Engineering of Project-based Production Systems for the Delivery of Engineered-to-order Products

基于项目的生产（PBP）系统致力于设计和制造为项目涉众提供价值的工件。当工件按订单设计（ETO）时，它们的交付是一种服务。交付能够实现客户目的的定制产品，同时响应多个用户的需求和各种生命周期要求，将PBP系统和ETO产品牢牢地推向服务类别。通过PBP系统提供大量服务，并生产ETO产品。属于这类问题的服务包括卫生保健（例如，病人诊断和治疗）、建筑服务、电影和戏剧制作、软件工程、油田开发、消费品开发、定制造船和工作订单（例如，车间）。学习如何设计、控制和系统地改进ETO产品的交付可以被理解为许多（如果不是大多数的话）服务功能的重要主题。本研究的目的是利用工业实践数据、基于计算机的模拟以及基于计算机和基于实践的实验，确定如何在工程和交付细节阶段减少一种ETO产品的交货时间。为了向PI的更大目标迈进一步，这项探索性研究侧重于一种类型的ETO产品，一种类型的服务功能，即交付用于预制或现浇混凝土的钢筋。从这个项目中学到的东西将被纳入一个理论框架，并应用于不同服务部门的其他ETO产品的交付过程，努力建立一个通用方法的一个组成部分，用于设计、控制和持续改进基于项目的ETO产品交付。研究假设：(1)传统的ETO交付具有顺序处理的特点，每个参与的公司或部门都对整个系统的性能进行次优化；(2)工程和细部返工超过10%；(3) ETO产品从设计到制造和交付的空闲时间与总时间之比超过20:1；(4)制造车间周期时间与制造交货时间之比超过10:1。这项研究的目的是拒绝这些。然而，如果研究结果加强了这些假设，那么从根本上改善ETO交付过程的机会就很多。然后，一个研究议程将被确定，在这18个月的拨款允许的情况下，选定的改进将被实施和测试。

Project-based production (PBP) systems are dedicated to designing and making artifacts that provide value to project stakeholders. Their delivery is a type of service when the artifacts are engineered-to-order (ETO). Delivery of custom products that enable realization of customer purposes, while being responsive to the needs of multiple users and various life-cycle requirements, pushes PBP systems and ETO products firmly into the service category.Numerous services are delivered through PBP systems and produce ETO products. Examples of services belonging to this class of problems are health care (e.g., patient diagnosis and treatment), construction services, film and theatrical productions, software engineering, oil field development, consumer product development, custom ship building, and work orders (e.g., job shops). Learning how to design, control, and systematically improve the delivery of ETO products can be understood as a topic of importance to many-if not most-service functions.The objective of this research is to determine how to reduce lead times for one type of ETO product in the engineering and detailing phases of delivery using industry-practice data, computer-based simulation, and computer-based as well as practice-based experimentation. Taking one step towards the PI's larger objective, this exploratory research focuses on one type of ETO product, in one type of service function, namely the delivery of steel reinforcing bars used in pre-cast or cast-in-place concrete. What is learned from this project will be cast in a theoretical framework and applied to delivery processes for other ETO products in various service sectors, in an effort to establish one component of a general methodology for the design, control, and continuous improvement of project-based ETO product delivery.The working hypotheses are that (1) Traditional ETO delivery is characterized by sequential processing, with each participating company or department sub-optimizing total system performance; (2) Rework in engineering and detailing exceeds 10%; (3) The ratio of idle time to total time spent by an ETO product as it moves from engineering through fabrication and delivery exceeds 20 to 1; and (4) The ration of fabrication shop cycle time to fabrication lead time exceeds 10 to 1. The research will aim to reject these. Should findings, however, reinforce these hypotheses, then opportunities for radical improvement in the ETO delivery process abound. A research agenda will then be staked out, and, time permitting under this 18 month grant, selected improvements will be implemented and tested.