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Ponithl Eutirtt &rfttt

The
Belbin

Test

Forassesslng
teamroles

lnventory
SelfPercePtion
tickin the far lefthandcolumnthe
eachsectionof thisinventory,
To comolete
toyourself'
mostapplicable
one,twoor threesentences
thosesentences
10 pointsbetween
Thenin the cotumnon the right,apportion
theotheronly
you
while
thatapplyto you:oneof whichyoufeelsums up well
seven
youcouldgiveyourfirst.choice
thetime.Inthisinstance
appliess-ome'of
you
instances
some
pointsto yoursecondchoiceln
pointsandthe remaining
- if thisis
whichapplyto youequally
thatthereire twosentences
miohtdecide
thicase,awardtlvepointsto each.
all1OpolntsIn eachsectlon.
Youmustallocate

A
SECTION
WHENINVOLVEDIN A PROJECTWITH OTI'IERPEOPLE:

Tick

Points
T.r6ani6-reGauponic seelhatworkthatneedsto bedoneis
thatothersfallto notice.
Z-ji'i r upstipsanaomtssions
iooklikeloslngtrackof themain
meethgs
3J reiit strongitwhen
oblective.
suggestions.
origlnal
4. I produce
forbothmeritsand
objsctively,
otherpeopleE-das
5l analyse
failinas.
fina;utthelatestideasanddovelopments
6. I amTeerdo

2_

peopte.
orsEnisins
7lTfr6Zi?liit-idETor
goodsuggestions
thathelpto
d: I ann;lwa\rdat tc support
a prcblem.
resolve

SECTION
B
IN SEEKINGSATISFACTIoNTERoUGH IT(YWoRK:

'1.I liketo havea stronginfluEnieon-decisions

Points

2. I feelinmyelemen@
attention
andconcentration.

3. I amconcerned
toirerp-orteagG;iliFlfr;jr
p-6li;ms.4. l l i k e t o m a k e c r i t i c f fi
5. I tendto havea creative
approictr
t-opi66iE6soiv=ng.6. I enjoyreconciting
different
pojnG;ivre\u

7.I ammoreinterested
inpE-CiiiiiliGl-iFdiiEfiliEE
8. I particutarty
enjoyexp@

sEcTtoN
c
WIIEN TIIE TEAM IS TRI'ING TO SOLVEA PARTICULARLYCOMPLEX
PROBLEMI

t . t ke e p a w a t c h i n g @
z.texptoreide@
lmme0late
task.
3.lt i t e t o w e i g h u @
beforechoosino.
4. , l c a n c o o r d i n a t e a @
talents.
5.t m a i n t a i n a s t e a d y l @
6.lo f t e n p r o d u c e a n e w @

T.lamreadytoma@
necessarv.
8. I amreadyto heipwhenEGiGEn-

Points

D
SECTION
IN CARRT'ING OUT IfY DAY-TO-DAY WORK:

Tick

Points
vagueaboutmytaskand
1 . amkeento seethereis nothing
o bectives.
myownpointof viewin meetlngs
to emphasise
not reluctard
provided
thattheyhavegot
-;m
dl c'anwo* witnattsortsof people

to contribute.
worthwhilE
somethinq
ideasand/orpeople.
pointoiEllowing
upinteresting
aliakfi

propositlons
torefute
unsound
ttreargument
E. I cannsuan-tiFd
wouldseeitemsas
wherothers
6.Ttenato seepatterns
unconnected,
7. Belngbusygivesmerealsatisfaction.
toknowpeoplebetter.
ingetting
&mave a quietlnterest

E
SECTION
IF I AM SUDDENLYGII'EN A DITT'ICULTTASKWITH LIMITED TIME AND
UNTAMILIARPEOPLEI

Tick

Points
in a group.
byworking
frustrated
frndmyrmagffitron
I o-:io6
inachieving
appropriate
skillparticularly
Z.t nnOmypersonal
agreement.
withmyjudgement.
interfere
telOom
S.Vyfeetings

qualities
5.Tcanwo* wm peoplewhovarywidelyintheirpersonal
andoutlook.
unpopularity
sometemporary
6:l feelitE sofrfimesworthincuning
group.
in
a
getting
views
across
one's
in
if oneis to succeed
is
knowledge
whosespecialist
Z'i usuEltknowsomeone
padicularlV
apt.

SECTION
F
WIIEN SI]DDENLY ASKED TO CONSIDER A NEW
PROJECT:

1.I startto lookaroundforpossible-eas;;Aipeni-nos.

2- l a m c o n c e r n e d @
3. t a p p r o a c h t @
4. I amabteto assertmysetf
togetoiit-er
p-eopfe
invofveOli
necessarv.
s-tamabtetota@
situations.

Points

6.I amnappy
totaketheidiiiFen actr-'6n
i-lEiiii6d.
Zlca n r e s p o n d p o @

e.tnnoittraroto@
defined.

SECTION
G
IN CONTRIIUTING TO GROUPPROJICTSIN GEMRAL:

lllilltll?v@
ro pe raKengivena broadbrief.

zvy consioereoiu@
mark.

3. A b r o a d r a @
workino.

+.l haveaneyefoisettii-l-'i[E?Eta-'iEr-!6f
5. I tryto rnakemymarkin groAmeEiing;

A,lcanseernowi@
Z.,tseeUotfrsiOes@
all-

8. I getonwel withEtrers
iifiioii-FEidEitFElEEnr.

Points

Inventory
ScoringKeyfor SelfPerception
Transferyourpoint's allocatioaftom the sevensectionsofthe Self PerceptionInventory
to the appropriateboxesbelow.Thepre-pdntedaumbersin the grid referto the question
A youscoredsevenpointsfor
iffor Sectiotr
Forexample
numbenofeachsection.
question6 andtbrcepointsfor question1,you would allocatethemio-thecolumnsRI
G - P\e l o (

and-IMPrespectively.
\

co

SH
A

4q

3Q

TW

.:)

85

8.6

3L

2+

5b

,0

46

5E

z(z

16
'lr.

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8

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r

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w,/re?/ ei-ilL--,-

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PL

T(aP

:::-i",el;
tvr9x'-r-tr
Ji"'

ao<td^\ar\.
P\h". i*-'td.^',
C;..JL&'

TOTAL

all yourpoints,lotaleachcolurnn
Oncevouhaveallocated
preferredteamroles
yourpdmaryandsecondary
rotals
rcpresent
The highestlwo

UNIVERSITY
OF

WOLV E RHA M P T O N

DESERTST]RVTVAL

A problem-solvidgactivity for examiningand increaringindividual and group effectiveness.

INTRODUCTION
The situationdescribedis basedon over2000actualcasesin which menand womenlived-.or died
dependingupon the survivaldecisionsftey made.Your own "life" or "death"will dependon how
well youl groupcan shareits presentknowledge
of a relativelyunfamiljarproblemso that the ieam
canmakedecisionsleadingto your survival.

