INT. J. CO MPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING, 1 998, VO L. 11, NO .

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Usin g organ ization al an alysis an d IDEF0 for e n te rprise m ode llin g in SMEs
MARCO CANTAMESSA and EM ILIO PAOLUCCI

Ab stract. Th is pape r deals with e nterprise m ode lling, and pays spe cial atte ntion towards the re qu irem e nts of Sm all and Me dium En te rprises ( SMEs) . Am on g e xisting m ethodologies, SADT / IDEF0 is exam ine d and chose n as a starting point. After having discusse d som e of the proble m s con ne cte d to the use of such m ethodology, a n ew approac h is propose d. Th is m e thod may be se e n as a bottom -up variant of SADT, which allows us to re du ce th e m ode l de velopm e nt tim e, de cre ase the influe nce of subje ctive viewpoints du rin g th e m ode lling proce ss, and increase the e ase with which inform ation in th e m od el m ay be subse qu e n tly p roce sse d. Finally, th e application of th e prop osed me thodology in a m edium -size d e nte rprise is briefly re porte d.

1. In tro d u c tio n Th e lite rature on e n te rprise m ode llin g an d e n gin e e rin g is rich in term s of propose d m e th ods an d ap proac he s. This te stifie s to th e e xiste n ce of a ve ry live ly re se arch activity in th is field. Howe ve r, as con ce rn s in du strial ac c e p tan ce of th e se m e th od s, th e fe w e m pirical studie s availab le in the lite rature show th at th e se proposals are n ot wid e ly ap plie d in practice . For instan ce , De ve re ux et al. ( 1995) , in a surve y cove ring both `h ard an d `soft in n ovation s to m an ufacturing syste m s, re porte d th at wh ile 70% of th e com pan ie s in th e sam ple use d som e form of proce ss flowchartin g in support of the de sign proce ss, on ly 20% used a syste m de sign m e th odology c om in g from lite rature or con sulting firm s, an d the re st use d a m e th od de ve lope d `in house . Wh ile th e re lative youth of e n te rprise m ode llin g as a disciplin e partially e xp lain s th e lim ite d diffusion of th e se m e th od s, it m ay be valu ab le to in ve stigate wh e the r th e y m ay be im prove d in orde r m ake the m m ore acce ssible to e nd use rs. Th is is particularly true in th e case of Sm all an d Me dium En te rprise s ( SMEs) ,

wh ose proble m s an d re quire m e n ts are obviously som e wh at diffe re n t th an th ose of large com pan ie s. Eve n th ough SMEs are not as com ple x as larg e com pan ie s, th e n e e d for an alysin g an d re de sign ing th e ir ope ration s is n o le sser than for th e latte r, in orde r to h ave th e m ope rate in an e fficie n t an d fle xible way, an d to avoid, as often h ap pe ns, th at th e ir proce sse s sim ply e m e rge from th e unp lan n e d e volution of past custom s an d h abits. Inve sting in e nte rprise m ode lling m e thods for SMEs is worth wh ile be cau se of the we llknown e con om ic re le van ce of such com pan ie s. More ove r, with today s blurrin g of the organ ization al borde rs alo ng m an ufacturing valu e ch ain s, or so-c alle d `exte n de d e nte rprises ( Porte r 1985 , Brown e et al. 199 5) , re lative ly sm all an d stron gly focuse d com pan ie s te n d to be com e le ad in g actors an d buildin g blocks of a ne w in d u strial organ ization ( H owar d 1990 ) . Fo r su c h com pan ie s, e xp e rien ce with e nte rprise m ode llin g an d e n gin e e rin g m ay be com e a strate gic asse t e nablin g th e m to in teract closely, e fficie n tly an d flexibly with othe r firm s. In th is pe rspe ctive , Section 2 of this pap e r d e als with a brie f re vie w of e n te rprise m ode llin g te ch n ique s focussing on SADT / IDEF0 as a particularly suitable ap proach for SMEs. In Se ction 3, a nove l ap proach for IDEF0 m ode l au th orin g is propose d, to ove rcom e som e disad van tage s of th e traditional SADT m e thod. Se ction 4 discusses how th is ap proach m ay be use d in an e n te rprise e n gin e e rin g proje ct an d, fin ally, an ap plication to a m e dium -size d com pan y is de scribe d in Se ction 5.

2. En te rp rise m o d e llin g ap p ro ach e s A num be r of re le van t ap proach e s for m ode llin g an e n te rprise in te rm s of its proce sse s an d com pon e n ts m ay be foun d in literature ( re vie ws m ay be foun d in William s et al. 1994 , CEN TC310 WG1 1994 , Bran dim arte an d Can tam e ssa 19 94) . Th e com ple xity of e n te rpr ise m ode llin g is su ch th at th e se d iffe re n t

Au thors: Marco Can tam e ssa an d Em ilio Paolucci, Dipartime n to di Sistem i d i Produzione e d Econom ia d e ll Azie n d a, Polite cnico d i Torino, Corso Duca d e gli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy. 0951-192 X / 98 $12.00

