Recommendation for an interface system for product related computer data to enhance the Engineering Change Order/Preliminary Change Order function

Rochester Institute of Technology

RIT Scholar Works

Theses

Thesis/Dissertation Collections

1993

Recommendation for an interface system for

product related computer data to enhance the

Engineering Change Order/Preliminary Change

Order function

Patrick B. McPhee

Follow this and additional works at:

http://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses

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Recommended Citation

RECOMMENDATION

FOR AN INTERFACE SYSTEM

FOR PRODUCT RELATED COMPUTER DATA

TO ENHANCE THE

ENGINEERING CHANGE

ORDER/PRELIMINARY CHANGEORDER

FUNCTION

BY

PATRICK B. MCPHEE

Athesis submittedtotheDepartmentof

Packaging

Science

intheCollegeofApplied Scienceand

Technology

ofRochester Instituteof

Technology

inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirements of

MASTER OFSCIENCE

in

PACKAGING SCIENCE

Rochester,

New York

Department Of Packaging Science

College of Applied Science and Technology

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, New York

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

M.S. Degree

The M.S. Degree thesis of Patrick B. McPhee

has been examined and approved

by the thesis committee as satisfactory

for the thesis requirements for the

Master of Science Degree

Daniel

L.

Goodwin

David

L.

Olsson

Karen

L.

Proctor

Date

5

_sC'",4 /

/ff'

3

Title of Thesis: Recommendation For An Interface System For Product Related

Computer Data To Enhance The Engineering Change Order/Preliminary Change Order

Function.

I Patrick B. McPhee, hereby state that this document or thesis may only be used

for reference in the department of Packaging Science, Rochester Institue of Technology,

Rochester, New York. No reproduction of this document or thesis may be made without

the written consent of the author.

Patrick B. McPhee

Date:

cr-/r·

53

To

Laura,

Tiffany

and_{my Parents} for_standingbehindme and_supportingme

during

thepreparationandcompletionofthiswork.

ABSTRACT

The

following

documentwillexplore product andinformationintegration

by

demonstrating

thepotentialeconomic, strategic,andtechnicalbenefits attainableinthe

Engineering

Change

Order/Preliminary

ChangeOrder function. Information isthe foundationoftoday'scorporate enterprise. Anorganization'ssuccess candependon

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

1

INTRODUCTION

1

Purpose 1

Delimitations 1

The Importance Of The

Study

2

2

COMPUTER-AIDED

ACQUISITIONAND 13

LOGISTICS SUPPORT

(CALS)

3 STANDARD GENERALIZEDMARKUP 14

LANGUAGE

(SGML)

4 ELECTRONICDATA INTERCHANGE

(EDI)

17

5 CONCURRENT ENGINEERING 19

6 THE PROCEDURE 23

Core Team 25

Overall Process Team 27

Subprocess Teams 31

Technology

Team 33

7 RECOMMENDATION 44

Benefits 46

ENDNOTES 47

WORKS CONSULTED OTHER THAN INTERNAL

CORPORATE INFORMATION 50

LIST

OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Various Computer Data File Formats 7

2. Current HardwareandSoftwareApplications 32

3. Attribute Matrixofthe

Top

ThreeReviewed Packages 38

4. Suggested FileFormats 44

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1.

Software

Application

Utilizing

Graphical User Interface 5

2. Islands ofInformation 9

3.InformationManagement EncompassesAllForms

oftheCorporation 10

4. Procedural

Markup

vs. Descriptive

Markup

15

5. Comparison ofStandardInvoicevs. EDI Data File 18

6.The LayersofConcurrent

Engineering

19

7. Prevention Implementation Model 24

8. Overall Process Model Worksheet 26

9. CurrentProcess Model Flow

Including

Multiple Site Locations 28

10. GeneralizedAction Plan 29

1 1. Proposed Process Overview 30

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BOM-BillofMaterials

CAD- Computer Aided

Design

CALS- Computer-aidedAcquisition

andLogistics Support ECO

-Engineering

ChangeOrder EDI Electronic Data Interchange E-mail Electronic Mail

GUI- Graphical User Interface

ISO- InternationalStandards Organization

ISV- Independent Software Vendor LAN Local Area Network

MRP- Material Requirement

Planning

PC- Personal Computer PCO

-Preliminary

Change Order PDM ProductData Management

PIM- Product

informationManagement

QES

-Quality

EducationSystem SGML- Standard Generalized

Markup

Language

VAN Value Added Network

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE

Thisresearchis

being

conductedtoinvestigateand/or

develop

a

recommendation for system(s)of

interfacing

multipleforms of productrelatedcomputer

data betweenmultiple

facility

locationson_{existing hardware}andplatformstoenhance

the

Engineering

Change

Order/Preliminary

Change Order

(ECO/PCO)

functions. Dueto

thenatureofrapiddevelopmentcyclesinvolvedwithcomputers andcomputer related products, the_availabilityandmanagementofinformationplays a

key

rolein

developing

and_maintaininga customerbase. Thecorporateenterprise cansavetimeand_money and

gain_{quality in}thedevelopmentand_{manufacturing}of a productthroughthe

interfacing

of product-relatedcomputerdata.

DELIMITATIONS

This study will be limitedto those software packages or systems (orattributes of such_{systems) developed}tointerface different forms of computergenerateddata.

Thiswillnotbean extensive_studyoftransfersystemssuchasLocal Area Networks

(LAN),

telecommunication _packages, or Network File System

(NFS)

systems

although

they

_{may be}

briefly

describedassupportfunctionsto theinterfacesystems.

This study will _only encompass the ECO/PCO functions of a single computer

manufacturingcompany.

THE

IMPORTANCE

OF THE STUDY

This study is

being

conductedforthe

following

reasons:

It was

determined

that

during

thedevelopmentand/or_{manufacturing}of a_product, a singleECOcan generate_upto9000piecesofpaper.1

Estimated

Processing

Costs per ECO/PCO of $671.00. Total pieces of paper generated

by

Central Recordsforthefirstquarter- 276,000

at a cost of$4,565.00.2-3

Anaverageof52 ECO/PCOspermontharegenerated.4

ThecurrentECO/PCOprocesscantake_upto2months_{to complete,}withanaverage

of4-6weeks.5

Toimprove the"TimeToMarket"

alongwithimprovementsto the product.6 Toinsurethe_companyfitsthedefinitionofa"WorldClass SupportOrganization".7

ToimprovetheMaterial Requirement

Planning

(MRP)

system.8

Informationisthefoundationoftoday'scorporate enterprise.Anorganization's

successcandependonhow effectivelyit

identifies,

manages and usesits information.

As an organizationgrowsorbecomesmorecomplex,theinfrastructureofinformation

becomes more complex. Themanagement anddistributionof

information,

corporation

wide,becomes a

key

elementinthestrategicposition oftheorganization inits given

market.

However,

informationliesscattered amongstdiverseapplicationsinatypical

organization.9

Inthe '80's and'90smuchattention was paidtoinformation technology, orthe

creationof

information,

anditsadvantagesin automatingtasks.

Organizations,

suchas

the_militaryhavealso made attemptsatinformation sharingonaglobal_approach,

introducing

programs such asComputer-aided Acquisition andLogistic Support

(CALS)

whichutilizes Standard Generalized

Markup

Language

(SGML)

as aninformationor

data format Thisallows computer-generateddatatobeviewed on_manydifferent forms

Interchange (EDI). EDIisanother attemptto shareinformationelectronically, or without "paper"

generationaimedatthe_{shipment, receipt,} and

billing

forproductorservices.

Also,

today's_{manufacturing}and/ordevelopmenttechniqueshaveprogressedtowardan

approachto_engineeringknownas Concurrent_{Engineering. Information sharing is}an essential elementinthesuccessfuluseofConcurrent

Engineering

practices.