TIIE SITUATION
It is rpproximatly 10,00a.m. in mid-July and you havejust crashlandediD the SonoraDesert,
SouthWestUSA. Your light twin-engineplane,containingthe bodiesofthe pilot and co-pilor,has
completelybumtout,only theframeremajning,
Noneofthe restof you hasbeeninjured.
The pilot was unableto notiry anyoneof your positionbeforeyou crashed,However,ground
sightingstakenshortlybeforethe crash,suggested
that you are about6J milesoff-coursefrom your
originallyfiled flight plan.A few momentsbeforethecrashthe pilot indicatedthatthe nearestknown
habitationwas miningcamp70 milesawayin a Nolth North-Eastdirection. The imtnediateareais
quiteflat andappears
to be ratherbarrenexoeptfor occasional
cacti.The lastweatherreportindicated
would reach110'F,whichmeansthat the temperature
that temperature
within a foot of the surface
willhit 130F.

in light-weight
You are dressed
clothing- shortsleevedshirts,shorts,socksandleathershoes.
yourpookets
Everyone
hasa handkerchief.
Collectively
codtain!1.53 in ohange,
f43 in Dotes,
a
packetof cigarettes
pen.
anda ball-point

THE PROBLEM
Beforethe planecaughtfire, yourgroupwasableto salvage
the 15itemslistedon- rheattached
sheet.
Your first task,as an indjvidualis to makea ran-king
of the orderof inportanceofthese itemsfor
your survival.startingwith'1'for the mostimportant,downto 15 for the leastimpodant.You may
assume
thatthenumberof Survivorsis tltesarieasthenumberofmembersin yourteamandtlratthey
havedecidedto sticktogether,
but pleasedo lElat thisstage,discussyour rankingwith them.

S{rviv{l O:erciseScoreSbet

TE A }I

I NDIV ID U AL

STRATNGY OTTIONS
(Chlck oq!on!t)
S.nd onc o.lwo P.oPl. ro. helP
Srly rotc6.rrtd Yri( ro b. trsc!.d
Abbdon s,i. sd vrlk ou! to8.dct

(R!nk Ord.r)
Torch (.1brtlrry sitc)

Scqlion!l lirm3p oicllsh eJ.l

Ph.dc r3inco.r(ht8. 5i!e)

Bcrdli.

kl! wid Saua

.{5 Clribr Pistol(load.d)

P!flchurc (ttd ltd whit.)
aod. ofstl! l!b).6 (l0Oo)
I quln srttr Plr P!6on
BooX qn Edibl..\nirtls
I pnr r sof $ing l a *s

o! tltc D""t

P.r P.rson

? q!5r$ of 180 Proofvodkr

ro* r,"=ro'or @

tcrn rcm roral E

LawBulletin- March2005
StrictLiability
WorkequiPment
weekendAs
A farmerlenthis neighboursomeequipmentwhenhewasawayfor the
pieceflew
it" n"ighto,r. uajusJathemachineryprior to use,a springfracturedanda
into his eye.
TheJudgeat flrst instancefoundtheProvisionandUseof Work Equipment
not
Reeulations
IPLWER) 1998did applyto thisloanbutthe accidentwasa one-ofi
anddid not relateto anyfailureto maintainthe machinefor
reaionablyforeseeable,
lost
risks,sotheclaimant
identified
The Court ofAppeal ruled on the two key questions:
1.

to suchn loan?
Did PUWERaPPIY
3(3)(b) and
underparagraphs
Yes- thefarmerhadcontrolofthe equipment
"to anyextent"
in thathe hadcontrolofthe equipment
3(4) ofthe regulations
Thiswasnot a salewherean exemptionto
with hisbusiness.
in connection
loanwhereno business
liability wouldapply(Reg3(5))or a pureneighbourly
couldbe saidto exist
elementto the transaction

2.

Was there :r brenchof Regul,rtion5(l) of the PT]WER?

stronglytheprincipleofst ct liability
Yes- the CourtofAppealassened
it
was
not
to bewatereddownto a conceptof
underReg 5 for a defectand
or
"identifiedrisks"asin Fytche-v- WincantonLogistics(distinguished)
had
caused
not
and
that
failed,
was
efficient
had
The machine
foreseeability.
the accident.
= Judgement
for the Claimlnt.
Conclusion

ofthe pointofstriotliabilityunderPLJS/ERand
Comment:this is a firm restatement
ofcaseslike Fltcheto defeatclaimsi
a refusaltofollow the semantics
wasdesigned
to renderthe
"The impositionofan absolutedutyby theRegulations
prove
that
the. machine
requiring
him
to
by
simply
easier
taskofan injuredworkman
failedto work efficientlyor wasnot in goodrepairandthat suchfailurecausedthe
implemented
to regulations
accident"... "it is importantto givea properconstruction
mainlyfor thebenefitofemployees"(LJ Longmore)
8 July2004(Law Bulletin
ThiscaseandSkinner-v- ScottishAmbulanceServices,
of costin
(on
issu
ofthe
irreleYanc
2004.Scottishsection) the
September
in equipment
cases.
decisions
consideringsafety)arepowerfulpro-claimant

COLLABORATIVE DESIGN
INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTLEGISLATION
Thebiggestsinglecauseofproductfailwesis probablydesign.
andcatastrophic:
Somehavebeenspectacular
andtheChallenger
exploded.
theTitanicsank,theCometcrashed,
However,this doesnot onlyapplyto "headline"products- ordinary,everydayitems
mustbe assafeasDossible.
A designdefectin anyproductcouldresultin a companystrugglingfor corporate
survival,
manufacturers,
retailersand
Productsafetyis a cdticalareaofconcernfor designers,
alike.
consumers
Protection
Act the UnitedKingdomnow hasstrict
Underthe 1987Consumer
liability,in line with theEECDirectiveon Liabilityfor DefectiveProducts.
responsibility.
To meetthischallenge
designproductsafetyhasto be a management

ProductLiabilitv in the Unitsd Kinedom

DefinitioniProductLiability
"The issueof whether, or on what basls,and to what extent a manufacturer or
supplierof someproduct shouldbe llableto the ultimatecustomeror userfor
harm doneby reasonof a defectin designor manufacture."
Definition:Strict Liabllity
"The term in the law of tort for a standardof liability which is mor strlngent
than the ordimry one of liability for failure to take reasonablecare, yet not
absolute,which is the st&ndard sometimesset by statute, where li&bility arises if
the harm to be preve[ted trkes place, wh&tever care and precautions have been
taken."
ProductLiability is not a new concept,neitheris strict Liability. Therehasbeenstict
Liabilityin contractfor aboutonehundredyears.
of a product,but to no one
This meansthata selleris st ctly liableto thepurchaser
else.
suffersinjury,thatpersonwouldhaveto bringan
If someone
otherthanthepurchaser
actionirl tort.

a producthasa defectivedesignthere
If a personsuffersinjury or damagebecause
obtained:
canbe
CONTRACT andTORT.
aretwo causesby whichredress
whichis thebestroutetbr
Thecircumstances
of a particularincidentwill determine
thelictim to follow:
CONTRACT
"An agreementbetweentwo or more personsintendedto createa legal
obligationbetweenthem to be legallyenforceable."
be in writing,in thecourseofbusmess
A contractfor sale,whichneednot necessarily
quality.
normallymeansthatthegoodsmustbe of merchantable
asksa sellerfor a screwd ver,thenthe
This meansthat,for example,if a purchaser
fit for thepurposefor whichscrewdrivers
are
sellermustprovidea screwdriver
hasa designdetbct,andis thusnot of merchantable
normallyused.Ifthe screwdriver
quality,it will notbe fit for thepurposeandthecontmctwill havebeenbroken.
of a
TheSaleofGoodsAct providesstrictLiabilityin contract,sothatthepurchaser
in anactionlbr damages
againstthe
screwdriver
with a designdefectcouldsucceed
sellerwithouthavingto showthathe wasnegligentor otherwiseat fault.
This strictliabilityin conffactis limitedto thepartiesin thecontract:thesellerand
thepurchaser.
of contractthatareimportant:-theselleris strictlyliableonly
Therearetwo aspects
to thepurchaser.
eventhoughhe mayhavesoldtheproduct
Theselleris strictlyliableto thepurchaser
withouthavinghadthe
ashe receivgdit from thedistributoror manufacturer,
possessing
necessary
skill
to
examine
it.
the
opportunityor
is by the
The secondway in whicha personinjuredby a productcanrecoverdamages
with therightsthatonepersonhasagainstother
law ofTORT, whichis concemed
personsgenerally.
TORT
"The term in commonlaw systemsfor the civilly actionableh&rm or wrong, and
for the branchof law dealingwith liability for suchwrongs."
with civil wrongsratherthancriminalwrongsitheremedyfor the
Tort is concerned
or a fine,(althoughthis
andfor thelatterimprisonment
formerbeingcompensation
distinctionis no longerfirm).
on
Understrictliability in tort theinjuredpersonwouldnot haveto provenegligence
by theEEC
This is the significantchangeintroduced
thepartof thedesigner.
by the
Directiveon Liability for defectiveproducts;its provisionswereimplemented
ProtectionAct 1987.UndertheDirectivetheinjuredpersonwouldonly
Consumer
haveto provethecasuallink betweenthetwo. He wouldnot haveto satisfythecourt
care.
thatthedesienerfailedto takereasonable