1998 Taylor & Francis Ltd

En terprise modellin g in SMEs ap proac he s m ay be assigne d to diffe re nt c on ce ptual le ve ls an d classified accordin g to th e followin g sch e m e ( Doum e ingts et al. 1995 ) . ( 1) Architectu res an d reference models ( e .g. CIMO SA an d GERAM) provid e a stan d ardize d an d ge n e ric de scription of the e nte rprise e le m e n ts an d th e ir re lation ships. Th e y are m ain ly use d to clarify the h yp othe se s upon wh at a ge n e ric com pan y is assum e d to be , so that furthe r d e ve lop m e n ts m ay be base d u p o n th e m ( com m e rcial system s in th e case of software ve n dors, an d m ode llin g fram e works an d structure d ap proac he s in th e c ase of re se arch proje cts) ; ( 2) Modellin g formalisms are lan guag e s wh ich support th e re pre se ntation, ge n e rally in a grap hic al an d in tuitive m an ne r, of var ious e le m e nts of th e e n te rprise an d un de r diffe re n t pe rspe c tive s. Exam ple s of such form alism s are IDEF0 ( Marca an d McGowan 1988 ) an d Data Flow Diagram s for re pre se n ting fun ction s, En tity Re lationship diagr am s an d IDEF1X for re pre se n ting in form ation , IDEF3 ( Maye r et al. 199 2) an d GRAI Ne ts ( Doum e ingts 198 9) for re pre sen tin g be h aviour. More form al lan gu age s h ave also be e n propose d for e n te rprise m ode llin g, e .g. th e CIMO SA proce ss m ode l ( Ve rnad at 199 3) ; ( 3) Modellin g frameworks. An e n te rprise m ode l ge n e rally re quire s th e de ve lopm e nt of a n um be r of partial m ode ls, de ve lope d with differe nt form alism s, e ach de alin g with a spe cific pe rspe ctive an d in a spe cific ph ase of th e m ode llin g proce ss. Mode llin g fram e works, e .g. CIMO SA ( Jorysz an d Ve rnad at 1990, AMICE 1993) , are c on ce ptual structure s use d to coordin ate the de ve lopm e n t of th e se partial m ode ls; ( 4) Structured approaches or methodologies sugge st th e ste ps to be followe d wh e n usin g a m ode llin g fram e work in an e n te rprise e ngin e e ring proje c t. Exam ple s of such m e th odologie s are SSADM ( Cutts 1991 ) , GIM ( GRAI Inte grate d Me th odology) ( Doum e in gts 1989 ) an d PERA ( William s 19 92) . SMEs se e kin g to im prove th e ir m an ufac turin g ope rations m ay obviously fin d the m se lve s a bit lost in front of th e vastn e ss an d com ple xity of such an offe r. Howe ve r, th e se le ction of an ap propriate ap proach can be m ade e asie r by clarifyin g th e obje ctive s of th e e n te rprise e n gin e e rin g p roje ct. In p ar ticular, it is im portan t to de cide wh e the r the focus is spe cifically upon the de ve lopm e nt of a CIM system , or wh e th e r an ove rall ap proach to com pan y re de sign sh ould be

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pe rform e d, e ve n tually havin g com pute r-base d in te gration as one e le m e n t. Th e strong IT orie ntation of th e form e r ch oice n atu rally le ad s towards th e adoption of a fully-fle dge d struc ture d ap proach , e .g. CIMO SA or GRAI-GIM. In such case s, e n te rprise m ode llin g re quire s to con side r d iffe re n t vie ws upon th e com pan y ( e .g. fu n ction , in form ation or be h aviour vie ws) , an d to re ach a le ve l of de tail ad e quate to support the spe cification an d im p le m e n tation of a softwar e syste m . Th e c osts attach e d to th e e n te rprise m ode llin g e ffort m ay in th is case be com e sign ifican t in absolute te rm s, but n ot wh e n com pare d to th e ove rall in ve stm e n t in CIM. Additional e ffort spe n t u pon in itial m od e llin g m ay re sult in con side rable savin gs of re work avoide d in the subse que n t ph ase s of the proje c t. In prac tice , ve ry often , SMEs com e to e nte rprise m ode llin g with out havin g the cle ar in itial aim of de ve lopin g a CIM system . Th e ir e ffort is rath e r m ore dire cte d toward som e th in g m ore sim ilar to a Bu sine ss Proce ss Re -e n gin e e rin g in itiative ( H am m e r 1990 , McSwine y 19 95) : th e obje ctive in th is case is to obtain a pre lim inary unde rstan ding of `wh at is going on in th e com pan y, an d to ide n tify th e are as in wh ich organ ization al an d proce ss re de sign , toge the r with IT system s re de sign, m ay con tribute to im provin g ope rational pe rform an ce . Afte r this h as be e n accom plishe d, it m ay be possible to go som e ste ps forward by usin g m ore structure d an d de taile d approach e s. In oth e r wor d s, SMEs p ar tic u lar ly n e e d e n te r pr ise m ode llin g ap proach e s for pe rform in g an alysis at a c on ce ptual de sign le ve l. Such pre lim in ary stu die s m ostly de al with fun ction al asp e cts, be cause th e y are th e m ost ap pare nt an d brin g busine ss proc e sses in to focus. The y sh ould be pe rform e d with out too m uch e ffort, wh ile at th e sam e tim e providing a sound basis for furth e r de ve lopm e n ts ( e .g. addin g oth e r m ode lling vie ws an d goin g de e pe r in te rm s of le ve l of de tail) . More spe cifically, the followin g re quire m e n ts m ay be proposed ( se e Colquhoun et al. 1996 for a sim ilar list) : ( 1) the m ode llin g ap proach m ust be sim ple to use by n on -e xpe rts ( SMEs ge ne rally do n ot h ave e nough re source s to de dicate spe cially train e d staff for e nte rprise m ode llin g tasks) ; ( 2) m ode ls m ust be e asily inte rpre ted an d discusse d by all th e actors involve d in th e in novation proc e ss in orde r to incre ase th e ir com m itm e nt; ( 3) m ode ls sh ould be used as a basis for furthe r de ve lopm e n ts with m in im al ad ap tation; ( 4) m ode ls sh ould he lp to ide ntify opportunitie s for syste m im p rove m e n t ( Dave n p ort an d Sh ort 199 0) ;