Althoughprograms andtechniques are

being

developed for information

"sharing",

companies are still saddledwithineffectivetechnicalinformation

management.Thisimpedes_anypotentialforgrowth

by

_{slowing down}organizations

withinthecorporate enterprise. In_{today's economy,}cost_cuttingmeasures demandmore efficient useofcorporate resources andinformation.10

Currently,

mostcompanies generate someformof computer-generateddata

whichtakes theformofdocumentation for distributionor review. Some commonforms ofthisdocumentationare:

Product Design Drawings Specifications

Manufacturing

Instructions BillofMaterials

(BOM)

EquipmentConfigurations TestCertificates

Analysis&Test Data/Reports Correspondence

Service &Maintenance Manuals

Quality

&

Safety

Inspection Procedures/Certification

These documents areoftenprepared with adiverserange ofsophisticated

software applications

including

Computer Aided Design

(CAD),

word_processingand

desktop

publishing,allof whichhave significantlyreducedthetimeforindividualtasks.

Also,

personalcomputers andworkstationshaveproliferatedthroughout thework

information.

Sometypicalformsofthehardwareutilizedtocreatethe

information/

documentation are:

Personal Computers such as IBM PC's and

Clones,

Macintosh Computers

Workstations such asSunSparc

Stations,

Intergraph Workstations Mainframe systems with X-window terminals such as Encore Computer

Corporation,

Digital

Equipment,

Hewlett Packard or

IBM.

Eachofthesedifferenttypesofhardware have differentwaysof_performingtasks

called_operatingsystems or platforms.Aplatform or_operatingsystemisthe_waya computer calculatesanexpected responsefrom a commandwhethertheresponsebe

strictlyvisualas _text,someformofgraphic,oraudio, or_anycombinationofthethree.

Theproblemliesinthedifferences:a simple command ononeplatform_{may be}

totally

unrecognizable on anotherplatform.

Mostoftoday's software applications_currentlyutilizedonthesedifferenttypes

of platformsare_{user-friendly} applications witha

"Windowing"

look basedon a graphical

formatcalledGUI's (Graphical User

Interfaces,

See Figure 1). This enables employees

to_{quickly learn}andusethesoftwarein creating documentationand allowstheusersof differentplatformstoutilize unfamiliar applicationsasthe "Look" ofcommands are

similar. Thisisaccomplished with such_windowingstandards asMicrosoft

Windows,

OS2

desktop

andtheMacintoshforthe

P.C.,

orOpen LookandMotifenvironmentsfor

theX-Window UNIXenvironments.

Advances incomputer_{networking has} also

dramatically

increased productivity

within corporate organizations.

Networking

hasprogressedto thepointwherevirtually

anycomputer canbeconnectedto_anyothercomputer.11

Thishasmade _sharingor

jjjjjjjipl

VenturaPublisher-D:\RICK\DOaPLAY\230002.CHP (MYLAR3.STY) file dit Vjew Chapter Frame Earagraph lext graphic Table _Help

.HlfftEnMiLJra

'cM2

Figure 1. SoftwareApplication

Utilizing

Graphical User Interfaces (GUI'

andinvisibletotheuser.

However,

overall productdevelopmenttimehasnotbeen significantlyreduceddueto the

difficulty

inmanagement,

distributing

and network-wide coordinationof allthedifferent formatsofvitalinformation. Someofthedifferent

formatsarelisted in the

following

table(see Table 1).

Theprinteddocument is oftentheby-productof suchsophisticatedprograms,

hardwareand_networkingsystems. Cutofffromits informationsource, theprinted

documentrepresents adeadendintheinformation flow becausethedata hasnolinkto theelectronicdatabase. _{The information may}change ateach _stepof_creatinga

document. The furtherremovedfromtheoriginalsourceof

information,

thegreaterthe

risk oferroneous_{data. The quality}ofproductor process candeteriorate rapidly

by

Table 1. Various ComputerData File Formats

ADDlication

File Extensions

Amiga

ILBB *.IFF

ASCH Text *.TXT

AT&T

Group

4 *.ATT

AutoCAD *.DXF

CALSRaster *.CAL

CompuServe *.GIF

Data Beam *.DBX

Dr. Halo *.CUT

Fax Type *.Type

GEM Image *.IMG

GEMMetafile *.GEM

HP Laserjet *.PCL

HP Plotter *.HPGL

rBMGOCA *.GCA

InsetSystems *.IGF

InsetSystems *.PLX

Kofax

Group

4 *.KFX

Lotus *.PIC

MacPaint *.MAC

MacintoshPict *.PCT

Metafile *.CGM

MicrografixDraw *.DRW

Microsoft Paint *.MSD

PC Paint *.PCX

Postscript *.EPS

Storyboard *.SBP

TEK. Plot 10 *.PID

TIFF *.TIF

Truevision *.TGA

WICAT *.GED

Win3/OS2

Bitmap

*.BMP

Windows Metafile *.WMF

8

This dataintheformofdocumentationcan andis

being

usedintoday'scorporate

structures made_upof

independent

islandsofinformationsuch as (SeeFigure2):

Shop

Floor

Production

Planning

Project

Planning

Information System Departments

Manufacturing Engineering

Product Development

Customer Service Departments

Marketing

and Sales

Ask_anypersoninbusinesswhat arethethree

key

performancevariablesthat

affectthe successorfailureof anenterprise and

they

willanswer

Time,

CostandQuality.

Theaccurate, rapid and controlledcommunication oftechnicalinformationthroughout

theseorganizationsandtoyouroutside organizations iscriticalto_providinga

cost-competitive product and_qualityproduction operation . Thisisthebasis forthe

developmentofconcepts such asProduct Information Management

(PIM),

Product Data

Management(PDM),

aswellasother concepts all underthetitleof"Information

Management".

Information Managementisa

technology

_enablingthemanagement and_sharing

ofdataorinformation amonggroups orfunctions_{providing information}thatis:

Complete, Accurate,

ReliableandTimely. This

technology

is anattempttomanage and

Independent

Islands

of

Information

10

11

Information Managementalso attemptstomanagedifferenttaskslike

ECO's,

PCO's,

Revision

Control,

and

Concurrent

Engineering.17 _Therearethree

key

elementsto

Information Management:

1.0 Document

Management

provides on-linerevision

handling,

_security

and access control,documentation structuring,

linking,

markup

management and externaldatabasequery._{Not only}shouldthesystem

control revisions of adocumentbutalso _anyproposedchanges.

Guaranteed

integrity

ofmultipledocumentationversions and

configurationsis essential. Thisisakindofelectroniclibrarian. Today's

corporations are also _manytimes _{located in physically different locations.}

The information management systemmakes allformsofdocumentation

orinformationaccessibletoallcorporatesites.18

E-mailcapabilitiesare

alsoessentialfornotification and communicationbetweenworkgroups

and corporatesites.

2.0

Engineering

Work Flowensuresthat_engineering

documentation,

on

atime-critical_path, ismanaged_quicklyandaccurately. Thiscontrolsor

manages thedocumentationeach _stepthrough theworkflow controlling

thelistof users andgroups who canaccesstheinformation.19Thesystem

12

3.0 Document

Processing

toolsare requiredtoprovidetheuserswitha

convenient simple-to-use graphicalinterfaceso

they

can_manipulate,

revise andviewdocumentation quicklyonwiderangeofplatforms.20

Therewards ofdocumentmanagement and automatedworkflowaresubstantial.