SOMERELEVANT ACTS
*

Thelecanbe no oneAct thatgovemsdesign.

by thegovemment
to dealwith a productin the
I,awsandrcgulationsareformulated
handsofthe use!;ftquentlylegislationappea$aftra disasterhasdrawnattentionto
thedefect.
bodies,profcssional
societiesand
Dsigncdteriaareusuallytheprovinceof standards
of Stateundera relevantAct may
In ce(aincasesa Secretary
tradeassociations,
on certainproducts.
imposesafetyrcgulations

Someof theActsthatcanaffectdesignareshownbelow:

I Employers'Liability(DefectiveBquipment)Act 1969.
2 Supplyof Goods(ImpliedTems) Act 1973.
3 HealthandSafetyat Wolk eloAct 19?4.
4 UnfairContractTermsAct 1977.

5 Civil Liability (Conhibution)Act 1978.

6 Saleof GoodsAct 1979.
Act 1980.
7 LtLmitation

FOR A DESIGNER
ProtectionAct I 987VERY IMPTORTANT
8 Consumer

*
_

*t

or impofierof a productwith a design

In a snience
it meansthatthemanufacturer
person
whosuffersdamage,
because
of the
a
defe{twill b liableto compensat
defect,withouthavitrgto provenegligence.
widerthanthat(thereaIfive
Note:Io rcalitythescopeof theAct is considerably
mainareas).

ProductLiability in Europe
to comply
Eachofthe Memberstatesof theCommunityhadto introduceI-gislation
by July 1988.
with theEECDirectiveon Liability for DefectiveProducts
thatarcpan of a finished
A productis definedasanygoods,electricity,components
productandraw materials;gameandag culturalproduce(fromthe soil,stock
unlesstheyhaveundergone
an industrialprocess.
farmingor fisheries)areexcluded,
places
groups
Act
liability
on
four
ofpeople;
The
Usuallyit will be the:
thepersonwho
Manufacturerwho will be liableor, in thecaseof rawmaterials,
product,
won or minedthe
of a product,
characteristics
Processors
areonly liableifthey modifytheessential
althoughthey maybe liableasa supplier.
Importers areliableifthey haveimporteda productinto thecommunityin the
andsuppliedit to someone
else.
cou$eoftheir business
out to
Own.brandercareliableandaredefinedaspe$onswho haveheldthemselves
putting
product
product,
by
theirnameon the
or usinga
be theproducerof the
markin relationto a product,
trademark
or otherdistinguishing
importersandown-branders,
a personwho suppliesr
Apefi from manufacturers,
productwill only be liableifhe failsto identifytheper$onwho suppliedhim with the
product.wheretwo or morepersonsareliablefor the samedamagetheirliabilityis
joint andseveral.
A productis heldto be defectiveifits safetyis not suchaspersonsgenerallyexpect.
or raw materialscomprised
in another
This includesthesafetyofcomponents
personal
of
injury or
product.Safetyis considered
in thecontextofthe risks death,
damageto privateproprtyin excessof 275pounds.
productscanstill havea strong
Productsthatiuenot thoughtof asconsumer
For instance,
a bearingcanbe foundln a
orientationin someapplications.
consumer
washingmachineandin an aircraft,a microchipin thecomputercontrolof a machine
tool andin a motorcar,andsoftwareis usedin spaceandin homeinfomation
systems.

ProductLiability in the U.S.A.

It wasin 1963thattheconceptof strictliability anivedin theU.S.A.,or ratherthatis
because
of a decisionin theCalifornianSupremeCoufi.
thedategenerallyaccepted
Beforethat yearactionsfor injuries causedby defectiveproductshadbeenbasedon
After 1963therewastheadditionalchoiceof
eitherbrachof wanantyor negligence.
basingan actionon stdctliability in toft.

The ManagemeDtStEtegy
responsibility.
Safetyin designis a management
StrictLiabilityin Europegivesdesigna newdimension.
for designin thehandsofone
Too muchis at staketo leavetheresponsibility
let aloneonePe$on.
department,
Thecostof somedesigndefectshasbeenformidable.(e.g.theAmocoCadizsteering
failureandtheDC-I0cargodoor).
It is thesimpleword "defect"thatcreatesdifficulty.
on thetrainingandeducationonehas
what it means,exactlywhatit means,depends
received,
Sources
of defect
of a productfailure:
Therearethreesources
-designdefect
erlor
-manufacturing
-failureto wam
with thefirst, whichis perhapsthemajorsourceofproduct
We areonly concerned
failure.
Theneedto managesafetyin productdesignis clearandto do this effectivelya
thatthecompany's
strategyis neededto providea framewolkthatensures
aremet.
lequirgments
Depending
upontheproduct,eachcompanywill probablytakea slightlydifferent
certainareasmorgthanothers.
approach
andemphasise
ofsafetyin productdesignincludesfunctionsotherthanthose
Themanagement
with design.The needfor this widercontributionis a reflectio[
normallyassociated
of a designfailurein a regimeof strictliability.
of thewiderconsequences
will needmodificationto be effectivein thenew
Thetechniques
of yesterday
slluauon,
risks,eachcompany
Therecanbe no oneansweron how to reducedesign-related
mustdevelopits own strategywithin which:
HAZARDS must be identilied and RISKS must be eyaluated,how this is done
will be very much an individufll matter!

But, whateverthe system,a critical item shouldbe the:

PRODUCTDESIGNSPECIFICATION.
It becomesthe brief to which the designerwill work ard setsout the paramolersthat
the final designmust achieve.Virtually all futrctionshavea contdbutionto rnakeand
someof thc key elementsarelisted below:
-the end-userandhis environment
-promotionalmatedal
-standardsandcodcsof practice
legal rcquirements
litisation infornation

DesignReview:a formaldcsignreviewhasanimportantpartto playin risk

dsksbeingreducedby design,safety
reduction,with identifiedhazadsandassessed
wamings.
or theuseofinstructions
and
devices

