| Evaluation
Centre |
A range of ERP articles
under the Expert's view written by Dan Roberts can be found
by following this link. |
| MBT |
Julie Fraser writes
a regular piece for MBT (MAnufaturing Business Technology). |
| A
new opportunity for engineering application vendors? |
As we all know, the arrival of the
Internet has made the world a considerably smaller place.
Information is now readily accessible and there’s much
more of it to be found. The availability of this information
is on demand and in numerous formats, catering for our individual
agendas whatever they may be. Not forgetting, of course, that
when compared to the perspective afforded by biased spiel
of a company's sales department, a browser window seems to
provide an infinitely more desirable way of looking at the
world—untainted by political or mercenary agendas and
the well honed offensives of company salespeople or their
service staff.
|
| Lessons
for the Future from Looking at the Last 35 Years of Mechanical
Design Automation |
Looking back at the
last 35 years of design, one can not fail to be anything but
impressed with the creativity and enthusiasm driving design
solutions in the mechanical, software engineering and electronic
design automation (EDA) industry....... |
| Biometric
Technologies - Industrial Strength? |
Over the last few
years there have been several waves of hype over Biometrics,
often promising more than could be delivered - which is a pity,
as they mask the fact that these technologies really are maturing,
and now have a lot to offer. The other problem with the hype
is that it makes the whole subject appear esoteric and complicated.
It is not. |
| Knowledge
Process Offshoring |
Having accepted that
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) makes strategic sense, the
financial pressure to make use of low cost regions is inevitable.
Increasingly, companies are overcoming quality, flexibility
and responsiveness issues that can arise in remote operations.
This track record is the basis for the next step - from Business
Process to Knowledge Process. |
| Innovation
Cells: Fast Track to Innovation |
Innovation is fast
becoming the latest weapon against shrinking market shares,
decreasing customer loyalty, fierce competition and other business
challenges due to the unprecedented changes based on the effects
of globalization. |
| You
can automate engineering, but what about engineering knowledge? |
Engineering companies
of all persuasions are facing a myriad of business problems.
To meet these metrics, that most precious of commodities, knowledge,
must be efficiently captured and recycled. |
| PLM
in manufacturing - an overview |
The
truth of the matter is that there's a rapidly increasing volume
and complexity of digital data that is created and used in operations,
both internally and externally. Most often this is created from
internal sources including design, analysis, test and production,
or from external sources including customers and suppliers.
Harnessing this information efficiently allows companies to
improve their performance and competitive situation. |
| Emerging
Environmental Product Policy |
The pressure on engineers
to consider sustainability of their designs is increasing. In
this article Mark considers the extension of these concepts
into other product development areas. Recently the European
Union proposed the Integrated Product Policy (IPP). This article
summarizes the philosophy behind IPP and examines its potential
impacts on the business of product development, in particular
design.
|
| Regulation
and Engineering |
There
is no doubt that we live in an increasingly regulated world.
Nick Ballard looks at a recent example of regulation, namely
the End-of-Life Vehicle Directive (ELV) passed by the European
Parliament in 2000, since this has the potential to highlight
some of the issues involved. Although this discussion relates
to European initiatives, the issues are part of a global problem.
|
| How
long will people matter? |
Peter Thorne looks
at the human function in IT services - consulting, analysis,
system integration and so on - is a craft industry. The individuals
who provide these services have specific skills. Their training
and experience allows them to adapt methods, techniques and
approaches to meet the needs of specific situations. They use
tools to make their work more productive, and they may integrate
standard components into their work. Many projects look broadly
similar, but, examine the outputs in detail, and each one is
unique. |
| CAM
and CAD? |
We’ve always thought that gains in
productivity come from changing work patterns, supported by
investment, rather than as a direct result of introducing
technology. But mechanical engineering design flow has been
very slow to change. Recently however, a significant organizational
change has started, gained momentum, and is now routine. This
is the outsourcing of manufacturing from large companies to
small companies, and often from developed to emerging economies.
Mike Evans looks at these changes and their effects.
|
| IT
and Industry - the times they are achanging |
Cambashi
reports on the findings of its latest quarterly review. The
demand side is awakening. In 2004 we
expect the IT budget of European industry to increase for the
first time in five years.
|
| Mechanical
Design Atomation - Hype or Hope |
What's in a name? Quite a lot, actually.
