The aim of this research was to determine the extent of use, by Australian manufacturers, of lean manufacturing techniques, and the current and future implications for industrial designers. A survey was conducted to gather data on organisation demographics, the role of the industrial designer, production techniques and product development. The survey was distributed to 220 manufacturing organisations undertaking product development in Australia. The number of surveys returned was 134, representing a 60.9 percent response rate. The surveyed organisations represented a broad cross-section of Australian manufacturers by size, location and industry. Manufacturing organisations were categorised into three groups: lean manufacturers, emerging users of lean manufacturing and non-lean manufacturers. It was concluded that lean manufacturing is being adopted by Australian manufacturers and that lean manufacturing is impacting on the role of the industrial design. In general, the data obtained in this research confirms views expressed in the literature that describes current changes in the manufacturing industry. This literature suggests that design will become the next competitive 'weapon', and become a central part of organisational strategy. However, the data also suggests the design profession has still some way to go to adequately grasp its full professional potential, particularly in the area of product development management. The results indicate that industrial designers underperformed in five functional areas that could be considered fundamental to the service normally provided by industrial designers and they have not exceeded expectations in any of the functions included in the survey. It was found that overall, industrial designers were not regarded highly by organisations as a source of new product ideas. Another troubling finding was that industrial designers were generally not perceived as being suitable to manage product development groups. The results of this research could be used to guide educational institutions in regard to curricula for industrial design courses so that future graduates may more effectively fulfil industry requirements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/187837 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Bohemia, Erik, Industrial Design, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Industrial Design |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Erik Bohemia, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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