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M. Can tamessa an d E. Paolu cci Working top down re quire s a sign ifican t con ce ptual e ffort in ide n tifying a prope r de com position of th e syste m in to a subsyste m h ie rarch y, an d it is ve ry e asy for th e an alyst to pe rform such a task rath e r roughly, by drawin g n e w m ode ls from pre viously de ve lope d one s an d without payin g e n ough atte ntion to th e ir approp riate n e ss to th e pr e se n t c ase . An oth e r fre qu e n t proble m in IDEF0 m ode lling is conn e cte d to in con siste n cie s in in form ation flow wh ich are com m on ly foun d in m an ufacturing system s ( i.e . activities th at re ce ive m ore or le ss inform ation than re quire d, or th at prod uce in form ation wh ich goe s unuse d) . Actors in th e syste m , pre sse d by an an alyst atte m pting to de ve lop an orde rly an d consiste nt m ode l, ofte n te n d to allow h im to `fix such proble m s. Th is le ads to a re pre se n tation wh ich , alth ough de sirable , is not a faith ful picture of th e syste m an d will h ide th e se problem s wh e n th e m ode l will late r be an alyse d. To avoid such risks, th e `golde n rule of IDEF0 m ode llin g pre scribe s th at th e auth oring proce ss be m ad e up of a le n gth y se que nce of m ode l writing an d re visin g ph ase s, durin g wh ich the an alyst an d m e m be rs of the organ ization sh ould be ite rative ly involve d an d com m un icate rath e r in te nsive ly. As a re sult, de ve lop ing a good m ode l often re quire s a few m onth s tim e e ve n for a m ode l of lim ited size ; for a sm all com pan y th is ge n e rally be c om e s a far too de m an din g task from both th e organ ization al an d e con om ic points of vie w. More ove r, e xte n ding th e m ode lling proce ss duration has a n um be r of othe r un de sirable con seque n ce s, e .g. a de cre ase in com m itm e n t on be half of th e organ ization s m e m be rs, th e de ve lopm e nt of a m ode l wh ich will be obsole te from th e start, an d, finally, th e inclination to pe rform an unn e ce ssarily de taile d an alysis, th us m akin g th e m ode l e xtre m e ly cum be rsom e an d difficult to un de rstand. To face th e se proble m s, proposals h ave be e n m ad e to re du c e th e e ffort c on n e c te d to IDEF0 m od e l au th orin g, princ ipally by followin g two diffe re n t path s. O n one side , som e au th ors h ave worke d on IDEF0 m e tam ode ls ( Fung 1993 , An g et al. 1994 ) : th e se are ge n e ric m ode ls wh ich sh ould be able to de scribe th e m ain fe ature s wh ich are pe culiar to com pan ie s in a ce rtain in dustry, an d e sse n tially prop ose a stan dard h ie rarch ical de com position , toge th e r with th e princip al in form ation an d m ate rial flows, con trols an d re source s. In orde r to de ve lop a spe cific m ode l, the an alyst sh ould ad ap t the m e tam ode l s struc ture ( ge ne rally by prunin g or m e rgin g diagr am s) an d the n e nrich th e re sulting m ode l with com pan y-spe cific activitie s an d e ntities. Th e proce ss followe d, the re fore , se e m s to be ve ry sim ilar to CIMO SA s con ce pt of `ste pwise instan tiation of a spe cific syste m by startin g from a re fe re n ce architec ture . Toge the r with m e tam ode ls, au th ors often propose

( 5) the m ode llin g proc e ss m ust be as quick an d e con om ical as possible , th us re ducing e xp e n se s in e xte rnal consultan cy or in distracting in te rn al pe rsonn e l from th e ir usual work; ( 6) m ode ls m ust be agile an d con cise, so th at the ir contin uous m ain te nan ce m ay be viable an d e con om ic. Th is is e ssen tial for initiatin g a true `con tin uous im prove m e nt proce ss. Despite som e unde n iable lim itation s ( Billo et al. 19 94) , th e ap proac h th at probably ge ts c lose r to fulfilling such re quire m e n ts, an d e spe cially th e form e r four, is SADT / IDEF0. Th is structure d an alysis ap proach has be com e , sin ce its first proposal in th e e arly 1970 s, a de facto stan dard for proce ss m ode llin g in in dustrial an d busin e ss e n viron m e n ts ( Colquh oun et al. 19 93) . O f particular in tere st is IDEF0 s un ive rsality, i.e . a lan gu age wh ich has be e n use d in acad e m ia an d in dustry alike , across a wid e ran ge of busin e ss sectors an d with a worldwid e diffusion . Am on g th e ad van tage s of IDEF0, on e can m e ntion its e xpre ssive powe r, th e intuitive ne ss of its use an d th e possibility of usin g it for function al m ode llin g within a num be r of e n te rprise m ode llin g fram e works. Am on g th e se , on e can re m e m be r th e IDEF fam ily of form alism s ( wh e re it is com m on ly com ple m e n te d with IDEF1x for in form atio n m ode ls an d IDEF3 for be h avioural m ode ls) an d GIM ( in conn e ction to GRAI grids an d n e ts) . More ove r, the building blocks of IDEF0 are close to th e e n terprise activity con struct used in th e CIMO SA fun ction vie w. Prope r use of IDEF0, h owe ve r, is n ot e xe m pt from sh ortcom in gs, e spe cially with re spe c t to th e two latte r re quire m e n ts. Th e original prop ose rs of SADT h ave always stre sse d the im portan ce of takin g gre at care of th e m ode llin g proce ss an d of in ve sting suitable e ffort into it. Th e use r m ust be con scious that the fin al re sults will e ssen tially de pe n d upon th e quality of such a proce ss ( Marca an d McGowan 19 88) . Un fortun ate ly, th is re c om m e n dation often goe s unh e e d e d by m an y an alysts wh o, pre sse d by tigh t tim e con strain ts, use IDEF0 in an approxim ate an d in form al way; in th is case , th e in tuitive n e ss an d sim plicity with wh ich m ode ls are laid down m ay be com e m isle adin g, an d in duce th e de ve lopm e nt of in corre ct or poorly focuse d m ode ls. More spe cifically, a critical asp e ct of IDEF0 m ode l au th oring is due to th e subje ctive bias th at th e an alyst natu rally ten ds to cast upon th e m ode l, base d upon prior e xp e rie n ce an d to the way with wh ich h e or she is acc ustom e d to in te rpre tin g an d lookin g at re ality ( Bu sby an d William s 1993) . Th is ph e nom e n on will be e n h an ce d in th e case of low in vo lve m e n t by th e organ ization s m e m be rs. Th e risk of subje ctive bias has a con n e c tion to th e fact th at IDEF0 m ode ls are ge n e rally de ve lope d usin g a top-down de com p osition .