Conclusion
andat home.
ofproductdesignrisksconcemsus all, in business
Themanagement
to productsafetyif not,in manycases,the
Thecontributionof designis fundamental
singlemostimportantfactor.
to designis required,whenthepenaltyfor gettingit wrongcanpush
A freshapproach
a companyoverthethrcsholdof ruin.
functions,aswell as
will requireaninputfrom the non-technical
Suchmanagement
with design.
from thosemorusuallyassociated
fbr:
strategywill comefrom thoseresponsible
ftom themanagement
Contributions
-purchasing,
-lnsurance,
-Iegalaspects,
-finance,
-marketinganddistribution,
anddevelopment,
-research
engineers,
-applications
engineers,
-production
-qualityassurance.
Anyonewho suffersdamagecausedby a defectiveproductcanrecovercompensation
from thepersonwho put it into circulationwithouthavingto provenegligence.
whichcannotbe
This is in additionto all exilrtinglegislationandis a rasponsibility
excludedby contract
e.g.disclaimer(anyclausethatseeksto excludeor limit liability is void).
for productsafetyon to manufacturers,
This significantchangeshiftsresponsibility
andbrings
importersandownlabel suppliersofany products,includingcomponents,
product
safety
challenge.
fore
ofthe
designto the
safer
realisethat,associetynow demands
Strictliability shouldmakecompanies
demand.
thattheymeetthe
productstheyshouldbe prepatedio demonstrate
carefulin designinga product.Not
In simpletermsa companymustbe reasonably
safefor theintendeduse,but it shouldalso
only mustthedesignbercasonably
foreseeable
misuse.
accommodate
STRICTLIABILITY IN TORT,INTRODUCEDBY TIIE EECDIRECTIVEON
LIABILITY FORDEFECTIVEPRODUCTS,AND MPLEMENTED BY THE
CONSUMERPROTECTIONACT 1987,ADDS A NEW DIMENSIONTO A
DESIGNERS'LIABILITY.

7'a

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EIJEVIER

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Roboricsmd conpller Inle8rdledMln!tuctlinc 20 (2004)I 15

Rr.!Lrvi!r..rJi!:1cr{ct

im

HOW IO reOUCenew pTOOUCI

Oeveropmenl llme
JanezKuiar, JoZeDuhovnik,JanezGrum*,Marko Starbek
ra&hr of M..honi.al En1inc?tks. Ur^pttitr.'f

tjunli

o, AikqicB

6, LjubAdo lAAA.Sbrnio

RNdvd 27 Auslsl 2002iredivedin elised forn l9 M&h l00li accepted

24 April ?001

WhcnDleriflgthe globalnnrker ths companics

cncolrntcr$cvcfuldi,licultics.thc mo$ importaDtonc bcingcxccasivc
timc lbr
new productdeveloflretrt.This problemcan bc ,olvcd by tfansitionfiom scqucntialcnginccringto concurrcntcnSincering.
(Conclrnt Engirceringt undflmenhh,IntcgmtcdProductundPfoccs!Organization.
Vol.I, PfcnticcHallPTR, Ncw Jcrscy,I9961
concur. EDs.Res.Appl. 9 (2001)l9l).
The article presnts$ principlcof concurrcntprcduct devekrtmenlproccss.Tbc nurkct tbrccssmrll- and mcdiumaizc
cnbrpnses(SMEs)rc a transitionfrom scqucntirlloconcutrent
cngincering
llnd !s rcrm wort is thc basicclcmcntofthe concutrcnt
enginering,
spe.ialflttcntionh bcingp0idto te!'n andworkgrouplonrhg in th. krcpsofconcurrcntproductdevclopm.ntprcc.ss
is$s withifl a teamund 0mon8teum!.
il1an SME. Th ndicledocsnot dcalwith communication
A rurvyoflublishedworksin thc licld ofdcsigningtcllmsin big compunics
husfcvcalcdrhutir bigcompanics
I thrN-lcvcltcllm
Ntrucltrh rsommendd.asweuasa *orkgrolp, consisting
oifbuf blsic tcums.An{lysisof thc thfcclcacltclm structufchls lcd
uNto thc conclusiotr
thal in SMEs a !$o-levcltcsmstructurcand ! workgroupconsislingof two b sictcamsshouldbc prcfcrfcd.
Thc rsultsol designinga twolvcl tcamnructurcand thc projcctof trunsitionto concurcntdcvclopmcnlof mini-loadcrafc
Timeafld cosl analyrhrcsujtsprovcthc justiiicntionoftrunsitionfrom scqncntill1(]concu(cntproductdcvclopmcnt.
nrcsenled.
() 2003EhvierLtd. AII rishlsrcscNcd.
.(./(o.r'i: condrrcnlcnginmrin$
Loopsr
Tcahworl:C{nlt cfir r corutcffi: Irojcd lorm

l. lntroductioD

slagcs only in this way thc producldcvclopmcnllimc

Small-and medium-size
nterprhes(SME9 cansucccssglobal
lully enterthe
marketif they canful6l th custontr
needsregardingfeaturesand qualityof products.Cuslomcrs arc becomingmore and more demandingand thir
rcquircmcnls
Arcch&nging
all the lime."Customr the
's
king" is bccomingthemotlo of lodaylll.
ln lhese orcumsrdncesonly lhore compunie{c.rn
which offer thir customcrsthc
expectmarket success
right productsin termsof featuresand qualily. nl lhc
right time and at the right price.A productwbichis nol
nanufacturedin accordance
with the customerneeds,
trhichhfls rhe mdrkerroo laLeor iL is roo erpen.ive.
cannolbc succssful.
Whendetelopinga newproduct(herewe are dealing
with developmentof a product and its production
procest, it is ncessary
to harmoniscall dcvclopment

Scvcrrl rulhors 0 3l hrvc analyscdactivilics in

individualslagesof ncw productdcvelopmcntproccss
and concludcdlhat in c6ch slagc thc volumc and
contentsof product devlopmentaclivitics dcpcnds
on quantity and purposeof the produci. There rs a
substantialdifferencebetweennew product development activitiesin individualand massproduction[4].
Thc purposeofrhis papcris to snalyscthc dcvclopmcnt
processofa newproductwhichwillbe marufactuiedin
smallscricswi$ incrcascd
dynamicalrcsponse
!o wishes
dnd requiremnts
of customers,
We have first analysedtbe product develoFment
procssin th known referenceworks and then we
designed
a conceptofan ad hoc teamand the activities
thc teamhasto manage[5].
The purposof our researchwas to spedup developmnt of new products in a smau-seriesproduciion
mmpanyandlhusallowlhemto entcrlhemarkclsooncr.
In order to allow for a holisticapproachto lhe new
product developmentprocess the researcheNfirst

fd: + 386-61'218-56?.
'ConE{nding anthor.Tcl.: + 336-14771-201i
s ,u'l addrcsi jancz grun(trs.lni lj.si ir clm).
0?:1653.15/0li$q lronr narlct aq2003Elwier Lld. All nshtsreseRed.
doi:l0.l0l6iS0?16-5345(01)00019-3

J. Kuior et al I Roholi.! dtul c."lputerltt

forned an ad boc researchgroup with a precisely

definedgoal: "The product should hit the markt as

2. Concunentcnglnccring
engrneerine'denores
dn inler'
The lerm concurrenr
disciplineco-operalionand parallel work toward a
common set of consistentgoals on. development,
manufacturing
and salesof products.
Responsjbilityfor produclsis transferd to teams
which ar beingformcdfor lhe time lrame of developmentof innovativcproducts.
2.1. Goalsol concutrentengineeing
Using concurrentcnginccring,the following goals
shouldb achievedl
. considcrably
!imc,
shorternew productdevelopmcnl
. rcduccdnewproductdevelopmnt
costs,rnd
. bct|crqualityof newproductsregardingthccuslomcr

time is reducedby
Concurrentproducl dcvelopment
50% or more[6] due to the followingreasons:
. activiliesrun in parallel,
. lcammembers
whichallowfast
haveregularmeetings
and emcientexchange
of information,

