外文翻译面向无图形化：SNK公司的方法.doc

附录A：英文资料GoingDrawingless:SNKsApproachYukioKumagaiManager1.IntroductionMorethanoneyearintothe21stcentury,Japansmanufacturingindustryiscurrentlyatamajorturningpoint:theendoftheglorydaysbetweenthe1980sandtheearly1990softhecountrythatthenwonsuchpraiseas"JapanasNo.1."TileJapanesemanufacturingindustry,whichistheheartandsoulofJapanasoneofthemostindustrializedcountriesintheworld,isbeingfacedwiththeharshrealityofintensifyingglobalcompetitionwithnotonlyEuropeanandAmericanmanufacturerswhichhaveregainedtheirstrengthsincethemiddleofthe1990sbutalsotheAsiancountrieswhichhaveincreasinglygainedindustrialpowerinadditiontothehollowingoutofindustryandtechnologyathome.ManufacturersinJapanmustnowtakeupnewmanufacturingchallengesinordertosurviveinthewildlychangingmanufacturinglandscapeinthe21stcentury.Underthesecircumstances,IT(informationtechnology)hasbecomeakeywordforsurvivalofbusinesses.Itisgenerallysaidthatahigherlevelofinformationtechnology,shorterproductdevelopmentcyclesandthoroughcostreductionareessentialforsurvival.Inthemanufacturingindustry,itisnecessarytointegrateandoptimizethedesign,production,distribution,marketingandafter-salesservicesbybuildinganetworkbasedonathree-dimensional(3D)CADsystemandadatabasesystemsothattheentireproductlifecyclecanbemanaged.Inorderformanufacturerstosurvive,collaborationamongagroupofbusinessesusingInternettechnologymadepossiblebyWebserversandhigh-speed(broadband)communicationsisanotherimportantrequirement.TheroleofITisalsoimportantinpreventingthehollowingoutoftechnology.Efforttotakeskilledworkersexpertiseandknowledgenumericallyandaccumulateandhanddowntothenextgenerationsthetechnologythusdigitalizedisofcriticalimportanceformanufacturers.SNKscorporatemotto,"FromSkillsToTechnology,"isavitalrequirementforsurvivingcompetitioninthe21stcentury.Toachievethesegoals,SNKisworkingonacompanywidereformthroughdigitalizationoftechnology,describingthetasktobeaccomplishedasgoingdrawingless."Asearlyas1995,SNKbeganatransitionto3Ddesigningandstartedworkingtowardtheimplementationofanadvanceddesignandproductionsystem.ThisarticleintroducessomeofSNKsongoingeffortstobuildaWeb-computing-basedtechnicalinformationdatabasesystemandachievetheobjectiveofgoing"drawingless"byimplementinga3DCADsystem.2.ConcurrentEngineeringBehindtheUSeconomyscontinuingprosperitysince1996duringtheperiodinwhichtheJapaneseeconomydeterioratedwerenewtypesofeffortsbasedoncomputernetworks.Theseeffortsincludedthedevelopmentandapplicationof6a(sixsigma)andotherqualitymanagementsystems,knowledgemanagement(knowledgemanagementdatabase)systems,andenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)andsupplychainmanagement(SCM)systems.Ofthesenewtechnologies,concurrentengineeringisatechniquethathasenabledthedramaticgrowthoftheUSmanufacturingindustry.Thetechniquewasdevelopedasamethodofproductdevelopmenttomeetrapidlychangingcustomerneeds.Concurrentengineering(Figure1)isasystematicapproachtotheintegrated,concurrentdesignofproductsandtheirrelatedprocesses,includingmanufacturingandsupport.Thisapproachisintendedtocausethedevelopers,fromtheoutset,toconsiderallelementsoftheproductlife-cycle."