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.

FBS Linkage ontology and technique to support engineering change management

© 2014, Springer-Verlag London. Engineering changes are essential for any product development, and their management has become a crucial discipline. Research in engineering change management has brought about some methods and tools to support dealing with changes. This work extends the change prediction method through incorporation of a function–behaviour–structure (FBS) scheme. These additional levels of detail provide the rationales for change propagation and allow a more proactive management of changes. First, we develop the ontology of this method based on a comprehensive comparison of three seminal functional reasoning schemes. Then, we demonstrate the FBS Linkage technique by applying it to a diesel engine. Finally, we evaluate the method.

Application of a Generic Curriculum Change Management Process to Motivate and Excite Students

The School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast is committed to enhancing the quality of student learning. A plan to implement curriculum change around this goal has been formulated and is already several years underway. A specific part of the plan involved instigating a first year introductory module to engage the students in the practice of their engineering discipline. The complicated nature of devising this type of module with regard to objectives, resources, timeframe and the number of students involved meant that a very systematic approach had to be adopted. This paper presents the simple but definitive change management process that facilitated in the creation of a first year Introduction to Engineering module. The generic nature of this process is described and its application to other facets of curriculum change is discussed. Within this process the importance of collaboration to establish a forward momentum is emphasised. This enables academic staff to progress as a group and build curriculum development based on their own experiences, expertise and established practice

Lean Production : Werkzeuge zur Realisierung

INHALT: l. Einleitung und Standortbestimmung 2. Japanische Wertvorstellungen 3. Inhalte der Lean Production 4. Fertigungssegmentierung 5. Informationsmanagement mit CIM- und Logistik-Komponenten 6. Logistikgerechte Strukturen der Lean Production 7. Realisierung der Lean Production 8. Zusammenfassung

Auswirkungen der Lean Production auf bestehende Logistik-Strukturen : Was die deutsche Wirtschaft von der neuen Philosophie lernen kann

Obwohl durchgängige CIM- und Logistik-Konzepte zur Erfüllung der permanent steigenden Kundenforderungen hinsichtlich spezifischer Produktausführungen bei qualitätsgerechter und termintreuer Auslieferung in den meisten Unternehmen noch nicht realisiert sind, beginnt bereits die Diskussion um eine neue Unternehmensstrategie: die "Lean Production". Das Ziel heißt diesmal, in allen Bereichen Ressourcen zu minimieren, um mit Hilfe einer schlanken Fertigung bei den Kosten Weltstandard zu erreichen.

Lean Production - zurück zur Meisterfertigung?

Kleine Losgrößen, bedingt durch immer neue Kundenanforderungen nach speziellen Produktausführungen, lassen aus Wettbewerbsgründen eine konventionelle Massenproduktion mit unfelxiblen Produktionsabläufen nicht mehr zu. Neue Wege sind nötig, um gegenüber der Konkurrenz - besonders aus Fernost - auch in Zukunft wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben. Dabei hat gerade diese Konkurrenz mnachen Anstoss zur Veränderung durch für uns ungewohnte Wettbewerbsstrategien gegeben. Auch wenn viele der Grundlagen und Methoden dieser Strategien aus Europa stammen, wurden sie sehr geschickt und innovativ den dortigen gesellschaftlichen und technologischen Randbedingungen angepasst. Nun sind sie in anderer Form bei uns wieder ins Bewusstsein zurückgekehrt. Dies gilt insbesondere für Lean Production, die "schlanke" Produktion. Hier können die Fachleute bei uns lernen, wie sich durch Mitarbeitermotivierung, Vereinfachung und Dezentralisierung der Abläufe der Weltkostenstand wieder erreichen lässt.

Interne Kommunikation im Change Management

Der Artikel beschreibt die Rolle der internen Kommunikation und des internen Informationsflusses im Change Management.

Terrestrial carnivores and human food production: impact and management

1. The production of food for human consumption has led to an historical and global conflict with terrestrial carnivores, which in turn has resulted in the extinction or extirpation of many species, although some have benefited. At present, carnivores affect food production by: (i) killing human producers; killing and/or eating (ii) fish/shellfish; (iii) game/wildfowl; (iv) livestock; (v) damaging crops; (vi) transmitting diseases; and (vii) through trophic interactions with other species in agricultural landscapes. Conversely, carnivores can themselves be a source of dietary protein (bushmeat). 2. Globally, the major areas of conflict are predation on livestock and the transmission of rabies. At a broad scale, livestock predation is a customary problem where predators are present and has been quantified for a broad range of carnivore species, although the veracity of these estimates is equivocal. Typically, but not always, losses are small relative to the numbers held, but can be a significant proportion of total livestock mortality. Losses experienced by producers are often highly variable, indicating that factors such as husbandry practices and predator behaviour may significantly affect the relative vulnerability of properties in the wider landscape. Within livestock herds, juvenile animals are particularly vulnerable. 3. Proactive and reactive culling are widely practised as a means to limit predation on livestock and game. Historic changes in species' distributions and abundance illustrate that culling programmes can be very effective at reducing predator density, although such substantive impacts are generally considered undesirable for native predators. However, despite their prevalence, the effectiveness, efficiency and the benefit:cost ratio of culling programmes have been poorly studied. 4. A wide range of non-lethal methods to limit predation has been studied. However, many of these have their practical limitations and are unlikely to be widely applicable. 5. Lethal approaches are likely to dominate the management of terrestrial carnivores for the foreseeable future, but animal welfare considerations are increasingly likely to influence management strategies. The adoption of non-lethal approaches will depend upon proof of their effectiveness and the willingness of stakeholders to implement them, and, in some cases, appropriate licensing and legislation. 6. Overall, it is apparent that we still understand relatively little about the importance of factors affecting predation on livestock and how to manage this conflict effectively. We consider the following avenues of research to be essential: (i) quantified assessments of the loss of viable livestock; (ii) landscape-level studies of contiguous properties to quantify losses associated with variables such as different husbandry practices; (iii) replicated experimental manipulations to identify the relative benefit of particular management practices, incorporating (iv) techniques to identify individual predators killing stock; and (v) economic analyses of different management approaches to quantify optimal production strategies.