PROCESS INTEGRATION AND IMPROVEMENT USING SYSTEMIC DIAGRAMS AND A HUMAN-CENTERED APPROACH

if product cycle time reduction is the mission, and the multifunctiona l team is the means of achieving the mission, what then is the modus o perandi by which this means is to accomplish its mission? This paper a sserts that a preferred modus operandi for the multifunctional team is to adopt a process-oriented view of the manufacturing enterprise, and for this it needs the medium of a process map [16]. The substance of this paper is a methodology which enables the creation of such maps. S pecific examples of process models drawn from the product development life cycle are presented and described in order to support the methodo logy's integrity and value. The specific deliverables we have so far o btained are: a methodology for process capture and analysis; a collect ion of process models spanning the product development cycle; and, an engineering handbook which hosts these models and presents a computer- based means of navigating through these processes in order to allow us ers a better understanding of the nature of the business, their role i n it, and why the job that they do benefits the work of the company. W e assert that this kind of thinking is the essence of concurrent engin eering implementation, and further that the systemigram process models uniquely stimulate and organise such thinking.