En terprise modellin g in SMEs m ore or le ss com ple x gu ide lin e s for m ode l instantiation an d h ave de ve lope d software tools to support th e m , som e tim e s usin g Artificial In te llige n c e te c h n iqu e s. Me tam ode ls spe e d up th e m ode lling proce ss an d, in prin ciple , allow unskille d an alysts to carry out com ple x m od e lling tasks, be c au se m uch of th e e xp e rie nc e re quire d is in c orporate d in th e m e tam ode l itse lf. Howe ve r, th e risks associate d with forcin g the com ple xity of a spe cific e n te rprise to fit into a pre fabricate d sch e m e re sulting from past e xp e rien ce n ow be com e e ve n h igh e r: e xp e rie n ce , by its own natu re , at le ast m odifie s itse lf ove r tim e , wh ile a rigid sch e m e suc h as a m e tam ode l is m ore difficult to ch an ge . In conclusion, m e tam ode ls m ay be a pre cious support inde e d, but only if th e an alyst h as sufficie nt critical ability to fin d out th e in e vitable in c on siste n c ie s wh ich e xist be twe e n th e m e tam ode l an d th e re al syste m , an d to chan ge th e form e r wh e re ne ce ssary. O the r au th ors, in ste ad, h ave propose d m odifications to th e IDEF0 lan guag e in orde r to take out som e of its difficultie s, m ostly by sim plifyin g m ode l struc turing. Am on g th e se , Billo et al. ( 199 4) propose diagram s base d upon the so-calle d `triple diagon al , wh e re the se diag on als, re spe ctive ly, corre spon d to plan n in g, con trol an d e xe c ution activitie s. Triple diag on al m ode ls are n ot hie rarch ically structure d an d th e re fore sh ow all re le van t data upon a sin gle diagr am ; furthe r de tails m ay be m ode lle d by usin g an oth e r tool, e .g. th e `use r con ce pt diag ram ( Hostn ik et al. 1985) . Th is is a sort of iconic e n h an ce m e n t of stan dard proce ss flow-ch arts, in wh ich cycle tim e s an d are as of re spon sibility are m ad e e xplicit. Th is an d oth e r proposals se e m to be prom ising, in de e d un de r m ultiple poin ts of vie w, e .g. th e e ase of writin g, valid atin g an d also in terpre tin g m ode ls; howe ve r, th e y have n ot ye t e volve d in to a wid e ly acce pte d stan dard , an d th e ir in dustrial ap plicability m ay at pre se n t be hin de re d by this.

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th e syste m , IDEF0 in primis. In othe r words, th e ide a is th e followin g ( figu re 1) : th e IDEF0 m ode l ( wh ich we will n am e `X ) is a vie w of re ality `R , re stricte d to fun ction al asp e cts an d hie rarch ically structure d. Now, if on e de ve lops a wider in te rm e diate m ode l of re ality, `Y , th e n the m ode l X can be de rive d from Y in ste ad of R ( by `wide r we m e an th at Y e n com passe s all th e in form ation contain e d in X) . Fu rthe rm ore , if th e proce sse s of obtain in g Y from R, an d X from Y are colle ctive ly le ss burde nsom e th an th e proce ss wh ich dire ctly e xtracts X from R, th e n we h ave foun d a con ve n ie nt alte rnative ap proac h to IDEF0 m ode llin g. Workin g with an in term e diate m ode l h as othe r ad van tage s. First, wh e n oth e r m ode ls will h ave to be de ve lope d to cove r diffe re nt vie ws of the syste m , the se m ay be drawn dire ctly from th e inte rm e diate m ode l, with out h avin g to start a com ple te au thorin g proce ss for e ac h of th e m ( th u s savin g m an y tim e -con sum in g se ssion s for inte rvie ws an d re vision s with individ uals an d gro ups) . More ove r, the com m on in te rm e diate m ode l m ay h e lp to m ain tain con siste nc y be twe e n th e various partial m ode ls of th e sam e system . A som e wh at sim ilar con ce pt, but re late d to a m uch wide r scale fram e work, m ay also be foun d in the CIMO SA proc e ssbase d m ode llin g ap proach ( Ve rnad at 1993) , as we ll as in som e oth e r re ce n t proposals for e n terprise e ngin e e rin g ( Agu iar an d We ston 1995 , Koon ce et al. 199 6) . Fin ally, through th e inte rm e diate m ode l, it is re lative ly e asy to obtain m ath e m atical re pre se n tations of th e m an ufacturing syste m s e ntities an d th e ir re lation sh ips, th us allowin g us to an alyse the syste m with quan titative m e thods. Th is option offe rs a powe rful tool for high ligh tin g proble m s an d solution opportun itie s in th e syste m , an d it m ake s an alysis tasks e asy an d straightforward , com pare d to goin g th rough th e large num be r of diagr am s wh ich m ake up an IDEF0 m ode l.

3. A b o tto m -up ap p ro ach to IDEF0 m o d e l au th o rin g In orde r to m ake the pote ntial of IDEF0 m ore e asily availab le to SMEs, we h ave m ove d in to a third dire ction by re visitin g the usual m ode llin g approac h. In spiration for th is ap proac h has com e from organ ization al an alysis te ch nique s ( Le ife r an d Bu rke 1994 ) , in wh ich in form ation on th e organ ization an d its busin e ss proce sse s is systematically gath e re d, loade d into a database an d, finally, an alyse d with statistical te ch nique s. Th e hin t is to do th e sam e for e n te rprise m ode llin g, by colle cting de taile d in form ation about th e activities pe rform e d in th e system th rough pe rson al inte rvie ws an d / or que stionn aire s, an d the n to use such a database as an in termediate model from wh ich to build oth e r m ode ls of

Figure 1. Mode l authoring th rough an interm e diate m ode l.