oruted MMufo.tuti"o 2a (20Y4) I 15

. responsibilityfor all product featursis rransferredto

teams(no time is wastedfor sarchingthe prson
"who is to be blamedfor errorJ').
Costs of integrated (or concurrent engineering
(CE)) product and processdevelopmentare lower
jn
than sequentialengineering
cosls(SE).as presented
Fig.l.
Tn sequentialproduct and processdevelopment,
product developmentcosls incrcaseslowly due to
sequential
executionof activities.wbile costsof manufacturing and use incrcaserapidly becauseof long
itcrationloopsfor cxcculionof rcquircdmodifications.
In concurrcntproduclandproccssdcvclopment,
costs
increasc
rapidlyin thc bcginningofdcvclopmen!due to
inlcnsivchclivilicsduring thc carly dcvclopment
stage,
while costsof manufacturingand use increascslowly
becauseof short iteration loops for execulion of
requiredmodi6cAtions.
Todayonly thosecompanies
compctc
cansuccessfully
on the marketwhich can offer the cuslomelsthe right
products.at the righl time and price,and of the right
qualiiy thcreforethe companieswhich are able to
adapl to thc whhcsand requirements
of $e customers,
Fig. 2 prescntsan ovcrvicw of lhc concurrcnlenginecringtools;knowingand usingthesctools cnsurcs
bcttcrqualityof producls.
From thc toolslisrcd,thc followingtwo methodsr
. qualityfunctionsdeployment(QFD) methodand
. failuremodelsand eflectsanalysh(FMEA) melhod

Fis. l. Costsof s.qlendalud concuftnt tloduci andproe$ devolopnent.

J. luiat et al. I Rohoticsaad Q,4pukr tntesr4k.t Monuln turins 20 (2444) t 15

presentthe methodswhich tak care of transferand

in all
fulfilnent of customerwishsand requirements
productdevelopment
phases.

. processplannrng,
. manufacturing
and assembly,
and

2.2. Staseta .1a.tinitiesoI thenewproduct.leuelotnrcnt

In concurn!productdevelopment
thereareinteractions amongindividualstagesof productdevloprnent
process,while ther are no inreractionsin sequential
productdevelopment.
Track-andlooptechnologywas
developedfor implernentation
of theseinteractions[2].
Type of loop delincsthe type of co-operationbeiween
the overlappingprocessstages.Winner[7] proposesthe
useof 3-T loops,whereinteraclionsexistbelweenthree
process.
stagesof productdevelopmenr
When l-T loops are used (Fig.l) new product
proce(sconsirrsof five l-T loops,
dvelopmenl
Whendeveloping
a newproductit is firstnecessary
to
debrmineits ficld of use,whichcorresponds
directlyto
thc largcl markcl. It is ncccssary
to make a feasibility
srudy which is rhc foundalion for delinidon of lhe
produc!dcvclopmcDl
proccss.
Feasibilirysludyconsislsofl

Concurrcntand sequential
engineering
usuallyconsist
process[3]:
of sevcnstagcsof productdeveloprnent
. deffnitionof goals,
. fe.rsibilitysludy,
. design,

CONCUFFENT
ENGINEERING

Ouality
lunclions
dploymont
- QFD

Deslgn
Indolallg

FAILUFEMODESand
EFFECTSANALYSIS.FI\4EA
Fig,2, Concurcntclginsring rool6

. conceptof development
and design,
. de6nilion of commercialconditions for producl
devlopment,
. definition of financial conditions for successful
projectimplementation,
. deffnitionof approximateorganisationmodel for
projectimplementalion,
and
. definitionoftamsfor productdevelopment
procss.
Resultsofthis studyarethefoundationsfor dcfinidon
o[ lhc basic phn of $c ncw producl development
proccss. In lhc producl dcvclopmenl process, il
is neccssary10 cnsuredynamic executionof activi
ties as additions ro the concept.If lhese addilions
reachsuchan extentthat it is dimcultor evenimpossible

3
j

Fis l. Tmck and loop proccsin ncw producldcvclopncnr(l-T loopt.

.t. Kui.l et al. I Roboti.s aad ConzutzFlnlsruted Muu{a.turhl

lo achieveihe goals, il is necessaryto repeat the

feasibility study, taking into account the changed
On the basis of requirementsand restrict,ons
a transformationof input into output is made ln
each product developmentprocessloop. as shown
in Fis. 4.
Thereis an inteFloopsparlial irformationcxchange
which allo*s for parallel execution of individual activities in stagesof new producl development
Fig. 5 preseotsthe information flow rnd connec'
tions between3-T loops in the product dcvclopmenl
proc$s,
Outputdataofa particularloop arethc input datalor
the nextloop,
lnput dataof thc fcasibilityloop are:
. voice of fte cNtomer (markcl analysis resrrlis,
fccdbackinformation on products,exprienceof
. srategyof the company(targetpriceof thc product,
estimated inveslmnlsand cosF, availablc and
rcquiredresourcs),
. knowledge
of the producland Gchniqus,
. reliNbilityof the product(planningtheproduct'slifccyclc,possiblerepairs,refils),and
. specialwishsand requiremcnts
of the customer.
Outputdsla of th feasibilityloop are:
. development
goals,
. goalsrgardingqualityand reliabilityof lhc product,

20 (2444) I 15

. plan and executionof qualityconlrol,

. list of materials,
. draft of specialrequirementsof the product and
. draf! of the procsso.ganisation.
loop are:
Output data of the development
. FMEA of dsign(an analydcalmethodwhichtricsto
predictcrrorsin design,frequencyoferrors andthcir
influcnccon desisn),
. DFM/DFA (design for manufacturabilily and
assembly),
. approvalof the productconcept,and
. buildingthe prctotype,
output data ofthe designloop arc:
.
.
.
.

drawingsand CAD modcls.

tchnicalspccifications,
matcrialspccification,
and
requiremcntsregarding measuring and rcsring
cquipmcnt.
output data ofthe processplanningloop arel

.
.
.
.
.

evaluationof the processquality,

plan of the manufacturing
proccss,
FMEA of the proccss.
qualitycontrolplan,
Instructions
for work. plan for analysisof measuring
quipmentcapability.

Fig.4. Stps of 3-T loop implcnc.taijor.

J. Krlt.t

dt I R.botica ond Ca,tputqJ,Esrote.l Mnuluturhs

20 (20U) I 15

PROCESAPLANNINC

Fir, 5 lnforulDn

flov bdqn

3-T loopr ln th. prodK d.v.lopndt

analysis and estimatiol of measuring cquipment

capability,
analysisand stimation of the processcsp&bilily,
approval of the processaDdproduct,
approvel tests,and
cont ol plan for regular production.
Output data of the manufacturing loop are:
rduction of defech,
customersatisfaction,and
supply and srvice.

pre!!,

Aoalysbof the track.and.loopproductdelelopmcnt

procss,as shownin Fig3,3 and 5, revealsthat the
concurrentenginering
b not pGsiblewithout a wellorganbcdteamwork.
3. Corcorr.lt eriln .rlng rnd t rm work
We are dealiog with team work when a tcam
is orientedtowardsthe solutioDof a cohfion goal
[51. Tcam wo.k is an integral part of concurent

J. Kuior.t al 1RohotiLsonlCot prtuJhl.gtdtul

ihc mcansfor organisational

engineeriDg
as it rep.esents
Thereare sevenelements(?Ct in tcan]coopcralion
philosophy[2]:
.
.
.
.
.
.

