4. RESULTS - PRE WORKSHOP SUBMISSION
The participants at the workshop were asked to submit on arrival a list containing up to 5 of each of the following:-
- The requirements of industry.
- The achievements of design research.
- The weaknesses of design research.
- The future key issues.
The submissions, presented anonymously and in a standard format, are included in Appendix 9. These submissions have been analysed by clustering the emerging themes together, thus the groups represent the collections of issues that were most frequently mentioned. The key trends are presented below in the four sections all in priority order.
4.1 Requirements of Industry
- Support for information and knowledge handling.
- Tools for the new environments (global, distributed, supply chain.)
- Understanding of customer requirements.
- Support for design innovation.
- Good people.
- "Intuitive" tools and system,
Access to tools, information, best practice
Impact studies (technology, design, etc.)
Rapid, better product data
'Green'/Sustainable design
Complex systems
4.2 Achievements of design research
- Tools, optimisers, FEA, visualisations, feature based, rapid prototyping
- Understanding of the design process.
- Better data structures (product-data, STEP etc)
- DFX methods (QFD, DFA, Taguchi, FMEA etc)
- Information systems (materials, catalogues, Web.)
- People(supply of )
- Standards
- Some centres of excellence.
4.3 Weaknesses of design research
- Lack of understanding of industry, needs , timescales, commercial culture.
- Isolated solutions, groups, disciplines, industries, tools.
- Technology transfer, awareness, dissemination.
- Focus on large companies, lack of understanding of SME's (time scales, lottery effect of funding etc)
- Lack of validation of tools/methods/techniques.
- Lack of attention to 'soft' issues.
- Focus only on computer based methods.
Also listed in this section were:- lack of metrics, generation of over-complex solutions, focus on original design, lack of influence on the engineering institutions, insufficient good case study material.
4.4 Key issues
- Managing information
- Corporate knowledge, design history, design intent.
- Supply chain.
- Handling product complexity.
- Creativity and innovation
- Cultural/business/soft issues
- Dissemination and awareness.
- Needs of SMEs
- Systems issues.
- Environmental, sustainable issues
- A scientific 'business' for design research (e.g. Taxonomy, Etc.)
- Funding, management, organisations, e.g. design 'Teaching companies'
- Integration - tools.
- Integration - processes.
- Support for early stages of process.
Also listed in this section were:- More automation(Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning and Virtual reality), choice of technique, reliability and design adequacy, design reuse.