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M. Can tamessa an d E. Paolu cci assoc iate d with a com pan y d e partm e n t. Th is allows us to con side r the au thority an d re spon sibility flows to wh ich e ach re source is subordin ate d. Wh e n such an in te rm e diate m ode l is availab le , th e IDEF0 m ode l m ay be de ve lope d by e xtrac ting th e in form ation it contain s. Ap pare n tly, th e re is a proble m h e re in th at such inform ation is re late d to low-le ve l activitie s, an d in IDEF0 m ode llin g it is custom ary to vie w th e se activitie s as th e product of a top-down de com position proc e ss, rath e r th an as a startin g point. Now, th e proposal wh ich com e s from th is in te rm e diate m ode l-base d approac h is to re th ink th is proce dure an d de ve lop IDEF0 m od e ls from the bottom up by ag gre gatin g, rath e r th an de c om p osin g, ac tivitie s. Th e re are ad van tage s to th is, wh ich allow us to ove rcom e som e of the pre viously discusse d proble m s con n e cted to IDEF0 m ode llin g. Th e m ain be ne fit is that low-le ve l activitie s an d th e ir in te rac tion s are ide n tifie d dire ctly by th e actors in volve d in the syste m an d with m in im al in te rve n tion on be h alf of th e an alyst. The re fore , in con siste ncie s in the in form ation flow will ap pe ar right away, with out te m ptin g th e an alyst in to `fixing th e m to e n sure m ode l con siste n cy. More ove r, the m ode l struc ture built by bottom -up ag gre gation will fit a give n an d stable se t of activitie s, wh ile in the usual top-down ap proach th e an alyst will te n d to influe n ce activity ide n tification in orde r to m ake th e m fit th e m ode l structure wh ich h e or sh e h as in m in d an d h as de ve lope d up to that m om e n t. The con ce pt m ay be clarifie d, e ve n if not form ally prove d, th rough a toy e xam ple , wh ich sh ows th e kin d of proble m s e n counte re d ( e ve n though th e scale of th e se proble m s is so re duce d th at th e y m ay ap pe ar trivial) . By in tervie win g its CEO , the `top-down an alyst fin ds out th at com pan y XYZ h as two de partm e n ts,

Th e in te r m e d iate m od e l h as to be d e sig n e d accordin g to the m ode ls wh ich will be base d upon it, an d the form alism s with wh ich th e y will be de ve lope d. Be cau se this pap e r focuse s upon IDEF0, th e in te rm e diate m ode l is som e how sim ple an d is de picte d as an En tity-Re lation sh ip Diagram in figu re 2 ( for sim plicity, e n tity attribute s have n ot be e n listed in the diagr am ) . O f course , th e m ode l m ay have to be au gm e n ted in th e case wh e n oth e r partial m ode ls h ave to be de ve lope d in coordin ation with the IDEF0 on e , e .g. an IDEF1x m ode l for de scribing inform ation , an d / or an IDEF3 m ode l for be h aviou r. Fin ally, it m ay be note d that th e m ode l in figu re 2 is sim ilar to the CIMO SA de fin ition of fun ction vie w con ce pts; its m ain e le m e n ts are th e followin g:

activ ities ( IDEF0 `boxe s ) are the e le m e n tary un its wh ich m ake up busine ss proce sse s. Like in IDEF0, e ach activity is ch aracte rized by its inputs an d outputs ( wh ich m ay be both ph ysic al e n titie s or in form ation ) , as we ll as by th e re source s an d con trols wh ich, re spe ctive ly, support an d in flue nce its e xe cution ; en tities an d in formation ( IDEF0 in puts, outpu ts an d con trols) ; proc e sse s are m ad e up of a flow of physical e n tities ( e .g. parts, raw m ate rials, fixture s, e tc.) an d inform ation . Th e in term e diate m ode l de scribe s e ach of th e se flows an d re cords wh ich re source if an y is in ch arge of it ( th is is an ad dition al in form ation re spe ct to IDEF0) ; resou rces ( IDEF0 m e ch an ism s) ; activitie s are e xe cuted by th e inte rve n tion of re source s, be th e y h um an or m ach in e s, wh ich are de scribe d in th e in te rm e diate m ode l. As m e n tion e d above , e ach re source is also dire ctly re late d to e n tity an d in form ation flow am on g the activitie s the y are in volve d in; departmen ts; in orde r to m ake it e asie r to ap ply th e m ode l to in dustrial e nte rprises, e ach re source is

Figure 2.

Sim plified En tity Re lation ship represe ntation of the inte rm e diate m od el.

En terprise modellin g in SMEs `product de ve lopm e nt ( PD) an d `production ( P) . The an alyst th e n cre ate s the A0 diagr am of figure 3( a) an d in te rvie ws the m an ag e rs in charge of th e se two de partm e n ts. Th e PD m an ag e r ide n tifie s h is de partm e n t s activitie s as `product de sign an d `proce ss de sign , wh ile th e P m an ag e r de clare s his workforce is e n gage d in `proce ss de sign an d `m an ufacturin g ( th e re ason is th at proce ss de sign is pe rform e d by product de sign e rs, with th e aid of sh op floor pe rson n e l) . Now, th e m od e l de rivin g from th e A0 d e c om p osition sh ould be re vise d be cau se it is doubtful th at th e two-way partition of ope rations in PD an d P m ay still be acce pte d in th e ligh t of the se ne w findin gs. Th e an alyst m ay an yway be te m pte d to avoid th is re vision by forcin g `proce ss de sign e ith e r in th e PD activity box, or in the P activity box or, m ore cre ative ly, by placin g two `proce ss de sign activitie s in both PD an d P. A `bottom -up an alyst would inste ad go dire ctly for low-le ve l activitie s an d un de rstand that th e re are th re e of the m , i.e . `product de sign , `proce ss de sign an d `m an ufacturing , th e se con d of wh ich be in g join tly pe rform e d by pe ople be lon gin g to two differe n t de partm e n ts. Th e propose d de com position ( or, m ore accurate ly, com position) of th e syste m would im m e diate ly ap pe ar as th at of figu re 3( b) . Th e top-down an alyst would obtain such a proposal on ly through a re vision of h is in itial proposal, n ot accounting for the risk of n ot doin g so, an d th e re fore de ve lopin g a distorte d m ode l. Th e first re sult of bottom -up agg re gation , th e re fore , is an IDEF0 m ode l that m ore faith fully re pre se n ts th e

