NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
This study was supported by Contract No. DMC-8817926 between the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences.
Library of Congress Card Catalog No. 91-60349
ISBN 0-309-04478-2
A limited number of copies are available from:
Manufacturing Studies Board
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Printed in the United States of America First Printing , February 1991 Second Printing , January 1992 Third Printing , May 1992
COMMITTEE ON ENGINEERING DESIGN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
CHARLES W. HOOVER,
Co-Chairman,
Professor,
Department of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, New York
J. B. JONES,
Co-Chairman,
Randolph Professor Emeritus,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
H. BARRINGTON BEBB,
Vice President,
Systems Architecture, Xerox Corporation, Webster, New York
ROBERT DAVIS,
Professor
andDepartment Head,
Industrial Engineering Department, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
JOHN R. DIXON,
Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
STEVEN J. FENVES,
Professor of Civil Engineering,
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
KENNETH H. HUEBNER,
Manager,
Computer-Aided Engineering Department, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan
HUGH R. MacKENZIE,
Vice President of Engineering,
Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, Massachusetts
STEPHEN H. MASLEN,
Associate Director (retired),
Information Technology, Martin Marietta Laboratories, Towson, Maryland
GALE E. NEVILL, Jr.,
Professor
andGraduate Coordinator,
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanics, and Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville
FRIEDRICH PRINZ,
Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
WARREN P. SEERING,
Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
JAY M. TENENBAUM,
Schlumberger Fellow
andProfessor of Computer Science,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
GARRETT J. THRASHER,
Senior Engineering Associate,
Linde Division, Union Carbide Industrial Gases, Inc., Tonawanda, New York
DANIEL E. WHITNEY,
Section Leader,
Robotics and Assembly Division, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts
PETER M. WILL,
Director,
Manufacturing Research Center, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, California
Staff
PAUL J. SHAWCROSS,
Staff Officer,
Committee on Engineering Design Theory and Methodology
KAREN L. MILLAN,
Staff Assistant,
Committee on Engineering Design Theory and Methodology
LUCY V. FUSCO,
Staff Assistant,
Committee on Engineering Design Theory and Methodology
JANICE E. GREENE,
Senior Staff Officer,
Manufacturing Studies Board
THEODORE W. JONES,
Research Associate
KERSTIN B. POLLACK,
Deputy Director,
Manufacturing Studies Board
MANUFACTURING STUDIES BOARD
JAMES F. LARDNER,
Chairman,
Vice President (retired),
Component Group, Deere & Company
MATTHEW O. DIGGS, Jr.,
Chairman,
The Diggs Group
CHARLES P. FLETCHER,
Vice President of Engineering,
Aluminum Company of America
DAVID A. GARVIN,
Professor,
Business Administration, Harvard Business School, Harvard University
HEINZ K. FRIDRICH,
Vice President of Manufacturing,
IBM Corporation
LEONARD A. HARVEY,
Secretary of Commerce,
Labor, and Environmental Resources, State of West Virginia (retired)
CHARLES W. HOOVER, JR.,
Professor,
Department of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn
EDWARD E. LAWLER, III,
Director,
Center for Effective Organizations, University of Southern California
JOEL MOSES,
Dean of Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
LAURENCE C. SEIFERT,
Vice President,
Communications and Computer Product Sourcing and Manufacturing, AT &T
JOHN M. STEWART,
Director,
McKinsey and Company, Inc.
WILLIAM J. USERY, Jr.,
President,
Bill Usery Associates, Inc.
HERBERT B. VOELCKER,
Charles Lake Professor of Engineering,
Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University
Staff
VERNA J. BOWEN,
Staff Assistant
LUCY V. FUSCO,
Staff Assistant
GAIL GREENBERG,
Staff Assistant
THEODORE W. JONES,
Research Associate
THOMAS C. MAHONEY,
Acting Director
KERSTIN B. POLLACK,
Deputy Director,
andDirector of New Program Development
MICHAEL WITMORE,
Research Assistant
Preface
Effective design and manufacturing, both necessary to produce high-quality products, are closely related. However, effective design is a prerequisite for effective manufacturing; quality cannot be manufactured or tested into a product, it must be designed in. The United States needs to sharpen its understanding of engineering design theory if it is to realize the competitive advantages of superior engineering design. Significant improvement of design practice requires increased knowledge of the fundamentals of design and increased readiness of firms to adopt new methods. Developing and teaching a coherent body of engineering design principles in this area could help accelerate the changes necessary to maintain the competitiveness of future U.S. manufacturing.
This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Committee on Engineering Design Theory and Methodology, formed by the Manufacturing Studies Board of the National Research Council at the request of the National Science Foundation. The scope of the committee's efforts was to:
Determine the importance of engineering design to U.S. industry's competitiveness in world markets;
Articulate the means by which the practice of engineering design in the United States can be improved;
Propose actions to improve undergraduate and graduate education in engineering design;
Propose a national effort to improve the practice of engineering design through research and development; and
Recommend to government, industry, and academe mechanisms for improving engineering design practice, education, and research.
The committee, consisting of 16 experts in the primary fields of engineering design—education, practice, management, and research—worked in part as three subcommittees to explore the status of engineering design practice, education, and research in the United States. The committee has based this report on its discussions and analysis of the current environment for engineering design; as such, it reflects the consensus of the committee on the implications of engineering design in the United States.
This report was enabled by many people directly and indirectly at work on engineering design. The study was conceived and planned by John Dixon and Michael Wozny of the NSF and George Kuper and Kerstin Pollack of the NRC. Site visits to the following companies contributed to a greater understanding of issues in the practice of design: American Precision Industries, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Cooper Industries, Ford Motor Company, General Electric Company, Hewlett-Packard, and Polaroid. Many engineering deans and design faculty contributed by describing their current engineering design research, industrial applications thereof, predicted developments, and potential barriers. The contributions to the committee's deliberations of Karl Ulrich, assistant professor, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, deserve special attention. Main staff support was ably provided by Paul Shawcross, with Janice Greene and Kerstin Pollack providing key help and Lucy Fusco playing a strong supporting role. Theodore Jones assembled the report, and Kenneth Reese edited it.
Charles W. Hoover and J. B. Jones
Co-Chairmen, Committee on Engineering
Design Theory and Methodology