Implementing

such systems candeliverapayback of10-1 inasingledepartment.21 Also

theamountofpersonnel requiredtocomplete ataskcanbereduced_{significantiy}

by

automatingsuchtasks. Listedbeloware someoftheotherbenefitsof anInformation

Management system:

Thesystemorganizesdatatoserve alldisciplinesof anorganization.22

Itcontrols the storage andretrieval offilesandassociated _{attributes, enabling}end usersto_{quickly locate}neededinformationamid atremendousvolume ofdata.23

Networkwidecommunications viaelectronicmail.24 GraphicalInterfacing.25

Integrated

Backup

andRetrieval.26 Userdefinableattributes.27

Aquicker time of productto marketthrough shorterdevelopmenttimes. The data

orinformation isavailabletofosterconcurrent work practices(thiswillbe discussed

later).28

Improved qualityofbothproductandoperations.29

Earlier problem identification and shorterchange cycles. Production groups are

closely linkedwithdevelopmentactivity.30

Integrationof_existingenvironmentsandprotectionof currentinvestments.31 Information that is

timely,

accurate and pertinent which allows organizations to

operate on

facts,

NOT GUESSWORK!.32

Insomecases,accuracyand_{accessibility}tocriticalinformationisnow a

mandatoryrequirementinorderto_complywith_regulatoryauthorities or_engineering

practices. Thenext chapters will giveabrief discussionof some oftheseregulations and

CHAPTER 2

COMPUTER-AIDED ACQUISITION AND LOGISTICS

SUPPORT

(CALS)

CALS is alargescale,

long

terminformationmanagement projectinitiated

by

the

U.S. DepartmentofDefensetheaim of whichis toreducethecostof_supportingand

maintaining militaryequipment.33SGMLorStandard Generalized

Markup

Languageisa

partoftheCALSprogramincluded in:

MIL-STD-1840 The Automated Interchange of Technical Information

MIL-M-28001SGML

MIL-D-28000 IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange

Specifications)

MIL-R-28002 CCrTT

Group

4 (International Consultive Committee

on

Telephony

and

Telegraphy)

MIL-D-28003 CGM (Computer Graphics

Metafile)

Any

corporationthatis involvedwith_militarysupport of_{any form}mustlearnand

becomecompetent withtheCALS

formatting

inorderto supporttheir_military

involvement. Thiswillalsoinsurethecorporationas aviable vendortothegovernment.

CHAPTFR

^

STANDARD GENERALIZED

MARKUP LANGUAGE

(SGML)

SGMLcandescribeand createdocuments thatare notdependenton_any

hardware,

software, formatteror_operatingplatform/system. SGMLallows youto

manageinformationasdataobjectsinsteadofcharactersona page. Thisis alanguage for

describing

documents intermsof"What" not"How"andidentifies objects_according

totheirpurposeorfunction.34

This isaccomplished

by

"marking-up"thedatainacertain_waythatis

recognizable regardlessofthe systemsusedtocreateor viewthedata. WhatisMark-up? Thetraditionaldefinition is: "Marking-up"

oftypewritten text togiveinstructionsfora typesetterorcomposition onhowto fitthetextonapage.35

Thistypeof_mark-upis

called "Procedural Mark-Up". Procedural

Mark-up

works _onlywhentheparties exchangingthedocumentation both havethe same system. Also if StyleGuidelines

change, or youneedtopresentthe sameinformation in adifferent

format,

massive re-keyingisrequired.

SGMLutilizes a

"Generic"

mark-upthatdescribes thepurpose ofthe textina

documentratherthanphysical appearance onthepage.36

This is knowas "Descriptive Mark-Up"

(SeeFigure4). Someofthebenefitsof_utilizingthistypeof_mark-upare.37

Betteraccess andnavigationofinformation.

Improvedcontentand_qualityofdocumentation.

Increasedcompetitiveness.

Lowerproductdocumentation

delivery

anddistributioncosts. Fasterand easierimportand export ofsourcedataorinformation.

15

Procedural

Markup

16pt. Tms

Roman,-Centered,

prespace=_2pi

postspace=_3pi

lOpt. TmsRoman,

Bold,Left Justified

postspace=lpi

lOpt.TmsRoman,

padto4pi

lOpt.,TmsRoman, LeftJustify,Ragged Right,Indent First

Line 2pi

Memorandum

To: GeorgeJetson

From:Mr.

Spacel;

Date: 24 August 3010

Re:YourJob *

Ithascometo_myattention,

blah,

blah, blah,

blah You're Fired! *

Figure

4,

Procedural

Markup

vs. Descriptive

Markup

Descriptive

Markup

16

SGML isaninternationalstandard(ISO

8879)

publishedin 1986 andsince

SGMLdocumentsconformtoaninternational_standard,

they

are portable. This means

you canexchangethem_seamlesslywith users whohave differentsystems.38

SGML is

alsoutilized

by

the

following

industries:

AAA Air Transport AssociationofPublishers ATA Air Transport Association

TCIF- Telecommunications

Industry

Forum

DOD- UnitedStatesDepartment_ofDefense

(CALS)

Computer-aidedAcquisitionandLogistics Support Commercial Airline

Industry

DOE

-Departmentof

Energy

IRS - Internal Revenue Service

SecuritiesandExchange Commission

CHAPTER

4

ELECTRONIC

DATA INTERCHANGE

(EDI)

EDIgrew out oftheworkdone

by

theTransportationData

Coordinating

Committee

(TDCC)

during

the 1960's andthe 1970's. Thecommitteewasformed

by

privateU.S. _rail,airandwatercarrierstoexplorethecomputers_abilitytoexchange

information onfreightmovement. Inthe 1980'stheU.N.'s Economic Commission for

EuropedevelopedEDIfor

Administration, Commerce,

andTransport

(EDIFACT),

an

internationalstandarddesignedto servealltypesoftransactions acrossallborders.

Although still_evolving, EDIFACT hasthe

backing

oftheCustoms AgenciesoftheU.S.

andEuropean EconomicCommunity. In 1987the non-profitData InterchangeStandards

Association formedtheX12

Committee,

whosetasksweretocreatea newdataformat

basedontheTDCC'swork. This

format,

knownasXI

2,

was ratified

by

atheAmerican

Instituteas an officialU.S. Standard.The U.S. Federal Government hasreleasedthe

Federal Information

Processing

Standard

(FTPS)

161 endorsing boththeX 12and

EDIFACT

formats,

_askingallFederalagenciestosupporteither

by

1996.39

EDIis carried

by

VAN's (Value Added

Networks)

whichoperateas a

store-and-forward systemthatis similarto E-mail. VAN's serve as the

intermediary

for

theactual communication of electronictransactions_among

trading

partners.40

Itcanalso

producefaxes or other mediaforcompanies whodonothave EDIcapability. Although

EDIis

beginning

tomake itspresence

felt,

it isstill circumscribed

by

anumber of

difficulties,

including

platform-specificity.41

Figure5 demonstrates thefile formatof a

typicalEDIdata file.

Sample Invoice

Remit To:

Smith Corporation

(Selling

Party)

900

Easy

Street

Big

City,

NJ 15455

Ship

To: The Comer Store 501 First

Street

Crossroads,

MI48106

ChargeTo: ACME

Distributing

P.O. Box33327

Anytown,

NJ44503

Termsof_{Sale: 2% 10 days from invoicedate}

MailTo:

Accounting

Department

coJones

(618)

555-8230

Formatted Into

X12

Standard

N1\SE\SMITH CORPORATION/L

N3N900 EASYSTREETN/L

N4\BIGCITY\NJ\15455N/L

N1\ST\THE CORNER STOREN/L

N3N501 FIRSTSTREETN/L

N4\CROSSROADS\MM8106N/L

N1\BT\ACME DISTRIBUTING CON/L

N3NP.O. BOX 33327N/L

N4\ANYTOWN\NM4509N/L

ITD\0i\3\2\\10N/L

PER\AD\C.D. JONES\TE\6 1 85558230N/L

CHAPTER

5

CONCURRENT ENGINEERING

Concurrent

Engineering

isasystematicapproachto

integrated

product

development

thatemphasizes responsetocustomerexpectationsand embodiesteam

values of_cooperation,trustandsharing. Inthe

development

ofa productin today's

marketplace, shortleadtimeand superior_qualityare

becoming

a major corporategoalto

maintaincompetitiveness.

