MANAGEMENT VIEW
Managing product design-
the emergence of a new
British Standard BS 7000
Viewed against the entire spectrum of
engineering practice, or from the
perspective of managing a large
engineering enterprise, the task of
managing product design may not
seem to be particularly important.
Maybe so. But why then was it
thought desirable to produce a new
British Standard to give guidance in
this fieldand one with such a
notable number? Why was the launch
conference which was organised by
the IMechE and co-sponsored by the
IEE oversubscribed? And why is BS
7000 already considered by the BSI
to be one of its 'bestsellers'? Plainly,
something new is developingand it
may matter more than is commonly
supposed.
But first, the background.
Does product design matter? The
answer is, of course, 'yes'a view
from which few would dissent. What is
commonly misunderstood, however, is
just how strongly standards of product
design affect profitability and
economic success. Mankind has been
designing products for a very long
time and one might suppose that, by
now, the process was well understood .
and managed, and that most modern
products were well designed-
approaching almost perfection. Sadly,
this is far from being trueas honest
engineers and all customers and users
will readily confirm.
The facts are that many modem
products are visually unpleasant or
difficult to use. Most don't work as
well as they might (some software
items included) and a few don't work
at all. Almost all cost too much to
manufacture. Some are unsafe,
occasionally failing to comply with
even mandatory standards and
regulations, and others are
inadequately reliable. Many are
difficult or impossible to recycle and
almost all of those that require
servicing are unnecessarily difficult to
maintain or repair. In short, perfection
is still some way off.
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These comments are aimed at furthermore, that the opportunity for
the UK to see off its international
products from all sources, not just the
UK. Analyses of matched product competitors by such means is
pairs show that competing products considerable. Conversely, if we do too
from all nations are, as one would little too late, our competitors will
expect, competitive and that have just as good a chance to clobber
opportunities for product us by the same meansand there are
improvement are in general several indications that that is
enormous, regardless of what is precisely what is now starting to
happen.
stated on the country of origin mark.
The inevitable conclusion is that That all this is more than mere
improving standards of product assertion is shown by the contents of
Table 1. These questions were put to
design is one of the more direct (if not
the most direct) means of enhancing audiences of experienced industrial
industrial competitiveness and, managers who attended the series of
'Design to Win' seminars run recently
Table 1 by the Design Council. That these
answers are in the right 'ballpark' has
Q On average, by what percentage
been confirmed by surveying the
could market demand for current views of engineering and design
products be enhanced by
consultants, by teaching and training
redesign? delegates from industry, and by
A 28-7%
publicising these data in professional
Q On average, by what percentage publications and trade journals. The
could the manufacturing cost of only criticism I have ever received
current products be reduced by came from a well-known engineering
redesign? consultant who protested that, in his
A 240% view, by means of design
improvement the possible reduction in
Q On average, by what percentage capital tied up in factory inventory
could the capital tied up in
was on average 50%, not 37%!
factory stocks and work-in-
progress be reduced by Can design be managed? There are
redesigning current products? those who claim that it can't, the
A 37-2% argument being that design is a
creative process and that it is
impossible to predict or control
Table 2 creative activity. This argument is
Q What percentage of UK designers fineas far as it goes. What is often
are properly briefed? overlooked, however, is that the
A 19-9% designer's work is not 100% undiluted
creativity. Although many designers
Q What percentage of UK might wish to pretend otherwise,
companies have adequate creating new products can often be a
procedures for conducting design pretty boring and repetitive process.
reviews? In fact, product design is similar to
A 10-4% other occupations in that, by and
Q What percentage of UK large, it complies with the 1 %-
companies have adequate inspiration/99%-perspiration rule. (If
policies of updating designers' anyone doubts this, try comparing the
skills? unknowns associated with any
A 6-4% common industrial taske.g.
commissioning a new factory or
COMPUTING & CONTROL ENGINEERING JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 1990
developing a new marketwith the
unknowns inherent in designing a new
product, and he will soon see what I
mean.)
The consequence of this argument
is that all industrial tasks have to be
managed and that any disruption
arising from creativity issues in design
is on the same scale as the disruption
that can be expected from similar
causes when managing any other
industrial activity. Indeed, if such
factors were not present how would
any manager earn his (or her) salary?
How well is design managed today?
The blunt answer is: 'In general, not
very well'. The answers given in Table
This is a free listing. Please send details of
events for possible inclusion to the
Managing Editor, Computing c* Control
Engineering Journal, IEE, Michael Faraday
House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, Herts.
SC1 2AY.UK.
18th-21 st September 1990
International Conference on
Automation, Robotics and Computer
vision (ICARCV '90), Singapore. Contact:
Dr. D. P. Mital, School of Electrical &
Electronic Engineering, Nanyang
Technological Institute, Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 2263.