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re al syste m . More ove r, in the ligh t of e xp e rie n ce gain e d with th is m e thod, an d as will be de scribe d in Se ction 5, th e m ode llin g proc e ss be com e s quicke r, be cau se h avin g de fin e d low-le ve l activitie s sin ce th e be ginn ing allows us to re duce th e num be r of au th orin g ite ration s with actors of th e syste m . Th e se ite rations also chan ge in n atu re , an d ge n e rally de al with sim ple issue s such as clarifyin g te rm inology, rathe r th an with m ore com ple x p roble m s, suc h as in te rp re tin g syste m be h aviou r. Conce rn in g th e h ie rarc h ical aggre gation of activitie s, th e ap proach followe d up to n ow is pure ly m an ual an d is straigh tforward to accom plish . If de sire d, it is also p ossible to u se au tom atic ap pr oach e s for m od e l struc turing, such as th e on e prop ose d by Kusiak et al. ( 1994 ) . With out an y chan ge to the in te rm e diate m ode l sh own in figu re 2, it is also possible to obtain an oth e r inte re stin g vie w of th e m an ufacturing system , base d upon incide n ce an d adjace n cy m atrice s ( se e figu re 4) , wh ich allows us to m ath e m atically re pre se nt inte ractions be twe e n th e four obje ct classe s con side re d:

the Re source / Ac tivity m atrix sh ows wh ich activitie s are pe rform e d by e ach re source . An alysis of the m atrix m ake s it possible to ide n tify e xce ssive or in sufficie nt workload s cast upon pe ople , as we ll as activitie s in wh ich too fe w ( or too m an y) re source s are in volve d. Proce ssing th is in cide n ce m atrix also allows us to fin d cluste rs of re source s an d activitie s, thus supportin g th e form ation of workgroups; th is is an alogous to the way in wh ich m ach in e s an d parts are groupe d toge th e r in th e Produc tion Flow An alysis ap p roach in Group

Figure 3. Top down versus bottom up developme nt of an IDEF0 m ode l.

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M. Can tamessa an d E. Paolu cci Te ch n ology, an d m an y algorith m s de ve lope d in th is are a can be re ad ily adap te d for this typ e of proble m ( a com pre h e n sive surve y of such m e th ods m ay be foun d in O ffodile et al. 1994 ) ; th e De partm e n t/ Activity m atrix is sim ilar to th e pre vious one , but agg re gate s inform ation at a de partm e n t le ve l, by showin g wh ich de partm e n ts are in vo lve d in e ac h ac tivity an d h ow m an y re source s are de ploye d; th e Re source / Re source m atrix allows to us an alyse in form ation an d m ate rials e xch an ge d am on g e ach couple of re source s in the system . An alysin g th is m atrix allows us to be tte r un de rstand the syste m s structure , an d to re de sign both the in form ation flow an d th e m e dia with wh ich inform ation is e xch an ge d; th e Departm e n t/ De partm e n t m atrix is sim ilar to th e pre vious on e , but ope rate s on de partm e n tle ve l inform ation . dology use d ( figure 5) is a fairly stan dard on e , an d is base d upon th e m ode llin g of th e e xisting ( `As-is ) syste m , th e de sign of a `Sh ould-be targe t an d th e de fin ition of a m igration plan le ad ing to the de sire d goal. Th e re fore , th e de scription will be con cise an d focus upon th e spe cific ch aracte ristics conn e cted to th e m ode llin g ap proach be ing prop ose d.

4.1. Phase 1: bu ildin g the `As-is model Th e m ain obje ctive of th is phase is to m ode l th e curre n t situation of th e syste m . Th e in te rm e diate m ode l is to be de ve lope d at first; afte rwards, two oth e r `As-is m ode ls will be de rive d from th e form e r, re spe ctive ly, usin g th e IDEF0 lan guag e , an d th e incide nce an d ad jace n cy m atrice s. Th e `As-is m ode l m ay be built according to th re e m ain ste ps.

4. Usin g th e p ro p o se d m e th o d in e n terp rise e n gin e e rin g It is n ow possible to brie fly de scribe h ow th e propose d approac h to IDEF0 m ode llin g m ay be use d with in an e nte rprise e ngine e ring proje ct. Th e m e th o-

Prelimin ary an alysis. Th e an alyst ach ie ve s a pre lim in ary un de rstandin g of th e com pan y an d its structure ; h e or sh e circum scribe s th e part of th e com pan y upon wh ich to act an d, with in th is portion , ide n tifie s the m ain actors, ope ration s an d in te ractions with th e re st of th e com pan y. Activity an alysis. Th e an alyst syste m atically inte rvie ws, e ithe r ve rbally or usin g que stion naire form s,

Figure 4. Exam ples of Activity/ Re source, Activity/ De partm e nt, Resou rce / Re source an d Departm en t/ De partm ent m atrices ( clockwise , from uppe r left) .

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Figure 5. O utline of the prop osed m e thodology.

th e actors in volve d in th e syste m be in g studie d. Th e inform ation gath e re d is th e sam e as in dicate d by figu re 2, an d con ce rns th e activitie s pe rform e d by actors an d th e in teraction s am on g the m . `As-is model defin ition . Th e com ple te d database n ow allows us to produce two differe n t vie ws of th e system : th e IDEF0 m ode l, de ve lope d by aggr e gatin g activitie s h ie rarch ically, an d th e tabular m ode l, de ve lope d by e xtracting th e in cide nce an d ad jace n cy m atrice s.

4.2. Phase 2: `As-is model an alysis an d `Shou ld-be model bu ildin g Th e aim is to an alyse th e `As-is m ode l, so as to pin poin t th e curre n t de ficie n cie s an d lim itation s of th e m an ufacturing syste m . Th is will le ad to a `Sh ould-be m ode l, th at is a re pre se n tation of th e de sire d goal toward s wh ich th e com pan y should te n d. By com paring th e `As-is an d `Sh ould-be m ode ls, a seque n ce of in novative action s m ay the n be de signe d an d im ple m e nte d. Th is ph ase m ay be pe rform e d through thre e m ain ste ps.

( 1) Defin ition of objectiv es an d performan ce measu res. Th is ste p is n e e de d so that the curre n t an d de sire d system s m ay be e valu ate d with re spe c t to a stable fram e of re fe re n ce . O f course , th e se ttin g of obje ctive s is a strate gic m atte r wh ich stan ds far ah e ad of th e re -e ngin e e rin g task wh ich is be ing ad dre sse d in th is pape r, an d th e re ad e r should th e re fore re fe r to re late d lite rature ( Govin darajan an d Sh an k 199 2) . The sam e h olds for de cidin g, give n such obje ctive s, wh ich pe rform an ce m e asu re s should be use d. ( 2) `As-is model an alysis. Th e `As-is m ode l is to be an alyse d in orde r to find its m ain drawbacks, e spe cially in re lation to the pre viously e stablish e d pe rform an ce m e asure s. Now, such prob l e m s m a y h a ve d i ffe r e n t o r i g i n s a n d m ag nitude s; in orde r to point th e m out, th e two m ode ls are com ple m e n tary an d have to be used alte rn ative ly. Proble m s at a m in or scale m ay be foun d usin g low-le ve l IDEF0 diagr am s or ve ry spe cific que rie s upon the tabular vie w; con ve rse ly, de ficie n cie s c on n e cte d to syste m structure are spotte d by workin g on e ith e r th e