Concurrent Engineering's

_{decision makingprocess begins}

withextended periodsofparallel effortthatissynchronizedwith_{comparatively}short

exchanges betweenparticipants toproduce aconsensus.42

This formof_engineering

structuredevelopsalayeredarchitectureoftechnologiesthat enable a "Virtual Team".

The layers asdiagramedin Figure 6 are:

Enterprise Information

Transaction

Collaboration Service

Activity

Figure6.The Layers ofConcurrent

Engineering

20

Activity

Layer

-The activity layertakes thevirtualteamina continuous cycle of:

Planning

Implementing

Monitoring

Improving

The CollectionOfActivitiesVital To A Product

Transaction Layer- In

thislayereachteammemberofthevirtualteamcompletes

fundamentaltasks. It isthislayerwheretheconclusionsofthispaper willtakeform toadd valueto thecorporate enterprise. Thesetasks are:43

Lookup

- Throughout

thecorporate structureinformationisscattered on different media. The team members require an "Information Server"

thatprovides a single pointofinquiry.

Compute

- Through

computationtheinformation fromthe"Lookup" taskhasvalueadded.

Communicate

-Sharing

information is key. Limitations intoday's

band widths of networks and various media _{severely hamper} the

efficiencyofthistask.

Negotiate Concurrent

Engineering

is predicated on the _ability of each virtual team member to negotiate with the _group and reach a consensus.

Decide Various

decision-making

tools are required

by

different

members of the virtual team

during

the course of product

development. Mostofthe toolsin use

today

are centeredon single perspective. There is a

"need"

for

investigation,

advancement and

deploymenttoolsto assistthe

Group

Decision

Making

in the areas of:

-Group

DecisionSupport DesignAssessment

-Quality

Functions

Archive Once the product is realized it should be captured and

subsequentlyexploited while_goingthroughredesign ordevelopment ofrelated productor products. Much development iswarrantedto constructinga"Hypermedia-Based Electronic

Notebook"

toreplace

21

Collaboration Layer - This layer is

the service layer performed

by

the system

developed to enhance the

Concurrent

Engineering

practice. These functions

include:44

Collection Coordination Information

Sharing

Integration

EnterpriseInformation Model Layer

-The availabilityof allinformation iscrucial

to_{any Corporate}Enterprise.45

Network Layer The foundation of the Virtual Team is the Network Layer. It

provides

Directory

Services,

Interprocess

Communication,

and Remote Procedure Calls. Advances in todaysnetworkcapabilitieswill insureaflowofmore reliable and

timely

informationtoenhancetheConcurrent

Engineering

practice.46

Asmentionedbeforetheneedformulti-platformdocumentationmanagement

systems isrequired

by

_{practically every}typeofcorporateventure. Softwarevendors and

systemintegratorsare_respondingto thatneed. In

1991,

the

top

100 ISV's (Independent

Software

Vendors)

spent$570+million onproductdevelopment. Over80percentof

thesecompanies

develop

productsformultipleplatforms andthetrends continueto

grow.47

Froma_studyconducted

by

InternationalData

Corporation,

an average5percent

risein Information Services departments budgets for

1992,

comparedto2% inprevious

years. Thesetrends werefoundtobeparallelinothercountries whereFranceandthe

United Kingdomgrowthsinmulti-platformapplications would rangebetween5and 6

percent.48

Thetrendtowardmultiplatform environmentsisalso seen

by

announcements

made

by

majordevelopmentcorporations. An announcementmade

by

Apple

Computer,

Inc. andIBMCorporationthat

they

will worktogethertocreateanew cross-platform

22

DigitialEquipment Corporation haveintroducedproductslike

Desktop

ACMS which

enables software applicationstoperform on all

desktop

devices andplatformsina

company.50

Adobe's "Carousel"

technology,nowknownas

"Acrobat",

will allow users

to take apostscriptdocumentand compressitto

develop

a portablefile formatcalled a

PDF_{(Portable Document File). The read-only}postscriptdocumentcanbeviewed on

Macintosh systems,DOSbasedsystems,andUNDCplatformswithout_{requiring data file}

formatconversion.51

Many

otherdevelopersofbothsoftware andhardware have

introducedapplications tobeusedtointegratecomputerdataon multiple platforms

allowingthecorporate enterprisetobecomethatmuch closerto "RealTime Total

CHAPTER 6

THE PROCEDURE

As a_team, thecorporateenterprise can endthepaper_chase,first

by

_converting

paperdocuments intoelectronicimages (ifthedata does not_{already exist)} andthen

by

changingoldpaper-basedsystems and processesto takeadvantageofthetremendous

efficienciesof electronicdocumentmanagement. Thiswillchange currentserial work

flowpractices intoa more automatedparallelprocess_{for managing documentation.}

When_startinga projectthatwill_possiblychangethedocumentationmanagement process

across the

business,

develop

a pilot projectwithin a specificdepartmentorfunction.

Try

tolimittheprojecttoasix monthimplementation. Don't

try

to tackle theentirebusiness

inone project. Thiswillmakethedevelopmentof new processesmoremanageable and

providemore

timely

feedbacktomanagement. Althoughyou are

targeting

a single

process or

department,

always

keep

inmind atotal_companystrategy. Althoughthe

master plan willbetoocomplexto implement

immediately,

itwill serveas aroad_map

forfutureprojects.

The ECO/PCOprocess hasbeenreviewed_{before many times}to

try

toimprove

theprocess,withlittleorno success. Thistimetheprocessesthatwillbeutilizedto

conductthis _studyaretaught

during

thecompany's

Quality

EducationSystem

(QES)

whichisaprogramor approachto_qualitytaught

by Phillip Crosby

andAssociatesof

WinterPark,

Florida. Thisprocesshas afourmajor_stepconfiguration calledthe

"PreventionImplementationModel". Oneofthe

key

reasons thisprocess was utilized

wasthatineachofthefourstepsthereisconstantreview,andifabottleneckappears you

may

"Loop

Back"

toretargettheproject or makeadecisiontoproceed.The foursteps

areshownin Figure 7.

24

Figure 7. Prevention ImplementationModel52

Eachofthesefourmajorstepshave many associated sub-steps:

StageA

-Define Process

Step

1:

Preliminary

Definition

Step

2:Output Requirements Definition

StageB- Define Process

Step

1:Overall ProcessDefinition

Step

2: Subprocess Definition

Step

3:Integration andValidation

StageC- Proof

Stage D- Operate_andManage

Step

1:Full-Scale Operation

25

Core

Team

The first step intheQESprocessis

develop

aCoreTeamandtrain theminwhat

the

company

callsQESIJ

training

which_{is Prevention}

Implementation.

_Thecoreteam

wasrepresented

by

individuals

with

key

positionsthatrelateto theECO/PCO function.

