EDITORIAL

Design and Manufacturing--Preparing for the Future

The economic forces which have driven change in our manufacturing industries have drawn attention to the entire process of bringing a product to market. One of the weak links in this process has been identified as the relationship between design and manufacturing. This in turn has caused educators and educational agencies and institutions to reflect on design and manufacturing subjects in engi- neering education.

There are three phases which can be identified. First, several years ago atten- tion was focused on design and particularly on how it reflects engineering practice in the education of young future engineers. Second, there was a growing recogni- tion of the fact that the conception of engineering sciences and subsequent reno- vation of engineering curricula led to the demise of most manufacturing related courses in engineering, and thus has left a void which further divorces students from engineering reality.

We are now in a third phase of trying to rebuild the design and manufacturing curriculum in all disciplines of engineering education. Some disciplines are in worse shape than others. Two concepts are emerging, namely, create a science base for both design and manufacturing and then provide an integrating mecha- nism so that these critical areas are not conceived as isolated independent processes.

The necessary ingredients for success in rebuilding design and manufacturing curriculum are: dedicated, knowledgeable faculty willing to form a working team, leadership in establishing a scientific base in both design and manufacturing, a commitment from educational institutions to invest in laboratories and new instructional facilities, industrial cooperation and financial contribution, the redi- rection of federal resources to respond to opportunities to find creative faculty activities, and appropriate meaningful forums for faculty to communicate and exchange information, experiences and ideas on how to achieve the integra- tion goals.

Elements of all of the above are now in place. However, there is a shortage of qualified faculty, the NSF initiative to create the elements of a design science is in its infancy, efforts to do the same for manufacturing are in the thinking stage, institutional and industrial investments in new laboratory facilities, particularly in computers and robotics are well documented, there is a trickle of federal fund for faculty to pursue in an attempt to work on the problem, and there are a few forums for communications. The Journal of Manufacturing Systems is one of them. I would like to urge faculty to contribute to "Technical Notes of Work in Progress" on their efforts in improving design and manufacturing curricula.

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editorial

Recently, I participated in an NSF sponsored workshop on strategic manufac- turing research initiatives. It was enlightening to exchange ideas and share per- spectives with a group of industrial and educational based participants. It was also rewarding to see that a major priority for immediate attention was life cycle product and process engineering and implementation technology. It was widely agreed that the four phases of product and process development including innova- tion and design, growth and process development, maturity and enhancement, and demise and phase out were topics which were considered essential for success in business and should be an integral part of new curricula.

The dominant theme which developed was to provide the technical foundations required to draw manufacturing issues into the design and innovation process resulting in the simultaneous consideration of product concepts and the means for producing them. Modeling and simulation technology, coupled with computer based decision tools are fundamental. Future developments can provide the designer with an enhanced ability to innovate while considering manufacturabil- ity, testing, service, reliability, redesign and to some degree marketing. These tools, used throughout the process, will revolutionize both education and practice. This is a part of our challenge.

The current issue of the Journal covers managing, planning, analyzing, con- trolling, and justifying economical use of manufacturing systems.

Editor

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