flexible.unplannedand continuouscollaboralion,
commilmcnr10mcct rhc goah.
(cxchangc
of inibrmation).
communicaiion
ability to makccompromiscs,
consensus
in spiteof disagrccmcnl,
belween
coordination(managinshlcrdcpcndcncies
activities),
and
. conlinuousimprorcmcntsin ordcr to increaseproductivityand rcd cc proccsslimcs.
3.1. Tea,n.omrytitionin hU onry ni.!t
is bascdon a nuhidisciplinConcurrentengineering
ary troduct dcvclopmcDltcam (PDT) [6.8]. PDT
memhcrsarc cxpcrls from vrrious departmentsof a
comp.rnyand rcprcscDtalivcs
oi slrategicsuppliersand
customcrs(Fig.6).
PDT mcnrbcrscofimunicatevia centralinformalion
syslcm(CIS) which providcslhc with data about
proccsscs!
toolsjinfrss!rucrurc.
lcchnology.and existing
productsof thc compAny.RcprcscnQtives
of strategic
supplicrsAndcuslomcrs asthcyarelocatedawayffom
thc company-participatein the leam jusl virtuslly,
using thc Internet rcchnology(lnternct informrtbn
sysrcn(IIS)) which allowsthem 1o useth samc!(X)ls
dnd tcchniqucs
as tenmmembersin the company[8].
In big comFanicalhe PDT compovtronchJnge{in
dillcrcnt srsgcsof product development.The tam
conshtsof logicallycomposedworkgroupsin wnous
phasesof product developmeni,
and c ch workgroup
consistsof four basictams[2]l

MttulurlLrihlt 2A |2aA1) I It

. Logicalteam brexksup lhc wholeproductdevelopmenrprocessinro logicalunirs(opcrarions,

acti!'itics.
lasks)aDddcfincsthcir inlcrfaccs.
. Penonnel tcam has to lind rhc rcquircd PDT
menbers.i1 lrrins and molivalcsthc pcrsonncl,and
provraespropcrpaymenL.
. Technologyteamgenerates
slralegyand concept.lls
focusis on assuringthehighestproductqualityat lhe
lowestinherenlcost.
. Virtual teamis in a tbrn of computersoft$areand
providesolher PDT memberswith dala required.
Fi6.- p'e'enr'rhecorrpolron of 0 $orlgr.up in r
brgcomlany.
The gonl of concurrenten8ineering
is to achie\,ethe
bestpossibleco-operation
amongthe four bosicabovementionedleans of a parlicularworkSroup.
As a generalrule, the nuhidisciplinaryleamsfor
productdevelopnentshouldhavesucha srrucrurelhat
the followinggoalsrre achrevedi
. clcrr dc6nirion
ofcompclence
and rsponsibility,
. shondccision
palhs,and
. identincatiooof te0m memberswhh tle produc!
beingdeveloped.
A survcyof thc publishcd
worksin thc 6cldof tcrm
structurcplanningifl big compsnics[2.9]hrs rcvcalcd
lhrt a thrcclcvclPDT structurcis rccommcndcd
in big
companics.
as prcscntcdin Fig.lt.
Corc tcamconsistsof thc companymanagemcn!
and
lhc managerof the rcierencelevelteami iis iask N to
projcct.
supportand conircl thc prcducl development
Levcllcamconsistsoflhc lcvcltcnmmanagcrand l,hc
nunagersof thc parlicipndngfunclionalleamsin the

FFl
*Et

nfl

Fig 6 Pii'dlct dDvclD'rnDntr$n

I8l

J. Kui

etal I RobaticsMd AmputqJitesrat

refrencestage(loop); its task is to co-ordinateand tune

lh goals and tasks of functional teamsand 1o ensure
a smooth transition to the next level of product
development.
Functional lcam consists of lh functional team
manager,expcrlsfrom variousfieldsin the company,
and rpresentativesof suppliersand customers;its task
is to cary our the tasksgiven,takinginto consideration
tcrms,financeand Personnel.
3.2. Teamcompositionin SME
Analysisof rsuhsrgardingsetupofworl(groupsand
leam sFucturein big companieshas shown that the
proposed concept for designing workgroups, and
structureof teamscannotbe usedin sMEs (thereare
too many teamsin a wofkSroupand |oo many tcam
levls).
a workgroupconcept!structureand
Whndeveloping
organisationin an SME, ir will thereforcbe necessary

PERSONNELIIAM

d Mm4Iarturks 20 (2004) | 13

. as few workgroup teamsas possible,

. as few team lvelsas possibl,and
. appropriat organisationof the company.
tn the University of Ljubljana, in rhe Production
Systmslnstitute we made severalversionsof work"
structureof a company,
$oup, tearn,and organisation
and decided after evaluation of tlrc proposed versions-that the following seemsadvisablefor SMES:
transition from four workgroup teams (prsonnel,
logical,technologyand viriual) to two leams(logical
and tcchflology),
ransition from the three-lvelteam structurto twolevelstructule,and
uansitionfrom projectto matrix organhationof the
company.
ln an SME a workgroup therefore consistsof two
basicteams(Fig.9):
Logicalteamensuresthat the producl development
process is divided into logical units and that
iflterfaces and junctions between procssunits are
defined.
Technology team h responsiblefor generating
stralegyand concpl,

Software
in theCISperformstheroleof fte virtual
(workgroup
team
members
shouldbeproperlytraincd
to uselhe sofiwar).
andprojectreammanagcr
carries
out thepersonnel
teamtasks.
For anSME,thetransition
froma thre-to twolevel
teamstructure
is planned,
aspresnted
in Fig.10.
Coreteam,whichsupports
andcontrolstheproduct
projct,shouldconsist
devlopment
oi

IICHNOLOCY IEAM
Fig.7. wortsroup in a big companyI2l.

Fig.8. ThE l*l

. coreteammanager
(lelmannt
member),
. deparimenl
(permanent
managers
memhrs),and
(permanent
. projeclreammanager
member),

lem srnctur in. bis @npsny {21.

J. Kuiat d al I Roboti.sa Ampltq-l*esratedMonnfa.tuhs2A(2aa4)115

Projectteam,whichcarriesout thetasksgiven,takjng
into consideration
terms,Iinanceand personnel,
should

. projectteamm.nager(perrnanent
mcmbcr),
. expertsfrom various 6clds in lhc company and
rcprcscnlalives
of slrategicsuppliers,and customen
(variablcmembers).

Th projct tearnin an SME is thereforcdesigned

similarlyas a functionalteam in a big company,the
differencebeingin that thereis just one team 1lndrls
compositionchangesin differcnt phases(loops) of
productdevelopment
process,

Fig.9.Workgrout
in anSMElll,

In the feasibility loop the project ream should define

customerneeds,mission.and make severalvelsionsof
the productconcept;the projectteamshouldconsistof
the employees
from rhemarketing,planningand design
dpartments.
and representativs
of strategiccustomers
and suppliers.
In the developmentloop the project tam should
providegeneralsolutionsregardingthe product,product planning,aod design:the pioject team should
consistof the employees
from the planningand design
departments,
customers,
and suppliers.
In the designloop the teamdesiSns
the productpartg
and components!developmentof proiotypes, and
sclcction of the most suitable versions regarding
manufaclurabilily;lhc projcct leam shouldconsistof
the cmployccsfrom the planning,design,and process
ln the processloop the projectteamshouldselectthe
bcst technology for manufacturingof parts and
asscmblingthe components(definition of sequence,
oTJcrations,
selectionof machines.tools. and standard
dmcs).Thc projcctteam shouldalsodenneprocluction
type (workshop, ccu or product-oricntcdtypc of
production)and sclcclthc oplimallayoutofproduchon
m$ns; lhc projeclteamshouldconsislofthe employees
frorn thc design,process.production,manufacturing
and asscmbly,
logistics,and deliverydepartments.
In thc manufacturingloop the projectteam should
takc carc of protolypc tsts, supply of required
cquipmcnt,layoutof produclionmeans.manufacturing

Pf,f,MANENT STRIJCTURI OF CORE T&AM IN PRODUCT DAVALOPMENT

'PROJECT
MANAGIR

VARIABI-E STRUCTUNtrOF PROIECT Tf,Av IN PRODUCTDEVELOPTIENT

Fis. 10. Teo-level tean strucluE in an SME.