They

were:

ECO

Administration

Software

Release

Engineering

Software Process

Engineering

Development

Operations

Manufacturing

Process

Engineering

The firstactionofthecoreteamwasto completeaformcalleda"Process Model

Worksheet". Thisworksheet,once_completed,determinedthecustomers and suppliersof

theprocess _alongwiththeirrequirements.Themodelalsodeterminesotheraspects ofthe

process suchasPerformance

Standards,

Procedures

Required,

Facilities and

Equipment,

Training

andInputRequirements (SeeFigure8). The Process Model Worksheetisan

overallrequirement

listing

and requires morein depth investigationinto actual ormore

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27

Overall

Process Team

Oncethecoreteam

developed

theProcessModel

Worksheet,

anOverall Process

Teamwas puttogetherrepresented

by

the

following

corporatefunctions:

Hardware

Engineering

Software

Engineering

Records Management

Manufacturing

Engineering

Customer Services

TechnicalPublications Product Management

Mechanicaland

Subassembly Engineering

Purchasing

Thepurpose oftheOverall Process TeamwastodocumentthecurrentECO/PCO

process _and,

by

thecustomerrequirementsdeveloped

by

theProcess Model

Worksheet,

develop

a proposed processto meettheserequirements. Someofthemajor problems

discovered

during developing

thecurrent processmodel were(See Figure 9):54

Too manyreviews/inspections: 6Decisions Loops 5 Delays

5ReviewPoints

Too

Many

Delays (Dueto Travel/TransportationofPaper Documents for

Review)

Nodistinction betweenpreparationandapproval.

Toolittleunderstandingofprocess (CommunicationandTraining).

Different everytime

Must"PUSH"

changesthrough the system.

Ownership

oftheprocesswas unclear.

28

Update_Docs)1H '

Month*

29

Once

thecurrent process wasdocumentedandtheproblemsanalyzed, anaction

plan wasdeveloped. Thestepswereasfollows (See Figure 10):

Develop

acleardistinction between"Preparation"

and "Approval".

Identify

anddefine "PreparationSubprocess"

asinputtoapproval.

Shift responsibilitytocreate"Pull"process insteadof a

"Push"

process.

Set_upa systemtoallow"Mapping"ofsubprocesstimeliness.

Makeuse of newtechnologies.

Develop

asystemtofacilitate "Flagging"

ofproblems.

Develop

asystemto facilitategreater communication.

Define Outputs andDeliverables Define Action Flowsand Requirements Define Sub-process Participants AlphaTest Sub-process UsingTools SubprocessTeams

' Overall Process Team 1

Collate Subprocess Deliverables Re-document ECO/PCO/DCO Process Document Enhancements

andPhase DPlan

Write/Flow Overall Process Overview Conduct Demos and_Training Spec Tool Document Overall Process Design Overall Process Electronically Define Deliverables_by Location

BetaTest With Real ECOsin

Parallel

Implement FindHome For

Main Tool

30

TheOverall ProcessTeam'snexttaskwasto

develop

a proposed overallprocess

(

See Figure 1 1). Asyou can seetheproposed process wasdevelopedwith_significandy

less delaysand reviews.

Following

isacomparison:57

Old

Process

6Decision Loops

5 Delays

5ReviewPoints

New Process

1 Decision

Loop

0 Delays

2 ReviewPoints

Enter

)

ECO

Prep

PossibleChecklist Items Revised Drawings Revised FUes CostSheets DRN/co-requisites Justification Test Reports Diff Reports Rework Instructions Implementation Plan

Doc Read for Print

V Obtain ECO Create Checklist Work Checklist N

1

/Checklists ^kComplete/ Y

\

ECOApproval Final Integration Electronic Approval

-1

MINX Activation ' Notify& Distribute

31

Asyoucan seetheproposed processtakes the_majorityofthecurrent process

steps_and,

by

_utilizingon-line _systems,convertsthemintoa parallel orconcurrenteffort.

This has become knownas a"checklist"ofactivities. Inthecurrentprocess a_copyof

eachdocumentrequiredfortheECO/PCOwascombinedtogethertocreatea"package".

Thispackagewas_{physically marked-up and,}after_{approval, thedocuments}were updated

and

incorporated

intothevarious systems _utilizingthe

information.

Intheproposed processthedocumentswouldbechanged

during

the "checklist"

phaseand,and after_approval,be

incorporated

intothe systemsorbe"released".

Being

alldocumentationwouldbeavailable_on-line,timefor_processinganECO/PCOwould

be_greatiyreducedduetoeliminationof physicaltransportationof paperdocuments.

Subprocess Teams

Oncetheproposed processwas

developed,

"Subprocess"teamswerecreatedfor

eachinternalsuppliertoinsurethatallcurrentinputrequirementswerecaptured

during

theinitialprocessmodel worksheetand processmodels. Each subprocess teamwas

askedto

develop

a processmodel ofthecurrent process

including

definitivepointssuch

as whattypesofdatafiles werecreated andtheequipment(both hardwareand_software)

wereutilized.Thesubprocessteams were:

Manufacturing

Specifications

Mechanical

Assembly

Specifications

Components Specifications

ProductDocumentation

32

Thevarioushardwareand softwareapplicationsutilized

by

thevarious

department

arelisted inTable2. Also itshouldbenotedherethateach corporate site

(not

_necessarilysales_{offices)is linked}together_utilizingethernetnetwork systems. The

twomajor corporate _sites,

Manufacturing

_andCorporate

Headquarters,

_werelinked

togetherwith a

dedicated

"Tl"

link. Eachofthesystems notedinTable2 hasthe

capabilities of_accessingthis networkforthe transferof computerdata.

Table 2Current HardwareandSoftware Applications

Hardware

Utilized

Operating

System

Software

llliAiDlication

Output Capabilities

SunSparc SunOs 4.1.3 Cadence Concept

HPGL,

Versatech

Greensheet,

Postscript

Sun Sparc SunOs 4.1.3 CadenceAllegro

HPGL,

Versatech

Greensheet,

Postscript,

Gerber,

Conversionto .DXF,

Calcomp,

Houston Instruments

DECPDP-_{11 RSX Cadence Telesis HPGL,}Gerber

SunSparc SunOs AutoCad .DXFi.DWG^

HPGL,.SLD, .IGES

Sun Sparc SunOs Medusa HPGL

P.C. Compatible MSDOS 5.0 AutoCad

DXF,

.DWG.,

HPGL,.SLD, KjES

P.C. Compatible MSDOS 5.0 Ventura Publisher

4.1

HP,

Postscript

Macintosh MacOs Word

Processing

Postscript

33

Technology

Team

Along

withthe

development

ofsubprocess_teams,ateamwasdevelopedto

investigatethecurrent

technology

availableonthemarketinthe areaofdocument

management.Therewerethreebasicoptionstodocumentmanagementforthis company.

The firstwas to

develop, "in-house",

allthesystems orprograms required_utilizingallthe

currenthardwareand software.Thiswouldrequire largeamountsof manpowerin

programmingtime.Thesecondoptionisto

buy

available software andintegrate the

software intoour_{existing hardware.}

Third,

hireanintegratorwho would review our

currentprocess, suggestsolutions andimplementthesolutions. Priorto_makingany

decision,

a_studywas done intothecurrenttechnologies availablefor Document

Management. Theteamdeveloped

key

elements or characteristics ofthe system. The

following

aredescriptionsofthese

key

elements.

1.0Thesystemmustbeatypeof electronicvaultor

library

withthe

capabilitiesof_accessingdifferent databasesin different locations.

Thereareprosand consto

having

eithera_{centrally located}

database,

meaningallthedataresides onasingle piece of

hardware,

and_remotely

located databases wherethedatawould reside ontheoriginator's

applicationhardware. Ifallthedataresides on a single piece of

hardware,

theact of

"backing-up"

ofthedata becomes asingle taskwhichcan

happenatscheduledtimeswithouttherequirement of morethanoneor

twopersonnel. Ifthedataresides on numerous pieces ofhardwarethe

34

proceduralasfaras _schedulingthe actualback-ups. Themorepersonnel

andtasks

involved,

themore pronetheprocessis toerror.