Words have perceived meanings and when the reality doesn't
match the perception, confidence is lost. The engineering
IT business has historically been rather full of examples
of this syndrome and some would say that Mechanical Design
Automation (MDA) is a case in point. To a purist, 'automation'
might imply taking the human out of the control loop. So how
can it be possible to fully automate such a cerebral process
as mechanical engineering design asks Brian Gott.
|
| What
will PLM adoption by CPG manufacturers mean for the wider market? |
Discrete manufacturers,
are at the forefront in adopting the Product Lifecycle Management
or PLM concept. They strive to create a systematic and repeatable
approach to new product introduction, where all the stakeholders
in the product are able to share information, and make the necessary
design trade offs. |
| DevCon
2004 – CAA V5 Developer Conference |
Allan Behrens Reviews
DevCon 2004 |
| The
AEC Industry, Building Information Modelling and the 3 Rs |
It is easy to understand
the attraction of re-branding 3D AEC CAD as Building Modelling
(BIM, or some similar acronym). Perhaps, in their eagerness
to bring their BIM vision to market, vendors continue to underestimate
the differences between their logical model and the realities
of AEC industry practice. |
| Currency
Counts - EMEA Engineering Applications in 2003 |
Question: When is
a fall in revenues also a rise? Answer: It depends where you're
looking from! N Ballard looks at the effect of fluctuating currency
rates on EMEA Eng Apps in 2003. |
| Will
building modeling trickle down to smaller AEC firms? |
Construction is,
by definition, a local business. The vast majority of AEC firms
operate from a single office and bid for projects within an
hour or so's drive. Their competition is other local firms.
Globalization may worry textile firms but why should small architects
and their employees worry abut competition from China? Mike
Evans provides some answers |
| Is
CAD a done deal? |
At first sight, it
isn't clear that mechanical CAD software has changed much in
the last five years or so. The CAD functionality of the leading
brands is very similar. For basic mechanical design authoring,
users making their next CAD purchase decision will find it difficult
to differentiate between the functionality offered by the various
vendors. Perhaps users can choose on price alone, or whether
they liked the sales representative, or the marketing messages.
Are we now into the mature phase of the CAD industry where brands
determine purchases just like soap powder? |
| Manufacturers
move markets |
The last few decades
have seen a steady transition away from this focus on the material
handling side of the business. Now, the key asset of a manufacturing
business is its know-how. The know-how in design, in manufacturing
processes, in production management, in distribution, and in
commercial aspects, (such as the ability to create franchise
or licensing deals to cover new markets) these are the sources
of competitive advantage. |
| Enterprise
Applications in the Construction Industry |
Enterprise applications
work! That is 2003's key message. If you read the doom and gloom
in the trade press concerning failed implementations and financially
troubled packaged software vendors then it is probably a surprising
message. Nonetheless, our research with users suggests that
enterprises of all sizes have plans in the pipeline to extend
existing or implement new enterprise applications. The reason
is simply that these users face challenges that mean they must
drive new business initiatives through their organisations.
Enterprise applications can be a great enabler of change decides
Mike Evans. |
| How
to improve Innovation_Efficiency |
Mike Evans discusses
why using information technology to translate innovations into
products has not been such a success. Two barriers share part
of the responsibility: Firstly, manufacturers' natural reaction
to competition is to produce at a lower price. Secondly, the
process of designing products is the same now as in the first
half of the last century. Computer Aided Design helps the documentation
task more than the design task. Then he continues by proposing
methods to improve innovation eficiency. |
|
Ripe for change: Part
1
Ripe for change: Part
II
|
"I watched a program about
the UK cheese industry a while ago on TV and it struck me that
in many ways it demonstrates what happens in a mature market,
when demand slackens and competition increases. One could say
it was ripe for change" is how Nick Ballard introduced
the first of his 2 part article on the engineering applications
industry. |
| UK Engineering
Applications in 2003 - boom or gloom? |
Initial findings in the UK show
a decline of nearly 7% in Engineering Applications vendor revenues
for 2002. This shows that the UK performed to/better than the
European average. So far as 2003 is concerned, we have no indicators
to suggest that sales and revenues of Engineering Applications
are going to recover in any substantial way. Nick Ballard looks
at the figures. |
| Who will pay
for the building information model? |
Mike Evans reviews the discussions
and conclusions from the Bentley International Building Summit. |
| Collaboration
and the role of the benevolent dictator |
Successful communication depends
on some level of shared context. Collaborative environments
need to have embedded command-and-control capabilities. For
large scale, enduring success, this is a role for the Benevolent
Dictator. Peter Thorne explains. |
| The
PLM debate |
As part of our ongoing
research programme, Cambashi is running a debate on product
lifecycle management (PLM) and how it interfaces with the
supply chain. We have asked various IT vendors to respond
to an initial discussion paper.
|