(IDAReportR-338).Theultimategoalofaproductdesignandproductionsystemistoensurethat"allinformationnecessaryforproductionisavailableatthecompletionofproductdesign."Thisisalsowhatconcurrentengineeringaimstoachieve.Inotherwords,"theoutputfromdesignisNCprogramsinsteadofdrawings."ThismeansthatNCmachiningcanbestarteduponcompletionofdesign.Theultimategoalofaproductdesignandproductionsystemistoensurethat"allinformationnecessaryforproductionisavailableatthecompletionofproductdesign."Thisisalsowhatconcurrentengineeringaimstoachieve.Inotherwords,"theoutputfromdesignisNCprogramsinsteadofdrawings."ThismeansthatNCmachiningcanbestarteduponcompletionofdesign.Inconcurrentengineering,informationondownstreamprocessesofproductdesign(e.g.,informationonproductiontechnology)isevaluatedandstudiedearlyinupstreamprocesses,andtheresultsarefedbacktodesign.Thisreducesdesignchangesatalaterstage(productionstage)dramatically,preventscostandleadtimeincreases,shortenstheproductdevelopmentcycleconsiderably,improvesproductquality,andreducescosts(Figure3).SomemaythinkthatatypicalconventionaldesignsysteminJapanisaconcurrentdesignsystemunderwhichdesignworkisperformedunderacompetentdesignleader,butthisisnottrue.Concurrentengineeringreferstocreatingcost-effectiveproductsbymakinguseofthecollectiveknowledgeofalldepartmentsandallpersonnelofabusinessorganization.Concurrentengineeringisasystematicapproachinwhichknowledgeisstoredinelectronicforminacomputerizeddatabasesystem,andproductsaredesignedthroughcommunicationviaacomputernetwork.Inthisrespect,concurrentengineeringdiffersfromtheconventional(Japanese)designmethod,whichrequiresadesignleadertodependon.Creatingsomethingwithoutusingdrawingsmaybeconsideredsynonymouswithmakingthisconcurrentengineeringreality.3.3DCADSystemNeededtoGoDrawinglessOnetoolthathelpseliminatedrawingsisa3DCADsystem.Sincearound1990,efforthasbeenmadetodeveloppracticalfeatme-based3DCADsystems.Thankstothedramaticimprovementofcomputertechnologyandloweringpricesofcomputerscoupledwiththeprogressofsoftwaretechnology,computershavenowbecomepowerfulenoughforpractical3DCADsystems.Switchoverfrom2DCADsystemsto3DCADsystemshasbecomeatrendnotonlyinthefieldofmechanicalstructuredesignbutalsoinotherfields,asshowninFigure4.Withtheprogressofthetransitionto3Ddesign,theburdenofhavingtoprepare2Ddrawingsforthepurposeofproductionbecameaproblem,givingrisetocallsforproductionsystemsbasedonthedrawinglessengineeringconcept.However,3DCADsystemsand3Ddesignmodelingcapabilityarenottheonlyrequirementsformakingconcurrentengineeringordrawinglessengineeringareality.Drawinglessengineeringrequiresaperson(orateamofpeople)wellversedinallaspectsofdesignandproductionprocesses,processanalysis,and,lastbutnotleastimportant,thewilltoeffectprocessinnovation.Itisnecessarytofullyunderstandthata3DCADsystemisonlyatool,notapurpose,andtoworksystematicallytowardthestandardizationofdataandtheimplementationofaprocessreformfromaviewpointthatisnotconstrainedbyconventionalmethodologies.ThefollowingsectionsintroduceSNKsapproachtogoingdrawingless.4.EstablishmentofInfrastructureatSNK:Asmentionedearlier,SNKearlyonrecognizedtheimportanceof3DCADsystemsandin1995begantoworktowardaswitchovertoa3DCADsystem.ThatwasabolddecisionmadebySNKstopmanagementwhobelievedthat"drawingless,"whichrepresentsthemethodofperformingdesignandproductionconcunentlybynetworking,wasthekeywordforsurvival.AnimportantinfrastructuralcomponentofSNKs3DCADsystemistheTechnicalInformationDatabase.Introductionof3DCADsoftwareisnotenoughtomakeefficientuseofthe3DCADsystem.Itisalsonecessarytoaccumulatedesignandproductioninformationindigitalformsothattheinformationthusaccumulatedcanbesharedbyallmembersofthecompany.Fortunately,SNKalreadyhadarelationaldatabasesystem