Design of questionnaire

The problem was set out clearly and the logical implications see figure 3.1 for cutting-off process user, figure 3.2 for cutting-off tool manufacturer and figure 3.3 for cutting-off machine manufacturer. The questions are closely related to the problems under study. The questionnaire must not be too long because respondents would loose interest. Each complex question was broken down into further smallest questions, so that the questions were simple and straight forward in order to avoid ambiguity [31].

S e l e c t i o n c r i t e r i a i n f o r m a t i o n G e n e r a l c o m p a n y i n f o r m a t i o n C u t t i n g - o f f m a c h i n e s i n f o r m a t i o n C u t t i n g - o f f t o o l s i n f o r m a t i o n P r o d u c t i o n p l a n n i n g i n f o r m a t i o n

type of p ro d u ctio n , com p an y size, c u ttin g -o ff p ro cess u sed , tu rn o v er, in d u stria l se cto r b elon g to,

m a teria l groups requ ire c u t tin g - o ff m a ch in e q u an tity, size,

type of con trol, op erator sk ill

c u ttin g -o ff tool u sed ,

m a teria l and q u a n tity of to o ls

p erson s e le c t c u ttin g —o ff p ro cess, m a ch in e, to o ls and p a ra m eter s, se lec tio n m eth od

p r o v i d e s e l e c t i o n h e l p t o c u s t o m e r o r n o t c u t t i n g - o f f t o o l r a n g e a n d q u a n t i t y c u t t i n g - o f f t o o l m a n u f a c t u r e d c u t t i n g - o f f t o o l m a t e r i a l G e n e r a l c o m p a n y i n f o r m a t i o n

Figure 3.2 Cutting-off tool manufacturer questionnaire layout

i n f o r m a t i o n M a c h i n e G e n e r a l c o m p a n y i n f o r m a t i o n m a c h i n e p r o d u c e d a n d e x p e c t t o p r o d u c e in n e x t y e a r q u a n tity and type of con trol

The questionnaire designed for process users is divided into the following sections: (All three types of mail questionnaires are attached in appendix 3)

Section 1 for collecting general company information. Section 2 for collecting information regarding the cutting-off machine tools. Section 3 is asking about the information regarding the cutting-off tools. Section 4 is asking about the methods used and the people who undertake the selection of cutting-off processes, cutting-off tools, machines and their parameters. Section 5 covers the selection criteria.

From the answers, the methods of selection used for the cutting-off processes, machines, cutting tools and parameters can be collated. Computer assistance or manual approaches and what the major cutting-off processes used in manufacturing industry can also be determined.

The questionnaire designed for cutting-off tool manufacturers is divided into the following sections:

Section 1 asks about the general company information. Section 2 is about their cutting-off tool information.

From this, it is possible to identify the major cutting-off tools used in the industry. Are coated tools extensively used by the cutting-off industry or are they still using H.S.S. cutting tools as their major cutting tool? This information could indicate the market trend in the use of cutting tools.

The questionnaire designed for machine tool manufacturer is divided into the following sections: Section 1 relates to general company information. Section 2 relates to the cutting-off machine tool information.

From the quantities of cutting-off machine production data in last financial year (1992 - 1993) and the expected production quantity in the next financial year (1993 - 1994), it is possible to determine the trend in the demand for cutting-off machines and also the trends in the use of cutting-off processes. It can provide the useful information for cutting-off tool and machine manufacturers.

These questions were simple but there were several possible answers, each of which required further information, so a series of questions was necessary. At each deeper level of questioning, the possible number of answers increases dramatically, and all these possibilities must be included in the questionnaire [31]. A list of the most common answers was given to the respondent, with opportunity to specify a different response if necessary. For example, "How does your company

select cutting-off machine tools? The possible answers include "manual, use of computer, use of external expert advise, other methods". If the response was "Use of computer", then the next question was "Please give the name of the package."

Since the questionnaires was divided into three categories, each of these set out to draw information from different group of respondents. The first categories was the process user, as this is the major part of the survey. This is because the manufacturing engineer is faced with the dilemma of specifying the manufacturing process and the cutting tools from an increasingly large number of available alternatives for part manufacturers. The manufacturing engineer is also faced with many different process specifications and a variety of alternative combinations of parts and cutting-off processes.