2.0 Thesystem mustbeableto

transport,

over a_{network, different}

forms

ofdatadeveloped

by

thesub-processteams.Originaldatamust

remaininthenativeformatofthe softwareapplication utilizedtocreate

thedata. Thedata_mayor_maynotbeconvertedto anotherformatforthe

reviewor viewprocesses. Theoriginal

formats,

_especiallycomputer

aided

drawing

are_{usually in}vectorformatwhich are_{extremely large files.}

Transferring

thesefilesthrough thenetworkforreview or view purposes

wouldslowthe_networkingoperation so_manytime theoriginaldrawings

orfiles areconvertedtoa raster or

bitmap

imagewhich_greatlyreduces

thesize ofthedata file.

3.0System_securityand accesscontrol mustbemaintained. Different

revisions ofdocumentsmustbemaintainedand_onlyapproveddocuments

availableto thegeneralcorporate public. Theremustbenochanceof an

unapproved version ofadocument

being

utilizedin anyofthecorporate

functions which could_severelyaffectthe_qualityoftheproductorservice.

Security

mustalsobemaintained. Personsoutsidethe_companymust not

beableto access_{any form}ofthecomputerdataunless givenaccess. Not

justsecurityto thesystembutalso privilegesto individualdocuments

mustbeprogrammableinthesoftware systemchosen. This typeof

securitywouldbegiventooutsideindividuals orfirms such as vendors

35

4.0 Thesystem musthave_{the ability to}program aworkflowprocess

to systematicallyand_{electronically}move computerdatathroughan

approvalsequence. Eachoperationintheworkflow sequence mustbe

automatically timeanddate stampedforbothaccess and completion.

This is_veryimportant for

trackability

andtraceability. Aftertheupdated

process is developed

by

thedifferentteams,itwillbeprogrammedinto

thesoftware systemwhich willroute allthepertinentdata inthecorrect

sequence. The

following

is anoverviewofhowthe_{data may be}routed:

4.1 An ECOrequest wouldbe generated. Theresponsible parties

would

log

intothesystemand accessthecurrentrevision

documentordocumentsand generatethe updates required.The

system would alsocompile alistof otheraffecteddocuments

and/or other requestsfora change_utilizingotherforms of

communicationtoolsthantheECO/PCO function. Thiswould

insurethatall changesthatwere requiredto thedocumentwould

becompletedina singleapprovalcycle.

Animportantpointarises atthis stage oftheECOprocessifit isto

be handledelectronicallyandaspaperlessaspossible.Whatifa

data fileis

being

utilized

by

oneECOpackageandanotherECO

packageisinitiated foradifferentpartbutaffectsthedatafileused

36

concurrentusers ofa certaindata filethat thefile is

being

utilized

inotherECOpackages.

4.2Aftertheresponsible_partyupdatesthe

data,

thedatawouldbe

placedintothesystem which would_notifythe_reviewingpartiesin

thenext_step oftheapprovalprocess. _{Each party in}theprocess

wouldreviewthe_{documentation electronically}and add_any

commentsorredline_anychanges_utilizingtheirrespective

hardware. Thesystem would attach_{electronically}thecomments

or_redlines,if_{any, to the}documents tobereviewed

by

the

originators ofthechanges or_anyotherfunction intheprocess. If

therewerenochanges tothe

document,

the_{reviewing functions}

would

"sign-off"

or approvethe_{documentation electronically}and

thesystemwould_{automatically}notify,through theuse of

electronic mail ore-mail, thenext_{step in}theprocess ofthe

documentationchanges.

4.3Oncethedocuments wereissuedto_everystepoftheapproval

process,andeach participant acceptedthe changes, the

document'srevisionwouldbefixed.

Any

otherchanges to the

document fromthispoint would create a new revision ofthe

document. Withtherevision

fixed,

alltheotherdatabaseswould

benotified eitherelectronicallyorthroughtheresponsible

databaseadministrativefunctionstobeupdated.This would

37

processes,_qualityorganizations,vendors and_anyotherfunctions

utilizingthedata. Againthesystem shouldhavethe_capabilityof

programmingthese

functions

by

the typeofdocumenttobe

changed.

5.0

Being

a mainframecomputer_{manufacturer, the}company'sfirstchoice

wouldbetopurchase a systemor

develop

asystemthatwould run onthe

company's own_platform,whichisan 880penplatform. Ifa system could

notbe foundor a systemis discoveredwithallthecorrect

functions,

the

use ofanother systemas a serverto thenetwork_retaining allthedataon

thecompany's ownhardware hasnotbeenruled out.

6.0Eachdepartmentorfunctionwithinthecorporation_{currently is}

operatingwithdifferent hardwareand software applications.The

proposed system mustbeabletooperate on each ofthese_currently

installedsystems.

Nextamatrix wasdevelopedtouse thereview of_currentlyavailablesoftware

applications(SeeTable3). Inthiswayallthecriteria requiredforthecorporateprocess

couldbereviewed consistendy. Also thecomplete review ofall attainableliteratureon

thesubjectofInformation Managementwasconducted,

including

periodicals wherethe

majorityoftheinformationwas obtained. Seminarswere attendedandgeneralinquires

were putoutto thepublicforInformation Management systems.Demonstration

packageswerereceivedandreviewed_alongwith productliteratureon _manysoftware

38

As theinvestigation_progressed, onepoint

became

obvious. Notall softwarethat

pronouncestobe"multiplatform"

will

necessarily

_{work on all yourin-houseplatforms.}

Some

will work on the

Personal Computer

_and

Macintosh

platformsbutnot ontheUNK

or

X-window

_platforms.

Also

some vendorstout that theirsoftwarepackages will

operateinanUnix_environment,butthereisso_manyvariantformsofUNIX

today

thatit

maynot run on yourparticularplatform or

operating

system.This iswhere

testing

comes

intoplay.

Always

askfora

demonstration

_diskortapeofthesoftware applicationto

insurecompatibility.

Another

discovery

_{was also made}

during

_{the investigationof software packages}

onthemarket Therewas no "one"_{single software applicationthatmetallthe}

requirementsof ourcorporateprocess. Choices hadtobemade onwhichsoftware

packages would completewhichpart oftheprocessthebest. This added another variable

intothe

development,

the_{compatibility}of notjustsoftware andhardwarewas a concern

butthe_{compatibility}ofdifferentsoftware packages

being

utilizedtogetherorinline.

Table3. AttributeMatrixofthe

Top

Three ReviewedPackages

Attribute

Package A

Package B

Package C

Availableon

Multiple Platforms?

Yes Yes Yes

Unix(X-_{Window) Yes Yes Yes}

SunOs Yes Yes Yes

PCDOS Yes Yes Yes

PCOS/2 No No No

Macintosh Yes Yes Yes

880oen No No No

Other

Comments

Platform

Interfacing

With

Conversion

Table 3.

Continued

39

Attribute

Package

A

Package

B

Package

C

Without

Conversion

(Internal)

Yes Yes Yes

Programmable

Workflow

Yes

No,

_{But About}To

Be

Released

Yes

Markup

Capabilities

Annotate

Yes,

WithOptional Package

Yes,

Internal

Yes,

Internal

Redlining

No,

AvailableNext

Release

Yes,

Option

Yes,

Option

View

Only

Packages Available?

Yes Yes Yes

Input File Formats?

Native,

Without

Conversion

Yes,

For View

Package,

No For Workflow

Yes,

For View&

Redlining

No

File

Import,

ConversionRequired

To Utilize The View Package For

Workflow

No,

But The Capabilities Exist

Yes,

Raster Image Required

Comments Inordertousethe

workflowwiththe

viewpackage, a

third_proprietary documentcreation

packageisnecessary

Native MasterFile Edited At

Any

Time?

