Participatory function allocation in manufacturing

Much of the allocation of functions in manufacturing environments has been technologically driven, leaving leftover tasks for humans to perform and fa iling to consider sociotechnical characteristics. An exploratory experiment is reported that sought a greater empirical understanding of participation in function allocation The experiment involved student-based design teams charged with allocating functions for a real-life inspection task. Specific techniques such as the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) and the "think aloud" problem-solving technique were seen as useful to augment function allocati on methodologies. Results suggest that design teams may be more effective t han individuals for the task of function allocation in manufacturing. (C) 2 001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.