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M. Can tamessa an d E. Paolu cci IDEF0 h ie rarchy or th e ove rall tabular m ode l. The kin d of e ffort to be spe n t in an alysin g th e m ode ls the re fore de pe n ds on the de sire d kin d of in n ovation , wh e th e r it is a radic al in terve n tion ( e .g. a com ple te busine ss proc e ss re -en gine e rin g proje ct) , or an incre m e n tal inn ovation ( e .g. an activity to be pe rform e d at fixe d inte rvals with in a con tinuous im prove m e n t program ) . As a m atte r of fact, the re is no fixe d rule for an alysin g th e `As-is m ode l. Howe ve r, it is con ve n ie nt to de fin e a se t of com m on crite ria an d d iag n ostic q u e stion s for sp o ttin g th e syste m s ine fficie n cie s, wh ich m ay be grad ually in c re m e n te d wh ile th e an alyst s e xpe rie n c e grows. Such an alysis m ay be facilitate d if th e database con tain in g the in te rm e diate m ode l allows us to form ulate de taile d que rie s with e ase , sin c e a c om p le te an alysi s c om m on ly re quire s us to try out a long se ries of such in te rrogation s ( e .g. `e xtract all com m un ication s of typ e cha n ge to prev iou s ord er wh ic h ar e pe rform e d v erbally be twe e n departmen t X an d departmen t Y ) . As a sam ple of such que stion s, four com m on an d useful on e s m ay be listed : fere n t pe ople at the sam e tim e ) , bottle n e cks ( wh e n too m an y activitie s de pe n d upon th e ir com ple tion) , c an didate s for be in g pu t in paralle l ( it ofte n hap pe ns th at th e se que nc ing of ac tivitie s is ju st a h ab it, bu t n ot an ope ration al ne ce ssity) . ( 3) `Shou ld-be model defin ition ; afte r havin g an alyse d th e `As-is m ode ls, an d kee pin g in m in d ge ne ral obje ctive s an d constraints, th e aim is to de fine a goal state for the system ( re pre sen te d by th e `Sh ould-be m ode l) . Th is m ay be done by going ove r th e list of de viation s foun d in th e pre vious phase an d, startin g from th e large r-scale on e s, corre ctin g th e m one at a tim e . Th e re sulting `Sh ould-be m ode l is, as usual, give n by th e in te rm e diate m ode l, an d the two m ode ls, IDEF0an d m atrix-base d.

4.3. Phase 3: defin ition an d implemen tation of the `Migration Plan Th e obje ctive of this phase is to com pare the actual an d th e de sire d syste m state ( i.e . the `As-is an d th e `Sh ould-be m ode ls) . Such com parison allows us to de fin e a se que n ce of ste ps th at m ay grad ually le ad to th e `Sh ou ld-be state . Propose d m od ification s m ay e ssen tially be of th re e kin ds: organ ization al, proce dural an d re late d to in form ation syste m s. In the pre se n t ph ase , it is wise to set priorities for such in novation s by usin g th e pre viously de fin e d pe rform an ce m e tric, an d con side rin g both costs an d te ch nological con strain ts. Im ple m e ntation of th e m igration plan re quire s that, from a sim ple list of action s, a com ple te proje c t be plan n e d an d e xe cute d; it is cle ar th at, durin g th is ph ase , Proje c t Man age m e nt te chn ique s m ay be of gre at h e lp. More ove r, im ple m e n tation of th e Migration plan re quire s atte ntive m an age m e nt con ce rnin g th e allocation of auth ority, e spe cially if the plan re gards m ore th an on e of the com pan y s de partm e n ts.

the Activity/ Re source incide n ce m atrix allows us to se e wh ich pe ople h ave to support too m an y activitie s or, con ve rsely, to fin d out activitie s wh ich are e ith e r unde rstaffe d or pe rform e d by too m an y pe ople at th e sam e tim e ( probab ly with out an y coordin ation ) . More ove r, workgroups m ay be form e d by proce ssing th e in cide n ce m atrix, e ithe r by sigh t, or with clusterin g alg orith m s able to sort out the `n atural groups of re source s in the syste m ; re source / Re source an d De partm e n t/ De partm e n t adjace n cy m atrice s allow us to spot opportunitie s for e stablishin g in terfun ctional te am s, wh e n e ve r it is foun d th at a ce rtain group of pe ople h ave in ten se an d fre que n t com m unication s am on g th e m se lve s; ad jace n cy m atrice s com m only h e lp in ide n tifyin g pe ople wh o spe n d a sign ifican t part of the ir tim e givin g ad vice an d in form ation to colle agu e s. In th is case , it m ay be com e ne c e ssary to su pport th is in form ation tran sfe r ( e .g. by in se rtin g such in form ation in a database or sim ply posting it on a billboard ) , an d to valu e the role of such provid e rs of e xp e rt kn owle dge ; by an alysin g th e IDEF0 m ode l it m ay be possible to fin d activitie s wh ich are un ne ce ssary ( ofte n calle d non valu e -addin g one s) , duplicate ( be in g e xe cute d se parate ly by dif-

4.4. Phase 4: au ditin g of the process Th e last ph ase h as th e obje ctive of ve rifying all th e pre vious re sults an d, spe cifically, th e proposed solution s an d th e ir grad ual im ple m e n tation . Th is activity h as th e im m e diate aim of fin din g corre ction s wh ich m ay be in troduce d wh ile th e in novation proce ss is still on goin g. Howe ve r, the true aim is to initiate a contin uous im prove m e n t proc e ss wh ich m ay con tin ue long afte r th e pre se nt in te rve n tion has be e n com ple te d. In fact, a com m on ly raise d criticism on e nte rprise e n gine e ring

En terprise modellin g in SMEs m e thods is that th e y le ad to an ove rwh e lm in g am ount of m ode ls an d re com m e n dation s, wh ich ve ry soon be com e forgotte n an d un h e e de d. Th e curre nt proposal trie s to ove rcom e th is proble m , on one side by havin g facilitate d m ode l de ve lopm e n t an d an alysis, an d on th e oth e r side by in se rting this au ditin g ph ase .

