A cross-industry analysis using Q-Methodology for streamlining engineering workflow

Abstract

Non-value added times arising from disconnected systems, legacy architecture, repeated iterations, product version mismatch, and manual processes remains one of the most persistent inefficiencies in modern design and manufacturing organizations which can be resolved by leveraging digital technology. Through this thesis, a framework has been laid out to understand and summarize the gaps among the various departments of an organization from the standpoint of information flow across the complete manufacturing workflow. The goal is to find gaps and pain points in the adoption of the ’Digital Thread’ with the objective of becoming software-driven enterprises. The objective is to identify opportunities to automate and optimize processes, and how information can be streamlined across departments. As a snapshot, the project investigates how digital transformation can bridge the gap between design and manufacturing, with a focus on concurrent engineering in high-mix, low-volume production, and high-volume, low-mix production environments. The research uses Q-methodology to understand how the perception of use of digital tools vary across industries and organizations, especially among vertically integrated and supplier dependent enterprises. Evaluation is done across different roles in an organization, ranging from executives and strategy teams to engineers, metrology specialists, and shop floor managers perceive current workflows, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement. The analysis reveals differences and similarities in interests and opinions to map the landscape of the current and growing needs across different industries and product portfolio. The results of the thesis can be used by participating teams to re-design workflow, communication and process plans and add flexibility through automation to the existing process. The thesis conclusion will also help PTC to understand the capabilities that their softwares are missing out on that can be integrated in their future iterations to help serve their customers better for faster and better product development. The shift towards software-driven manufacturing is the need of the hour with increasing stress on re-industrialization and the Thesis contributes to the current evolving discussion. The Thesis ends with a discussion on potential avenues for exploration gathered from participants through qualitative interviews that can be used as a roadmap to get a sense of future directions of the dynamic industry.