文献翻译信息时代的机械工程.docx
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文献翻译信息时代的机械工程.docx
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文献翻译信息时代的机械工程
附录一
MechanicalEngineeringintheInformationAge
Intheearly1980s,engineersthoughtthatmassiveresearchwouldbeneededtospeedupproductdevelopment.Asitturnsout,lessresearchisactuallyneededbecauseshortenedproductdevelopmentcyclesencourageengineerstouseavailabletechnology.Developingarevolutionarytechnologyforuseinanewproductisriskyandpronetofailure.Takingshotstepsisasaferandusuallymoresuccessfulapproachtoproductdevelopment.
Shorterproductdevelopmentcyclysarealsobeneficialinanengineeringworldinwhichbothcapticalandlaborareglobal.Peoplewhocandesignandmanufacturevariousproductscanbefoundanywhereintheworld,butcontaininganewideaishard.Geographicdistanceisnolongerabarriertoothersfingingoutaboutyourdevelopmentsixmonthsintotheprocess.Ifyouaregotashortdevelopmentcycle,thesituationisnotcatastrophic-aslongasyoumaintainyourlead,Butifyouareinthemidistofasix-yeardevelopmentprocessandacompetitorgetswindofyourwork,theprojectcouldbeinmoreserioustrouble.
Inonerespect,manufacturingcouldbesaidtobecomingfullcircle.Thefirstmanufacturingwasacottageindustry:
thedesignerwasalsothemanufacturing,conceivingandfabricatingproductsoneatatime.Eventually,theconceptoftheinterchangeabilityofpartswasdeveloped,productionwasseparatedintoseparatedintospecializedfunctions,andidenticalpartswereproducedthousandsatatime.Today,althoughthedesignerandmanufacturingmaynotbecomeoneagain,thefunctionsarebeingdrawncloseinthemovementtowardanintegratedmanufacturingsystem.
Itisperhapsironicthat,atatimewhenthemarketdemandsahighdegreeofproductdiversification,thenecessityforincreasingproductivityandreducingcostisdrivingmanufacturingtowardintegrationintoacoherentsystem,acontinuousprocessinwhichpartsdonotspendasmuchas95%ofproductiontimebeingmovedaroundorwaitingtobeworkedon.
Thecomputeristhekeytoeachofthesetwinrequirements.Itistheonlytoolthatcanprovidethequickreflexes,theflexibilityandspeed,tomeetadiversifiedmarket.Anditistheonlytoolthatenablesthedetailedanalysisandtheaccessibilityofaccuratedatanecessaryfortheintegrationofthemanufacturingsystem.
Today,nearlyeverymarketisanichemarket,becausecustomersareselective.Ifyouignorethepotentialfortailoringyourproducttospecificcustomers’needs,youwilllosethemajorpartofyourmarketshare—perhapsallofit.Sincethesenichemarketsaretransient,yourcompanyneedstobeinapositiontorespondtothemquickly.
Theemergenceofnichemarketsanddesignondemandhasalteredthewayengineersconductresearch.Today,researchiscommonlydirectedtowardsolvingparticularproblems.Althoughthissituationisprobablytemporary,muchuncommittedtechnology,developedatgovernmentexpenseorwrittenoffbymajorcorporations,isavailabletodayatverylowcost.Followingmodestmodifications,suchtechnologycanoftenbeuseddirectlyinproductdevelopment,whichallowsmanyorganizationstoavoidtheexpenseofanextensiveresearcheffort.Oncethetechnologyisfreeofmajorobstacles,theresearcheffortcanfocusonovercomingthebarrierstocommercializationratherthanonpursuingnewandinteresting,butundefined,alternatives.
Whenviewedinthisperspective,engineeringresearchmustfocusprimarilyonremovingthebarrierstorapidcommercializationofknowntechnologies.Muchofthiseffortmustaddressqualityandreliabilityconcerns,whichareforemostinthemindsoftoday’consumers.Clearly,areputationforpoorqualityissynonymouswithbadbusiness.Everythingpossible—includingthoroughinspectionattheendofthemanufacturinglineandautomaticreplacementofdefectiveproducts—mustbedonetoassurethatthecustomerreceivesaproperlyfunctioningproduct.
Researchhastofocusonthecostbenefitoffactorssuchasreliability.Asreliabilityincrease,manufacturingcostsandthefinalcostofthesystemwilldecrease.Having30percentjunkattheendofaproductionlinenotonlycostsafortunebutalsocreatesanopportunityforacompetitortotakeyourideaandsellittoyourcustomers.
Centraltotheprocessofimprovingreliabilityandloweringcostsistheintensiveandwidespreaduseofdesignsoftware,witchallowsengineerstospeedupeverystageofthedesignprocess.Shorteningeachstage,however,maynotsufficientlyreducethetimerequiredfortheentireprocess.Therefore,attentionmustalsobedevotedtoconcurrentengineeringsoftwarewithshareddatabasesthatcanbeaccessedbyallmembersofthedesignteam.
AswemovemorefullyintotheinformationAge,successwillrequirethattheengineerprocesssomeuniqueknowledgeofandexperienceinboththedevelopmentandthemanagementoftechnology.Successwillrequirebroadknowledgeandskillsaswellasexpertiseinsomekeysocialandeconomicfactorsatworkinthemarketplace.Increasingly,inthefuture,routineproblemswillnotjustifyheavyengineeringexpenditures,andengineerswillbeexpectedtoworkcooperativelyinsolvingmorechallenging,moredemandingproblemsinsubstantiallylesstime.Wehavebegunanewphaseinthepracticeofengineering.Itoffersgreatpromiseandexcitementasmoreandmoreproblem-solvingcapabilityisplacedinthehandsofthecomputerizedandunquenchedthirstforbetterproductsandsystemsmustbematchedbythejoyofcreationthatmarksallgreatengineeringendeavors.Mechanicalengineeringisagreatprofession,anditwillbecomeevengreateraswemakethemostoftheopportunitiesofferedbytheInformationAge.
Itmaywellbethat,inthefuture,thecomputermaybeessentialtoacompany’ssurvival.Manyoftoday’sbusinesseswillfadeawaytobereplacedbymoreproductivecombinations.Suchmore-productivecombinationsaresuperquality,superproductivityplants.Thegoalistodesignandoperateaplantthatwouldproduce100%satisfactorypartswithgoodproductivity.
Asophisticated,competitiveworldisrequiringthatmanufacturingbegintosettleformore,tobecomeitselfsophisticated.Tomeetcompetition,forexample,acompanywillhavetomeetthesomewhatconflictingdemandsforgreaterproductdiversification,higherquality,improvedproductivity,andlowprices.
Thecompanythatseekstomeetthesedemandswillneedasophisticatedtool,onethatwillallowittorespondquicklytocustomerneedswhilegettingthemostoutofitsmanufacturingresources.
Thecomputeristhattool.
Becominga“superquality,superproductivity”plantrequirestheintegrationofanextremelycomplexsystem.Thiscanbeaccomplishedonlywhenallelementsofmanufacturing-design,fabricationandassembly,qualityassurance,management,materialshandling—arecomputerintegrated.
Inproductdesign,forexample,interactivecomputer-aided-design(CAD)systemsallowthedrawingandanalysistaskstobeperformedinafractionofthetimepreviouslyrequiredandwithgreateraccuracy.Andprogramsforprototypetestingandevaluationfurtherspeedthedesignprocess.
Inmanufacturingplanning,computer-aidedprocessplanningpermitstheselection,fromthousandsofpossiblesequencesandschedules,oftheoptimumprocess.
Ontheshopfloor,distributedintelligenceintheformofmicroprocessorscontrolledmachines,runsautomatedloadingandunloadingequipment,andcollectsdataoncurrentshopconditions.
Butsuchisolatedrevolutionsarenotenough.Whatisneededisatotallyautomatedsystem,linkedbycommonsoftwarefromfrontdoortoback.
Thebenefitsrangethroughoutthesystem.Essentially,computerintegrationprovideswidelyandinstantaneouslyavailable,accurateinformation,improvingcommunicationbetweendepartments,permittingtightercontrol,andgenerallyenhancingtheoverallqualityandefficiencyoftheentiresystem.
Improvedcommunicationcanmean,forexample,designsthataremoreproducible.TheNCprogrammerandthetooldesignerhaveachancetoinfluencetheproductdesigner,andviceversa.
Engineeringchanges,thus,canbereduced,andthosethatarerequiredcanbehandledmoreefficiently.Notonlydosethecomputerpermitthemtobespecifiedmorequickly,butitalsoalertssubsequentusersofthedatatothefactthatachangehasbeenmade.
Theinstantaneousupdatingofproduction-controldatapermitsbetterplanningandmoreeffectivescheduling.Expensiveequipment,therefore,isusedmoreproductively,andpartsmovemoreefficientlythroughproduction,reducingwork-in-processcosts.
Productquality,too,canbeimproved.Notonlyaremore-accuratedesignsproduced,forexample,buttheuseofdesigndatabythequality-assurancedepartmenthelpseliminateerrorsduetomisunderstandings.
Peopleareenabledtodotheirjobsbetter.Byeliminatingtediouscalculationsandpaperwork—nottomentiontimewastedsearchingforinformation—thecomputernotonlyallowsworkerstobemoreproductivebutalsofreesthentodowhatonlyhumanbeingscando:
thinkcreatively.
Computerintegrationmayalsolurenewpeopleintomanufacturing.Peopleareattractedbecausetheywanttoworkinamodern,technologicallysophisticatedenvironment.
Inmanufacturingengineering,CAD/CAMdecreasestooldesign,NC-programming,andplanningtimeswhilespeedingtheresponserate,whichwilleventuallypermitin-housestafftoperformworkthatiscurrentlybeingcontractedout.
Computershavebeenusedinnearlyeverymanufacturingjob.Computersimprovetheefficiency,accuracy,andproductivityofmanymanufacturingprocesses.Justliketheothertoolsandmachines,computersextendhumancapabilitiesandmakesomejobseasier.Ev
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