Tel: 2651744
24th-27th September 1990
TENCON '90Conference on Computer
and Communication Systems, Hong
Kong. Contact: Dr P. S. Chung,
Department of Electronics, Chinese
University-Hong Kong, Shatin, NT,
Hong Kong.
Tel: (859) 0-6952699/2698
25th-27th September 1990
Sixth International Expert Systems
Conference & Exhibition, London.
Contact: The Conference Department,
Learned Information Ltd., Woodside,
Hinksey Hill, Oxford OX1 5AU, UK.
Tel: 0865 736354
26th-28th September 1990
International Conference on System
Development Environments and
Factories, London. Contact: SDE&F
Office, SEMA Croup, 143/149 Farringdon
Road, London EC1R 3AD, UK.
Tel: 071-831 6144
1 st October 1990
Colloquium on Symbols versus Neurons,
London. Contact: Computing & Control
Division, IEE, Savoy Place, London
WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
COMPUTING & CONTROL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
2again arising from the Design
Council seminars referred to above-
support this view. Regrettably,
experience in industry confirms all too
often that company objectives are
unclear or misunderstood, designers
are poorly briefed, design progress is
inadequately monitored and
controlled, and achievement
incentives for designers are muddled
or misapplied.
If such comments were merited by
any other field of industrial activity,
one would hardly expect outcomes to
be successful. The same holds true for
managing design where, alas,
equivalent predictions concerning
CALENDAR
5th October 1990
Colloquium on Robot Systems
Architecture, London. Contact:
Computing & Control Division, IEE, Savoy
Place, London WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
8th October 1990
Colloquium on Strategic Research Issues
in Al in Engineering, London. Contact:
Computing & Control Division, IEE, Savoy
Place, London WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
8th-10th October 1990
Frontiers '903rd Symposium on the
Frontiers of Massively Parallel
Computation, University of Maryland,
USA. Contact: IEEE Computer Society,
Conference Services, 1730 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036-
1903, USA.
Tel: (202) 371-1013
8th-12th October 1990
Conference on Parallel Computing in
Engineering and Engineering Education,
Unesco, Paris. Contact: Conference
Services, The Microcomputer Unit Ltd.,
45 Holbom viaduct, London EC1N 2PB,
UK.
Tel: 071-353 9841
9th October 1990
Chairman's Inaugural Address on The
Robot Story, London. Contact: Computing
& Control Division, IEE, Savoy Place,
London WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
9th-10th October 1990
International Conference on
Management TechnologyControl Tools
for the 90s, Nicosia, Cyprus. Contact:
Conference Secretariat, IEE Cyprus Centre,
PO Box 2423, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Tel: (02) 303050
SEPTEMBER 1990
outcomes seem to fit the facts all too
well.
So, to summarise, current practices
in managing product design are
generally poor, the need for
improvement is great, and the
benefits of taking action are likely to
be considerable. Perhaps it is, after
all, hardly surprising that BS 7000 is
now creating something of a stir.
GEOFFREY CONSTABLE
Mr Constable was Chairman of the
BSI Technical Committee responsible for
BS 7000.
9th-11th October 1990
5th International Conference on Just in
Time Manufacturing, Brussels, Belgium.
Contact: Conference Manager (JIT-5), IFS
Conferences, 35-39 High Street,
Kempston, Bedford MK42 7BT, UK.
Tel: 0234 853605
12th October 1990
Colloquium on Discrete Event
Simulationa Decision Making Process
not just Computer Modelling, London.
Contact: Computing & Control Division,
IEE, Savoy Place, London WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
16th-18th October 1990
Exhibition and Conference on Software
Development, CNIT, Paris, France.
Contact: Bruno Berthet, Capric Blenheim,
22-24 rue du President Wilson, 92532
Levallois Perret Cedex, France.
Tel: 33 (1)47 56 50 00
16th-19th October 1990
6th Computers in Manufacturing Show,
NEC, Birmingham. Contact: Independent
Exhibitions Ltd., Weyboume House, 2/4
London Street, Chertsey, Surrey KT16
8AA, UK.
Tel: 0932 564455
18th October 1990
Colloquium on Goal-Driven Planning in
Complex Environments, London. Contact:
Computing & Control Division, IEE, Savoy
Place, London WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
19th October 1990
Colloquium on Viruses and their Impact
on. Future Computing Systems, London.
Contact: Computing & Control Division,
IEE, Savoy Place, London WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
22nd October 1990
Colloquium on Control and Optimisation
Techniques for the Water IndustryII,
London. Contact: Computing & Control
Division, IEE, Savoy Place, London
WC2R OBL, UK.
Tel: 071-240 1871
197