CONCURRENT ENGINEERING DESIGN SYSTEM FOR HIGH-TECHNOLOGY MATERIAL SUPPLIERS

THE AMERICAN MATERIALS INDUSTRY PROVIDES SOURCE MATERIAL FOR ALL TIERS OF THE INDUSTRIAL BASE, INCLUDING AIRCRAFT ENGINES, SPORTING GOODS, AND AUTOMOBILES. A MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MATERIAL SUPPLIERS AND DISCRETE MANUFACTURERS IS THAT MOST COMPONENT AND FINAL PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS DOCUMENT AND COMMUNICATE THEIR PRODUCT DESIGNS USING DRAWINGS AND BILLS OF MATERIAL. IN THE MATERIALS INDUSTRY, THE PRODUCT DESIGN IS DOCUMENTED USING HARD COPY MATERIAL SPECIFICATIONS. WHEREAS THE MAJORITY OF DISCRETE MANUFACTURERS HAVE THE AVAILABILITY OF COMPUTERIZED TOOLS LIKE COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN, MATERIAL SUPPLIERS ARE PRIMARILY PAPER-BASED. SINCE THE MATERIAL SPECIFICATION IS THE HUB OF ALL ENGINEERING ACTIVITY, THE TOTALLY PAPER-BASED SPECIFICATIONS HAVE BEEN A MAJOR OBSTACLE TO IMPLEMENTING CONCURRENT ENGINEERING IN THE MATERIALS INDUSTRY. RESEARCHERS ARE DEFINING A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPUTERIZED MATERIAL SPECIFICATION SYSTEM; I.E., A CONCURRENT ENGINEERING DESIGN SYSTEM FOR MATERIAL SUPPLIERS. THE SIX-MONTH TECHNICAL EFFORT IS STRUCTURED TO FORMULATE THE DESIGN WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF TWO INDUSTRY PARTNERS (A MAJOR TITANIUM SUPPLIER AND A MAJOR COMPOSITE MATERIAL SUPPLIER). RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN A COMPLETE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN READY FOR PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT.