' along the value chain, from design and build to support and service, in order to serve future location-specific requirements and, potentially, those requirements of the overall network. The purpose of this paper is to advance understanding of how best to design complex multi-organisational engineering service networks, through extension of the 'production' network location role concept to a PSS context, capturing both traditional engineering 'design and build' and engineering 'service' requirements. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Requirements-based development of an improved engineering change management method

Engineering changes (ECs) are essential in complex product development, and their management is a crucial discipline for engineering industries. Numerous methods have been developed to support EC management (ECM), of which the change prediction method (CPM) is one of the most established. This article contributes a requirements-based benchmarking approach to assess and improve existing methods. The CPM is selected to be improved. First, based on a comprehensive literature survey and insights from industrial case studies, a set of 25 requirements for change management methods are developed. Second, these requirements are used as benchmarking criteria to assess the CPM in comparison to seven other promising methods. Third, the best-in-class solutions for each requirement are investigated to draw improvement suggestions for the CPM. Finally, an enhanced ECM method which implements these improvements is presented. © 2013 © 2013 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.