TC 5 – Computer Applications in Technology

Dr. Gustav Olling joined Chrysler Corporation in 1985 as an Executive, Process Research and Technical Planning, and held positions as Chief Engineer, Automotive Research and CAE/CAD/CAM User Systems, and Executive, Simultaneous Engineering Technology. In his current position in CAE/CAD/CAM Research and Development, he is responsible for the identification and prioritization of new technologies that support product design and manufacturing and for the development of plans for implementing these technologies at DaimlerChrysler in the United States.

He believes that in this era of super computers, science fiction, technological miracles and information deluge, it is all too easy to overlook the always most important human factor. The problems that IT professionals face today are often ill defined, open-ended, multidimensional and interdisciplinary. The human mind can deal with such problems if properly trained. The trouble is that very few people choose to think with breadth and creativity, and few IT curricula encourage them to do so. Confronted with some of the greatest challenges of the century, industry finds that it lacks people who have mastered creative thinking, communicate on many levels, and have the ability to solve unstructured problems.

G. Olling: The initial focus of TC5 in the late 60’s was technological change in Product Design and Manufacturing, with the introduction of computer technology into the product creation process focusing on numerical control programming and sculptured surface machining. This computer-aided technology has since surged to prominence in the 1980’s and 1990’s with related technologies in Computer-Aided Engineering, Computer-Aided Manufacturing, and Management Information Systems.

The objective of TC5, through its workshops and conferences, has been to present the latest results of applied research and the most advanced applications in the field of engineering and manufacturing from product design to product delivery.

Two major annual conferences – PROLAMAT (Programming Languages for Machine Tools) and CAPE (Computer Applications in Production and Engineering) are established conferences helping TC5 to carry on the mission of bridging the gap between research and implementation.

Technology is certainly of prime importance in product creation today because of its potential for having an immediate impact on key factors such as productivity, quality and cost. However, in an increasingly environmentally conscious world, product creation is seen as part of a larger picture: the product life cycle (manufacturing-use-disposal) is viewed from three different aspects: technology, economy, and ecology (environmental impact).

G. Olling: Virtual product, process and enterprise modeling are the ultimate goals in integrating the current TC5 Working Group technologies. All of these key areas have to be addressed to completely systematize the product creation process. Each area has a distinct set of product types, technical trends, and potential benefits. It must be realized, however, that the expected gains from these areas depend upon an intelligent balance of all the technologies and that maximum benefits come the integration of the technologies into the overall system, which comprises activities from design intent through manufacturing planning to actual manufacturing, including quality control, shipping, and customer feedback. The integration involves the vertical and horizontal integration of all these activities. With such integration, all of the major areas can work at a common pace towards a common end. Without such integration, the less advanced areas will continue to hamper, and in some cases, nullify the efficiencies of the more advanced areas.

TC5 technical activities support imaging and simulation packages enlarging the possibilities of advanced conceptual design of products and processes. Associated design, analysis, and numerical control packages support rapid prototyping. The integration of such tools fosters simultaneous engineering of related components and the concurrent development of product designs and production processes. The immediate reward of product creation technology is the ability of employees throughout the extended organization to adapt quickly to changes of all kinds inside and outside the organization. Over time, the system grows not only in accumulated knowledge, but also in the intelligence of its expert systems. By recalling and reorganizing information, making routine decisions, and offering comprehensive information and expert advice, the system enables employees to develop creative solutions and to act with greater perspective and foresight.

Since rapid product creation technology is not fully developed at this time, TC5 will focus its contributions on supporting extensive research on a number of evolving technologies and transfer research results into application.

G. Olling: TC5 recognizes that the role of the large manufacturing concern in the coming decades will be to form wide-ranging partnerships with commercial, educational, governmental, professional, environmental, and community groups for the purpose of exploiting combined resources to make better products. Manufacturers will, of course, adopt new technologies to ensure that they have the most knowledgeable, integrated, communicative, and adjustable operations possible. Nevertheless, the objectives of enterprises in the 21^st century should be not only to achieve competitive advantages in the global marketplace but also to develop well-rounded employees and to accept social responsibility in countries where the enterprise does business. The strategy of enlightened entrepreneurship should begin with support for including practical, social, and ethical concerns in universities’ technical programs and should continue with application of broader, socially sensitive perspectives to corporate policy and practices. Jobs in all areas of the enterprise should become ever more empowered and responsible, leading employees to master progressively higher levels of creative problem solving. In the end, the enterprise’s mission will be to build a robust manufacturing machine, develop world-class products, and, moreover, to produce outstanding global citizens.

I believe that TC5 specifically and IFIP can foster cooperative efforts of industry, governments, universities, research facilities, professional societies, and business to nurture the programs which extend the reach of participants into new media, new technologies, and worldwide networks supporting collaborative research and education. In short, just as it is important for industrial enterprises to address directly the process of developing and adapting technology, so it is important for educational institutions to teach the process of developing and adapting technology. Only in this way can universities prepare students for one of the greatest challenges awaiting them in their careers.