No No No

Customization

Capabilities

MacroCapabilities Yes. With Tool kit Yes Yes.With Tool kit

GUI'sorWindow Yes Yes Yes

Table 3.

Continued

40

Attribute

Package

A

Package

B

Package

C

Documentation

Supported

TextFormats-_ASCII

Yes Yes Yes

Line Art- Vector

Yes,

With

Conver.

Yes

Yes,

WithConver. Images- Raster

Yes Yes Yes

Database Files Yes Yes Yes

Document Linking

Yes Yes Yes

Output Capabilities

Printers Yes Yes Yes

Plotters Yes Yes Yes

Color Yes Yes Yes

Sound Yes Yes Yes

Video Yes Yes Yes

FileFormatsFor OtherSoftware Applications

Yes,

With Conversion

Yes,

With Conversion

Yes,

With Conversion Compliant To Standards

CALS/JCALS

Yes,

With Filters No

Yes,

With Filters

ISO(File

Format)

Yes,

With Filters No

Yes,

With Filters

EDI Yes No Yes

E-mail Support Yes Yes Yes

Programmable Permissions?

System Yes Yes Yes

Document Yes Yes Yes

CentralorLocal

"Vaults"

Both,

Definable Central

Only

Both,

Definable

41

Table3. Continued

Attribute

Package A

Package B

Package

C

Support?

Training

Available Yes Yes Yes

Implementation/Integi

ation

Yes Yes Yes

Technical

Support,

How?

Phone,

E-mail,

On-Site,

etc...

Yes,

All

Yes,

Phone,

Onsite

Yes,

All

Thematrix wascompleted and

top

two software packages were chosenfora more

indepthreview.Eachmanufacturerwas askedtoset_upademonstration utilizing

then-own equipmentfortheteamleadersofthesubprocessteams. _{After reviewing both}

packages, "Package A"

was chosenasthesoftware applicationtobeutilizedifoutside

applications weretobeprocured. Certainaspects ofthispackageandmanufacturer

appealedtoour company.

First,

thedifferentoptions suchastheview package couldbe

purchased and utilized

individually

which meant a staggeredimplementationcouldbe

introduced.

Second,

themanufacturerseemedtobewell versedintheUNIXplatform

arena where someoftheother manufacturers wherejustgettingacclimated. This brings

upanimportantquestion. Noneofthemanufacturers reviewedhadtheirsoftware

applicationsavailable on our880penplatform. Wouldwe needto

buy

a new piece of

hardwaretosupportthissoftwarepackage? Itwas suggestedthatweintroducea

staggeredimplementationutilizingthoseparts of"Package

A"

softwarepackage,

meaningtheviewandconversion utilitiesthatwill operate on our currentin-house

hardware andset_upastrategic alliance withthemanufacturetoporthisapplications to

platform. Thiswouldbebeneficialtobothparties as ourcompanywouldbe

42

marketing

thesoftware application as an option toourcustomersandthesoftware

manufacturercould support other

hardware

systems not

currendy

supported.

Next,

a

demonstration

was

developed

_forthe

Overall Process

Team alongwith

managementpersonnelatthe_{corporate offices.}

Following

whereconsiderations when

settingupthe

demonstration.

Workflow

- With

theassistanceofthe_{manufacturer,}the softwareapplication

wasprogrammedto

imitate

theproposed processwhich_would,

during

_the

demonstration,

relay onto theattendeesa more"reallife"

scenarioonwhichtobasetheirdecision.

Document

Types

-Again,

to

try

topresent a morereallife _scenario,acollection

of actual

documents

intheactualfiletypeswerecollectedandinput into the trial

software application. This_waytheattendees could visualizehowthe application would

handle different filetypes suchas ASCII

files,

CAD

drawings,

anddocument_publishing

files.

Hardware- Even

thoughthe software applicationsdidnot run on an880pen

platform,

they

didoperate onthe SunOsplatform which our_companyutilizedinhouse.

Thesepieces ofhardwarewouldnotbetheidealsystemas ourcurrent mainframe

productwould

be

far faster for

distributing

and_managingthefiles. Itwasdecidedto

conductthedemonstrationontheoneof ourinhousepiecesofhardware todemonstrate

thatifadecision was madeto set_upa strategic alliancewiththemanufacturer,

during

the

porting

developing

timeour_company couldutilizethe software applications.

Theactual_setupofthedemonstrationwasschedulefora specifictimewhen all

thedecisionmakers wereavailable. Priorto that

time,

the software was loadedonto our

hardware alongwiththevariousdocuments files tobeutilized

during

theECO/PCO

process. Theworkflowwas programmedin andthe software applicationswere runto

43

important.

Thedemonstrationmustruncleantoinstalltheproperimpressions intothe

decision

makingpersonnel.

The demonstrationwasconductedas an openforumwithquestions andconcerns

being

respondedtoimmediately. Itwas wellattended andallpersonnelwere preparedto

diagnoseall aspectsofthesoftware applications withregardtoourcorporatestrategies.

Whataboutthecurrent paperdrawingsordocumentationwhichdonothave an

associated electronicdatafile? Anoutside sourcetofacilitatethe _scanningof current

paperdocumentationwas developedtoconvertthedocumentstoanelectronic source.

The decisionwasmadeafter_reviewingthequantities of

"paper-only"

filesthat_{may be}

introduced intoanECO/PCOandthe costsof_purchasinga_{quality document}scannerthat

wouldmeetourrequirementsversusthecostto havean outside vendor completethe

CHAPTER 7

RECOMMENDATION

After

reviewing

_{off-the-shelf software}

applications,it isrecommendedthatthe

company

utilize

"Package

A"_inastaggeredimplementation manner asfollows:

PhaseI

First,

utilize

in-house

_{programmersto}

develop

abasicon-linecommunications

packageto

initiate

personnelto electronic communications and systemsratherthan

paper. Certainaspects oftheproposedprocess canbecompleted_{electronically}with_very

minimal_programming,

instruction,

and

training

such as:

NotificationofECO/PCOpackages

ReviewNotes Approvals

Second,

aviewpackage shouldbeprocuredtofacilitatethe_viewingor_{printing in}

remotelocations of_{documentation. The viewing}application of "Package A"shouldbe

procured asto_{insure compatibility}withfutureintegrationof othersoftware components.

Sinceour ownin-house_programmingeffortwillnotaccommodatetheactualtransferand

viewingof

documents,

a standard outputfileformatshouldbeutilized. Therewill

actually bemorethanone standardto insureallcurrent softwareapplicationfilescould

beviewed. Suggested file formatsarein Table4.

Table 4. Suggested FileFormats

Amplication

File Format

Vector- Line Art *.HPGL

Word

Processing

or

Desktop

Publishing

*.PCL

MRP ASCII

45

Third,

createastrategic alliance withthesoftware vendortoportits software

applications toour native880penplatform which wouldbebeneficialtoboth

companies. Discussionshouldbe initiatedonhowto

develop

theported_version,coststo

do so,andatimeline forcompletion. Atthe same

time,

a reviewofcurrentin-house

hardwareshouldbeconductedtodetermine ifasystemexiststhatcouldbeutilizedas a

serverwhilethe_portingoperationis

being

conducted. Thesystemshouldbecapable,in

termsofspeed, tomanage thevolume ofdocumentationcreated

during

theECO/PCO

process. This wouldbean analyticaltesttoinsure system

functionality

for future

applications suchas theReleaseprocess,Manual

Documentation,

etc..

During

this time

thesoftware application's shortcomingsand_anymajor pitfallscouldbe discovered and

remedied priortofuturephases, movingtowardfullsystem startup. Alldatafilesand

theoperating databaseutilized

by

the software application could reside on our native

platformtoinsurespeed and

backup

facilities.

Training

ofaselect_groupcouldbe facilitated

during

thispilot program. This

makestheprocessof

integration,

training,andsupport more manageableforthevendor

andourin-houseInformationSystems departmentwhich wouldbe supportingthe

integration.

Investigationoffuture hardwarerequirements shouldbe developed

during

this

periodto distinguishthosepersonnel who reviewedthedocumentationasa paper process

who will require someformofviewingaid

(hardware)

andprintingcapabilities. Once

thedocumentationisinan electronicfile

format,

otherfunctionswill requireviewing

capabilities suchas the

Quality

Assuranceorganizationtoperformaudits. Certain

46

Last,

the"Stateof

Mind"

mustbechangedfromabatchserialprocesstoa single

operation,concurrentprocess. _{This may}bethehardestactiontocompleteas _many

personnelhavestructuredtheirowninternal_{process with a certaintimeand}

day

to

reviewtheECO/PCOmaterial. Personnelwillrequire_retrainingand needbewell

informedofthebenefitsof an "On-Line"or"Paperless" system andhow itcouldimprove

theirowninternalprocess.

Estimatedsoftware costsforPhase_{I utilizingin-house hardwarefor}thenetwork

server(notournative_platform)is

$60,000.00.

Benefits

Again,

inthecomputer

industry,

"Time ToMarket"

is_extremelyimportantandwith

totalintegrationof anInformationManagementsystem,timewill_{be greatly}reduced

dueto theeliminationof

transporting

paperdocumentpackages.

Labor andmaterialcosts of_processing thepaperto constructthe numerous paper ECO/PCOpackageswillalsobe diminished fromthecurrent volume.

Therewillbea closerlink betweenthevariouscorporatefunctionstoinsureshorter developmenttimes.

Therewillbeareduction ofECO/PCOactivity.

ENDNOTES

1. Department

Presentation,

ECOImprovement. OFSTT. Core Team Status Report

(Melbourne,

Florida: _n.p.,

1993),5.

2. Diane

Ohman,

Memorandum,

ECO Process Costs 18March

1992,

p.2.

3. Suzi

Hayes, Memorandum,

ECO Measures. 14April

1993,

p.l.

4. Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement. OESTI. CoreTeamStatus Report

(Melbourne,

Florida: n.p., 1993),5.

5. Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement. OESn. Core Team Status Report

(Melbourne,

Florida: _n.p., 1993),5.

6. Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement. OESn. Core Team Status Report

(Melbourne,

Florida: n.p., 1993),5.

7. Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement.OESII. Core Team Status Report

(Melbourne,

Florida:n.p., 1993),5.

8. Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement.OESII. Core Team Status Report

(Melbourne,

Florida: n.p., 1993),5.

9.CAD Conferencing. A New

Way

ToCommunicate. Intergraph (1992)2.

10.

Getting

StartedWith SGML.Arbor

Text,

(1992)2.

ll.EEame,(i992)n.p.l.

12.VenturaPublisher. Computer

Software,

Ventura

Software, Inc.,

1992.

13.

Getting

StartedWith SGML.Arbor

Text,

(1992)2.

14.Technical Document ManagementSolutions. Cimage

(1992)

15. Presentation,Technical InformationManagement

(Melbourne, Florida:n.p.,

1992),

19.

16. Presentation, Technical Information Management

(Melbourne, Florida:n.p.,

1992),19.

17.pktrihntedDocument ManagementSystems.

Auto-Trol,

(1992)1.

18.

Tf

chnical DocumentManagementSolutions. Cimage

(1992)

19. Relational Document Management (RDM).

Interleaf,

5.

48

20.

Technical

_{Document Management Solutions.Cimage}

(1992)

21.

Greg

Boyd,

"Workflow

Automation"

Reseller Management

April,

62.

1992)

22'

Presentation'

Technical

_{Information Management}

(Melbourne,

_Florida:

n.p.,

23'

P1-686"^011'

_{Technical Information Management(Melbourne. Florida:}

n.p.,

iyy2)

24-

Configuration

ManagementSystem.

WorkGroup

Technology,

(1992).

25.

Configuration

ManagementSystem.

WorkGroup

Technology,

(1992).

26.

Configuration

ManagementSystem.

WorkGroup

Technology,

(1992).

27. Configuration Management System.

WorkGroup

Technology,

(1992).

28.

Presentation,

_{Technical Information Management}

(Melbourne,

Florida:n.p.,

1992)

29.

Presentation,

Technical Information Management

(Melbourne,

Florida:n.p.,

1992)

30. The Information Advantage.

Intergraph,

(1992)2.

31.

Presentation,

Technical Information Management.

(Melbourne,

Florida:n.p.

1992)

32.The Information Advantage.

Intergraph,

(1992)2.

33.

Geting

Started With SGML. Arbor

Text,

(1992)12.

34.

Geting

Started With SGML. Arbor

Text,

(1992)2.

35.

Geting

Started With SGML. Arbor

Text,

(1992)2.

36.

Geting

StartedWith SGML. Arbor

Text,

(1992)2.

37.

Geting

StartedWith SGML.Arbor

Text,

(1992)3.

38.

Geting

Started With SGML.Arbor

Text,

(1992)3.

39.

"Competing

Standards".Corporate

Computing

vl nl (June-

July

1992):242.

40. "LearningTo Talk". Corporate

Computing

vl nl (June-

July

1992):313.

41.

"Competing

Standards". Corporate

Computing

vl nl (June-

July

1992):242.

42.Kanakanahalli

Srinivas,

"Computer Support For Concurrent

Engineering",

49

43. Kanakanahalli

Srinivas,

"Computer SupportFor

Concurrent

Engineering"

CjimrMfil

(January

1993):12.

44.Kanakanahalli

Srinivas,

"Computer

Support

For

Concurrent Engineering",

CjimpuiSI

(January

1993): 12.

45. Kanakanahalli

Srinivas,

"Computer

SupportFor

Concurrent Engineering",

Ciimpuiei

(January

1993):12.

46. Kanakanahalli

Srinivas,

"Computer Support

For

Concurrent

Engineering",

Cjmopmei

(January

1993): 12.

47. "Scalable Multiplatform SystemFor

ISV's",

Work-Group

ComputingReport v3n94 _{(March 1992):47.}

48. "Information

Spending",

Work-Group Computing

Reportv3 nl07 (June 1992):6.

^^^^^^^^.^^^^^

49. Brian

Livingston,

"Beware Of The HiddenSnagsOfCross

Development",

System Integration v24 nl2 (December1991):27.

50. John M.

Willis,

"Desktop

DLTPComesOf

Age",

DEC Professional vIOnlO (October 1991):60.

51.Erica

Schroeder,

"New DocumentInterchange EraStartsTo

Unforld",

PC. Weekv9nlO (March 1992):58.

52.

Philip

Crosby

Associates, Inc.,

PreventionImplementation For The Individual (1987)23.

53. Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement. QESfl. CoreTeam Status

Report

(Melbourne,

Florida: n.p., 1993),7.

54.Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement. QESfl. Core Team Status

Report

(Melbourne,

Florida:n.p., 1993),11.

55.Department

Presentation,

ECOImprovement.OESIT. Core Team Status Report

(Melbourne,

Florida:n.p., 1993),10.

56.

Weekly

Meeting,

Overall Process Team. (Ft.

Lauderdale,

Florida: n.p.

1993),1.

57.Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement. OESII. Core Team Status

Report

(Melbourne,

Florida:n.p.,

1993),

14.

58. Department

Presentation,

ECO Improvement.QESfl. Core Team Status

WORKS

CONSULTED

OTHER THAN

INTERNAL

CORPORATE

INFORMATION

"An

Update

on

CALS

Implementation."_BarlowReport v312.

"Applix/Computer

Sciences

in

$744