J Krit

?t nL I Rob.ti.t ad Conq'uttJnteqroted M@4ncturk(t )a Qaa4) t t5

and test of the null seriesithc project team should

fiorn lhc produclion.manuconsistof the employees
warehous
facludng and assembly,quality assurance,
and deliverydepartments.
Thc taskswhich are perfornedby lcvelteamsin big
companiesshouldbe carriedoul by the projectteam
andlune
managerin an SME.rndhc shouldco-ordinate
th goalsand activitiesbclwccnlhe projectteam and
coreteamandprovidesnoolh lransitionliom oneloop
proce$slo anothr.
ofproduc! development
In big companies
the membersof the core,leveland
funLuonrlleam"usu0llyure nroJccrllpc oI or8anis0.
rion.This tlpe of organisalioncannolbe usedin SMEs
as theyhavetoo few employees.
Analysis of various organisalionalstructuresof
companiesor teams 0 l2l hss showntha! in SMES
malrix organisation
wouldbe the mosl suilablefor core
Thereforc,A mcmberof the
Andprojcctleammemberc.
corc rcsm (with exceptionof the corc lcAm rnanager)
wouldcrrry ou! tasksin his/herdeparhcnt part ofhis/
hcr working time (for this work (s)hc would be
rcsponsibleto the generalmanagcrof the company).
6nd the resi of his/herworking timc (s)hewould work
proicct(for this t{ork (s)he
on rhc producrdevelopment
would bc rcsponsibleto lhe core tcam msnsger).A
mcmbcr of lhe project team (with cxccptionof lhe
projcc!tcammanager)wouldcarry our tasksin his/her
dcprrlmcnlpart of his/herworkinglimc (for this work
(s)hcwouldberesponsible
and
to departmcn!manager).

thc rcslofhis/hcrworkingtine G)hewouldwork on ttre

producldevelopmcnl
project(for this work G)hewould
be responsible
to the projccl lcammanager).
The l,roject team mmagcr would be excluded
f.om his/her departmcnl throughout the duration
of the product dcvclopmcnlprojcct and G)he would
work full timc on the project. When the project is
finishcdthc projcctleammanagerwould returnto his/
hcr deparhcnt. Project team managr should be
properlytrainedand cxncdcnccdpcrsonwho knowsin
detailthe work in rll dcpartm rs of the companyand

Fig.12 Thc VEPER rini.loddct

i
;
E

t
E
,

o
&
Fe ll. ld r a l m a r r i lo r g d n i s d r i oi nnd n S M E .

J Kui.n et al I Rohotid turl (hkiputerh.esrated

Sra8csand activitie! in frini badfdcvclopmcnr

Man focturinq 20 l2AA4 ) ! I 5

process

! Fi
DESCRIP'ION

ST GE

\.'''*i

5
6

I EI

E
2

EE

z\

.3*

-l

z
5
5
J

A"*!';*. *d il;

J. Kuio et ul.I Rohoti. ahl Can1zut.rl"1.Ar.t.tl Mduli|lurke

2012001) I 15

Projc.rtcan $ru.rurc id indilidualloopsofnrc Di.i-loadcrdclclopncnt

IROJECT TEAM MEMBERS
DESCRIPTI
STAOES.
OF THE LOOP INCLUDEDN TIIE

LOOP

hss thc skilh to usc computcrrools and iDformalion

lcchnology.
Fig.II tresntslhe proposalof rn idc8l m&trrx
organisation
in an SME.

4. Cascrtudy
SME wh'Lh fro'lu(c{ ci!il cnginclringcquitmcnl
mad a decisionfor iniegratedproduct and proccss
developmnt of a miniloader called "VEPER"
(Fig.l2).
Thereare 182employees
in thc comnanyibcsidcslhc
(generalmanager.rnd his assislanl)thcrc
management
arc nrncocparmcnB:
. commercial
departmentis in chargeofnrarkcdngind
sales(7 employeet.
. developmeDt
and planningdepartmentdevelopsncw
products(5 employet,
. dcsigndcparhcnl is conccrncdwith productdesign
(6 crnployccs),
. tcchnologydcprrtncnl is conccrnedlvith production
and logistics(12employees).
. supply departmentis in chargeof supply and cooperarion(5 employeet,

productionis iD chargcof opcrdlionplarning rrd

nanufacluring(l16 cmployccs),
lintncial dcprrtmcnr(3 cmployccs).
qu{lity assurancc
dcpartmcnt(l cmploycct.and
IT dcpa(nrcnt(l cmployccs).
ln order ihat lhc company could switch to thc
concurrcnldcvcloJ'mcrlof
mifli-loadcr.il witsncccssary
fi.sr 1()dccidcaboul thc slruclurcand composilionof
concurrentPDT.
Thc companymanagemcnt
decidedto form a twolcvcl!c.tmslruclurc(corcand projcctteam9.
In order 1o ger the bestsrrucrureof bolh leams$c
employeesfrom the Producdon SystcmsInstilutc
orgnniscdtwo crcalivityworkshops[4] wilh lhc gcncral
mrnigcr, his assistantand ninc depNr|mefltmitnitgcrs
J'i cipaling.
Rcsultsof the firsl creativityworkslop nave shown
thal the core team should consist of ll company
. generalmanagerwho wouldmanagethe coreteam,
. ninc dcpartmcn! anagcrs,and
. assistanlgcncralmanagerwho would managclhe

l2

J. Kuiar.t al. I R.hotu: dkl conput*Inlesratal

Mmufacturins 20 (2004) | 15

PERMANENT STRUCTURE OF CORE TEAM IN MINI.LOADf,R DEYELOPMENT PROCESS

PROCASS
TEAMIN MINI.LOADERDEVELOPMENI'
OF PROJNCT
VARIABI,ESTRUCTURE

Fr p.ll. T\ o lc v c l 'c h aJ r u r u r r , l m r ! l , b J L rd s i l n m J r r

All coreleam memberswill be lrcrmanentmembcrs;

corc le{rmcompositionwill not changeduringthe minitimc.
lorder developmni
in ordcr
A secondcreativi!yworkshopwasorganised
proccss
lo de6nethe stagesofminiloader dvelopmcnl
$cll
ai responriac(ivireh,rs
and therrcorresponding
bilities of departmcntswhich would carry oul these
activities.
Rcsults of th second crcativity workshop arc
presented
in Table L
Results(prsentedin Table 1) about definilion of
de6nition
oldcnanmenlresponrisldges
andacriririer.
bilitiesfor exccutionof activities.and decisionof th
aboutorganilalionof 3-T loops
companymanagement
during the mini-loadcrdevelopmntproccsswere the
basislor th dfinilionof the projecttflm slructurein
Rcsultsof
individualloopsofthc productdvelopment.
definingthe varyirg compositionsof the projcct team
srruciurein individualloops of thc nini-loader develin Table2.
op'ncntare presented
Project team managerwill bc a permanentteam
ol th
member,whilc expertsfrom nine departrnents
suppliers
and
reprcsentatives
of
designers.
company,
customers
will bc variabteteammembers.

