Integrating Organizational Issues in Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Hardware Design

拟议的研究涉及探讨制定一种方法的可行性，以考虑在实施自动化制造系统时所作的技术设计决策对组织的潜在影响。首先，将开发一个可概括的关键设计决策类型学。然后，将确定可能导致组织变更的设计决策类别，并检查设计选项的范围。最后，将制定技术选项与组织影响的类型学矩阵，以确定哪些类型的选项对组织的影响是关键的。这项研究将检查施乐公司机械车间中的机器人生产线、苹果公司的自动插入机和John Deere的FMS单元的技术设计过程。从这三种非常不同类型的自动化设计中，预计会得出一组可推广的结果。

The proposed research involves exploration of the feasibility of developing a methodology for considering the potential organizational impact of the technical design decisions made in implementing automated manufacturing systems. First, a generalizable typology of critical design decisions will be developed. Then, categories of design decisions that are likely to cause organizational changes will be identified and the range of design options will be examined. Finally, a matrix of typology of technical options vs. organizational impacts will be developed, to identify which types of options are critical in terms of their impact on the organization. The study will examine the technical design process of a robot line in a machine shop at Xerox Corp., Apple Corporation's automated insertion machines, and John Deere's FMS cells. From these three very different types of automation design, a set of generalizable results are expected to be drawn.