THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION TRANSFER BETWEEN THE DESIGNER AND MANUFACTURER

This paper discusses the importance of information as a key resource within an enterprise, particularly from the perspective of the design team. The paper aims to provide a greater understanding of the methods by which design team members retrieve, apply and subsequently transfer their information. The discussion covers the sources of design information both internal and external to an enterprise, and the preferred media used in conveying the design intent to manufacturing units. Information supply and provision is considered in terms of information availability, accessibility, applicability, authenticity and amount. The paper uses as its basis the key findings of a survey of over 200 engineering designers within the U.K., as well as an analysis of other work in the field. Choice of preferred media is cross-referenced against enterprise size.