MechanicalEngineeringintheInformationAgeIntheearly1980s,engineersthoughtthatmassiveresearchwouldbeneededtospeedupdevelopment.Asitturnout,lessresearchisactuallyneededbecauseshortenedproductdevelopmentcyclesencourageengineerstouseavailabletechnology.Developingarevolutionarytechnologyforuseinanewproductisriskyandpronetofailure.Takingshortstepsisasaferandusuallymoresuccessfulapproachtoproductdevelopment.Shorterproductdevelopmentcyclesarealsobeneficialinanengineeringworldinwhichbothcapitalandlaborareglobal.Peoplewhocandesignandmanufacturevariousproductscanbefoundanywhereintheworld,butcontaininganewideaishard.Geographicdistanceisnolongerabarriertoothersfindingoutaboutyourdevelopmentsixmonthsintotheprocess.Ifyouvegotashortdevelopmentcycle,thesituationisnotcatastrophicaslongasyoumaintainyourlead.Butifyoureinthemidstofasix-yeardevelopmentprocessandacompetitorgetswindofyourwork,theprojectcouldbeinmoreserioustrouble.Theideathatengineersneedtocreateanewdesigntosolveeveryproblemisquicklybecomingobsolete.ThefirststepinthemodemdesignprocessistobrowsetheInternetorotherinformationsystemstoseeifsomeoneelsehasalreadydesignedatransmission,oraheatexchangerthatisclosetowhatyouneed.Throughtheseinformationsystems,youmaydiscoverthatsomeonealreadyhasmanufacturingdrawings,numericalcontrolprograms,andeverythingelserequiredtomanufactureyourproduct.Engineerscanthenfocustheirprofessionalcompetenceonunsolvedproblem.Intackingsuchproblem,theavailabilityofhigh-poweredpersonalcomputersandaccesstotheinformationhighwaydramaticallyenhancethecapabilityoftheengineeringteamanditsproductivity.Theseinformationagetoolscangivetheteamaccesstomassivedatabasesofmaterialproperties,standards,technologies,andsuccessfuldesigns.Suchpretesteddesignscanbedownloadedfordirectuseorquickly.modifiedtomeetspecificneeds.Remotemanufacturing,ductinstructionsaresentoutoveranetwork,isalsopossible.Youcouldendupwithavirtualcompanywhereyoudonthavetoseeanyhardware.Whentheproductyoudesignedisworkingaccordingtothespecifications.Althoughallofthesedevelopmentswontapplyequallytoeverycompany,thepotentialisthere.Customdesignusedtobelefttosmallcompanies.Bigcompaniessneeredatittheyhatedtheideaofdealingwithnichemarketsorsmall-volumecustomsolutions.“Hereismyproduct,”oneofthebigcompanieswouldsay.“Thisisthebestwecanmakeityououghttolikeit.Ifyoudont,theressmallercompanydownthestreetthatwillworkonyourproblem.”Today,nearlyeverymarketisanichemarket,becausecustomersareselective.Ifyouignorethepotentialfortailoringyourmarketshareperhapsallofit.Sincethesenichemarketsaretransient,yourcompanyneedstobeinapositiontorespondthemquickly.Theemergenceofnichemarketsanddesignondemandhasalteredthewayengineersconductresearch.Today,researchiscommonlydirectedtowardsolvingparticularproblems.Althoughthissituationisprobablytemporary,muchuncommittedtechnology,developedatgovernmentexpenseorwrittenoffbemajorcorporations,isavailabletodayatverylowcost.Followingmodestmodifications,suchtechnologycanoftenbeuseddirectlyinproductdevelopment,whichallowsmanyorganizationstoavoid.theexpenseofanextensiveresearcheffort.Oncethetechnologyisfreeofmajorobstacles,theresearcheffortcanfocusonovercomingthebarrierstocommercializationratherthanonpursuingnewandinteresting,butundefined,alternatives.Whenviewedinthisperspective,engineeringresearchmustfocusprimarilyonremovingthebarrierstorapidcommercializationofknowntechnologies.Muchofthiseffortmustaddressqualityandreliabilityconcerns,whichareforemostinthemindsoftodaysconsumers.Clearly,areputationforpoorqualityissynonymousattheendofthemanufacturinglineandautomaticreplacementofdefectiveproductsmustbedonetoassurethatthecustomerreceivesaproperlyfunctioningproduct.Researchhastofocusonthecostbenefitoffactorssuchasreliability.Asreliabilityincreases,manufacturingcostsandthefinalcostofthesystemwilldecrease.Having30percentjunkattheendofaproductionlinenotonlycostsafortunebutalsocreatesanopportunityforacompetitortotakeyourideaandsellittoyourcustomersCentraltotheprocessofimprovingreliabilityandloweringcostsistheintensiveandwidespreaduseofdesignprocess.Shorteningeachstage,however,maynotsufficientlyreducethetimerequiredfortheentireprocess.Therefore,attentionmustalsobedevotedtoconcurrentengineeringsoftwarewithshareddatabasesthatcanbeaccessedbyallmembersofdesignteam.AswemovemorefullyintotheInformationAge,successwillrequirethattheengineerpossesssomeuniqueknowledgeofandexperienceinboththedevelopmentandthemanagementoftechnology.Successwillrequirebroadknowledgeandskillsaswellasexpertiseinsomekeytechnologiesanddisciplines；itwillalsorequireakeenawarenessofthesocialandeconomicfactorsatworkinthemarketplace.Increasingly,inthefuture,routineproblemswillnotjustifyheavyengineeringexpenditures,andengineerswillbeexpectedtoworkcooperativelyinsolvingmorechallenging,moredemandingproblemsinsubstantiallylesstime.Wehavebegunanewphaseinthepracticeofengineering.Itoffersgreatpromiseandexcitementasmoreandmoreproblem-solvingcapabilityisplacedinthehandsofthecomputerizedandwiredengineer.Toassuresuccess,thecapabilityofourtoolsandtheunquenchedthirstforbetterproductsandsystemsmustbematchedbythejoyofcreationthatmarksallgreatengineeringendeavors.Mechanicalengineeringisagreatprofession,anditwillbecomeevengreateraswemakethemostoftheopportunitiesofferedbytheInformationAge.信息時代的機械工程在80年代初期，工程師們曾經(jīng)認為要加快產(chǎn)品的研制開發(fā)，必須進行大量的研究工作。結果是實際上只進行了較少的研究工作，這是因為產(chǎn)品開發(fā)周期的縮短，促使工程師們盡可能地利用現(xiàn)有的技術。研制開發(fā)一種創(chuàng)新性并將其應用在新的產(chǎn)品上，是有風險的，并且易于招致失敗。在產(chǎn)品開發(fā)過程中采用較少的步驟是一種安全和易于成功的方法。對于資金和人力都處于全球性環(huán)境中的工程師而言，縮短產(chǎn)品研制開發(fā)周期也是有益的。能夠設計和制造各種產(chǎn)品的人可以在世界各地找到。但是，具有創(chuàng)新思想的人則比較難找。對于你已經(jīng)進行了6個月研制開發(fā)的工作，地理上的距離已經(jīng)不再是其他人發(fā)現(xiàn)它的障礙。如果你的研制周期較短，只要你仍然保持領先，這種情況并不會造成嚴重后果。但是如果你正處于一個長達6年的研制開發(fā)工程的中期，一個競爭對手了解到你的研究工作的一些信息，這個項目將面臨比較大的麻煩。工程師們在解決任何問題時都需要進行新的設計這種觀念很快就過時了