Afler the structureof lhe coreand projecttcamshad

bccndcfincd.it waspossible
to designtheiwolvcl lcarn
structurefor miniloader development(Fig. Il). and
a realisticproposal for matrix organisationof thc
companycould be made(Fig. l4).
As shown in Fig. 14. thc corc tcam members
will spendpart of thir working limc in rheir depafiments (for this work they will b responsibleto
lhe generalmanagei),and th rest of thir workilg
time will b spent in the core team (for lhis work
rheyqrll be responsrble
to rhecorelcdmm nager.i.e.
the generalmanagcr{gnin).Thc projectteamrnembers
will also useparl ot lhcir workingtime to do th tasks
in rheir departmenls(tor $is tlork they will be
resporsiblto departmentmanagcrt, and the rest of
their working time tley will work in lhc projectteam
(fo. this work they will be responsiblc10 lhe project
Up to now lhc producer of miniloaders has
dcvclopcd ils products sequentially.Analysis of
rhc rcsulr' of sequenrial
developmenr
oI vurioui
types of mini-loadcrshas shown that the averag
time{o-marketfor a particularproduct was approxi-

J. Kuior et ol. I Rohoti.r und Q'ryutlr

c mJrii\
I ig. 14. RcaLi!r

Inteprut!.l MduktLluinlt

"rg.fi{Ln'n

In thcsc days the market demandsshorl delivcry

lcrfis. i.c. shorl development
limesof new producls,
tim
In ordcr lo rcducelhe nriniloaderdevelopment
(aDd thus gct a competitiveadvantage)th comprny
dccidcd lo concuirently develop a new typc of
nrini-loader,
A creativityworkshopwasorganhdin thc company
[5],with membersof th coreteamparricipaling.Using
engineering.
thcir cxpcricnce
obtaiDedduriDgsequnrial
or definerhefolloq,ng:
r\cy wcrca.kcJIo esrimrre
. duralion of individual stages (activities)in the
process.
concurrentproductdvelopment
. possibleconnecrions
betwenstages(aclivitics),
. tlps and pianned times of overlappirg slagcs
(activities),
and
. cosls of acdvitisduring the product dvelopment

The data on estimatedtimsand cosrsof concurrent

mini-loaderdevelopment
activitieswrc lhc inpul data
for the CA-SPJsoftwarewhichwasusedto pcrformthe
time and cost analysis of the concurrentproducl
development.Fig. 15 presentsthe results'of both

20 |2AA4) I 15

tl

if thc (nnp,n}.

By transirionfrom scqucntialro concurrcn!dcvclopmcnl of mini-loddcrlhc comphnywiu considcrably

rcducctime and costs.as shownin Thblc L
Thc succcssof thc concurrcnrmini-loadcrdcvclopmcnl proccsslargcly dcncndson thc cffcclivcncss
of
work of thc projccttcam(whosccomlJosition
changcs
in
time) in thc producl development
loops,and lherelore
thc acliviticsin futurcwill bc dircclcdlowardsa detailed
organisationand co-ordinRtionol lhc projccl tcam
membersin individualloopsof productdevelopment.
5. Conclusions
Global markct rcquiressho( product developmeni
limcs,and so SMESarealsoforccdinlo lransilionfrom
ro concurrcnr
Iroducrdcvclopmcnr.
'equcnliul
The basicelmentof th concurrentproductdevclopment is team work. so tbc rrticle pays spccinl
attention to the formation and structure of tams in
an SME. Research
has led us to the conclusionthat a
workgroupin an SME shouldconsistofjust two teams
(logicaland tcchnology!cam)inslcadoI four, and that
a two-levelteam slruclure(permanentcore tcam and
variableprojecttam)is moresuitablefor SMES.

J Kui

at al I Roboti.s nkl ('an4,ukr

l'ig. ls. Tirn! rnd cosl n

L$is

'c{kr

Thc DLrnnod\!!i.8s by trnrrnnr tu,m soqlcntirl ro coDcrilcn'

C.ncuncnr

Rcdurnlr

25

52

dcvclopmenL
Innr (nunrh)
tl
dcvcLopmcni
uon\ (Enro)

Thc proposedconcept of lcaln dcsign in an SME has

been lcsrcd tu r sample caseof lcam dcsign i11a mrnF
loader producnrg company. Firs!, thc pcnmnent core
leam siructurc and then t}e v,rriablc project team
structurc halc been deiined.
In the process flanning phrse ol lhe conctrrrcnl
dcvelopment of mini loadcr the cote team mcnbcrs
cstimaied or defined thc durrtion and costs of ilnl'lcmcnlrlion of activitis. possiblc interconnections of
aclivilics 1d times of overlnpning activilies. The data
obtaincd allowed the us of thc CA-SPJ soltware to

llt?urdtel

Man|(1urnu

olconcurufr

20 l20U)

I 15

inifi.ll)x(l!r dcvcl()pinonl

m.rke the !inrc and cost nDnlysis of ncti\'ities of

concurrent dcvclopnrcrt ol i ncw Lypcol mini-lorder.

K Inrgricrto Pr)d!k(nNicklnns Miinchc..wien:

lll F.hrLcnsllcl
CrrLHrnscrVcnr8; 1995
I?l rri$d B concuront cngin..nn! tu.drnrcnrdh. iniegrurud
foducr r.d proccs or8anizrrion.vol. I Ne$ Jrrsry: Pronli.c
or
[]l DnhovnikJ, Sr.rhk M. DwivcdiSN.lftsid B t]cv.l,)ptucnr
n.w poducs 1n small coDprnics.Concur Eng Rcs Appl
in realandvrnlal
[4] Duhduik J. Trva.rJ. con.uiicnr cnsinccrins
(n,l ptudlrlir,n C.n.ur En! Rcs,^ppl1999i?(l):67
79.
in der Unrenrchmuns
I5l Srhlick{Ll]PH Krc.ht ldcDnlindnns
Bcrlin.NcB Yorkr wriicr dc Cruyreril9?7
16l Shfbck M. Krsrr l. Jenko T' The influcn.! of on.ulicnr
of tbc lln
cnginNfingon launchto fini\h rime Ptuccodings
CrRPhlcrndiondl Senrin.ron Mrn!farttring sy{cn. Bdkclc}.
[71wlnncrRl.TtcfolcolconcnrenlengineerinsinBcaNnss]iDn
acquninon IDA RcporrRll8. lnnirure ior DefcncdAn3!ysn.
Alcxandria.V i 1938.

J Krio

et d I Roholir! rutul C.ktpur.rlhtel|r.d.d

[8] Shrber M, Kuiar J, Jcnk. P. BnildinEa co.currcnlc"Bi"ecing

suppon infomarn)n \yncm. ProcLrdinssoi rhc 32nd CIR?
Inrerntrtional
Senina'on ManlfrotunngSystcm,Divrion PMA.
(lrboliele UniwFiler Le!!cn. Bolsiunr1999.p.l7l 31.
[9] BnllingerHJ, wagnerF. wa^chal J. Ern Ansatzznr znlicfcrcF
lnrcsmtionin der lrodnktentsicHuns.DrtcnvfrbcitLrnai. dcr
Konnrukdon Dij$eldorl:VDI Vcrlrgi 1994

Mahrfd.tutht!

2A | )01)4) I I 5

t5

HJ Ncuc Ol3a.isaiionsforncn
[10] Bnllinecr lrj. Wamsk
in Unrcmclxncn.Bcnin. Hcidclbcr8.Nc* York Spfin8cri
1996.
Illl Hcrina D. Drac3$ w Hnndbuch Bcricbssirtchai ftr
ln8cnicurc.Bcnin.Hcidclbcre.
NcR York sDrin8rr;1999.
ll2l Dmti RL. Oryaniz.tionalthcory and dcsi8n.Cincinnrti:Sonth
WcscrnCollcgcPnbli 1998.