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5. Case stu d y Th is se ction will brie fly de scribe the ap plication of th e propose d m e th odology in Com pan y E, an Italian m e dium -size firm locate d close to Tu rin, e m ployin g about 1100 worke rs. E produce s e le ctrom e chan ical com pon e n ts for th e au tom otive an d e le ctron ic applian ce s in dustrie s, an d is a Eu rope an m arke t le ad e r in th is se c tor. Th e m e th odology was ap plie d in on e de partm e nt of th e com pan y havin g a workforce of about 100 pe rson s, th us justifying th e con ne ction with SMEs. E is an in n ovative c om p an y wh ic h d r aws its com pe titive n e ss from con tinuous in n ovation an d qual-

ity of products. In orde r to re inforce th is cap ability, an in te rnal program for `contin uous im prove m e n t was started in late 1992 , an d a de dicate d staff dire ctly de pe n din g from th e CEO was ap poin te d. During 1993 an d 1994, th e staff re -de signe d th e work flow an d busin e ss proce sses of about h alf of E s m an ufacturin g de partm e nts. Howe ve r, the lack of an accurate an d e fficie nt m e thodology m ade th is proce ss tim e con sum in g an d e xp e n sive . Th e in itial an alysis of e ach de partm e nt was laborious, an d the re was no tool availab le to re -use part of th e e xp e rie n c e gain e d in p re vio us an alysis. In orde r to ove rcom e the se proble m s, E de cide d to try out th e proposed m e th od ology on the plastic in je ction m ouldin g de partm e nt in 19 95. Th is de partm e nt is particularly critical for th e com pan y, both be cau se of th e te ch nological com ple xity an d var ie ty of its activitie s, an d for th e im pact it h as upon down stre am de partm e nts, con ce rn in g ove rall le ad -tim e an d quality. Curre n tly, E s custom e rs re quire a fe w partpe r-m illion de fec t rate s an d a JIT de live ry le ad-tim e of th re e days, de spite con side rable ge ograp h ical distan ce s

Figure 6. `As-is A0 diagram of the case study.

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M. Can tamessa an d E. Paolu cci all, sh orte r th an th e stan dard pe riod usually re quire d by E s in novation staff. Afte r its de ve lopm e n t, th e `As-is m ode l was validate d by de partm e n t m an ag e rs an d workers. Th e prototyp e software facilitate d th e proce ssin g of the large am oun t of in form ation availab le in th e d atab ase by allo win g fle x ible qu e r ie s an d m atrix cluste ring ( th e we ll-kn own RO C algorith m was use d for this purpose , Kin g 19 80) . Th is an alysis high ligh ted th e m ain proble m s of the de partm e n t, pointing out are as of ine fficie ncy in in form ation m an ag e m e n t an d proce ssin g. In th e followin g two we e ks, an d on the basis of th e pre vious an alysis, the `Should-be m ode l an d m igration plan we re pre pare d. Figu re 7 sh ows th e A0 diagram of th is m ode l. It is e asy to n otice th at th e m ost sign ifican t in novation in troduce d was to se parate line activitie s ( i.e . m ouldin g an d con trol) from staff activitie s ( i.e . proble m -solvin g an d production plan n in g activities) . This separation was obtain e d by assignin g staff activitie s to a ne w team m ad e up of e xpe rie n ce d worke rs; in th e `As-is m ode l, such workers we re in volve d full tim e in

an d a rath e r un e ve n de m an d. A late 1994 e stim ate re ve ale d th at u n e xp e c te d e ve n ts, an d in e fficie n t organ ization an d m an age m e n t of the production flow we re cau sin g an ave rage e quipm e n t idle tim e of about 20% , with a per-an n u m cost of about 600 000 USD. Due to incre asin g de m an d, idle tim e re duction was th e re fore place d at th e top of th e list of obje ctive s to be re ache d. In orde r to ve rify the pote ntial of the m e thodology for non -e xp e rt use rs, two postgrad uate stude n ts with little prac tical e xp e rie n ce in e nte rprise e ngin e e ring we re ch ose n to ap ply it. In orde r to facilitate th e ap plication of th e m e th odology, a prototype software tool for m an agin g th e inte rm e diate an d m atrix-base d m ode ls was de ve lope d by using stan dard PC-base d e n viron m e n ts ( Microsoft Visu al Basic 3.0 Pro an d Acce ss 2.0) . Th e IDEF0 m ode l has be e n worked upon by using a stan dard e ditin g tool ( De sign / IDEF by Me tasoftware Co.) . Th e `As-is m ode l ( figure 6 sh ows th e A0 diagr am of th e IDEF0 m ode l) was com ple te d in th re e we e ks, wh ich is m uch sh orte r th an the tim e re quire d by th e tradition al SADT m e th odology; above

Figure 7. `Should -be A0 diagram of th e case study.

En terprise modellin g in SMEs lin e activities, so th at the ir contribution to de partm e n t proble m solvin g was e rratic an d ill-structure d. Exp e cte d im prove m e nts of th e propose d work organ ization we re th e followin g: ( 1) sim plification of lin e activitie s an d th e ackn owle dge m e nt of proble m -solvin g ac tivitie s re le van ce ; ( 2) m ore e ffe ctive proble m -solvin g proce sse s; ( 3) re duce d e quipm e nt idle tim e s, as a con se que n ce of m ore e fficie nt lin e activitie s an d de cision proce sse s; ( 4 ) in c r e ase d e xc h an g e r ate of c om p e te n c ie s am ong worke rs with diffe re n t spe cialtie s. Th e Migration Plan was de fin e d by com paring th e `As-is an d `Sh ould-be m ode ls; th e plan ( figu re

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8) m ain ly con tain s organ ization al an d workflowre late d ch an ge s, an d only one IT-re late d in novation re quirin g m inor in ve stm e n t. E s m an age m e n t h as ap prove d it, an d th e plan has be e n im ple m e nte d. A first asse ssm e nt of re sults was m ad e four m onth s afte r th e Migration Plan im ple m e n tation start-up. In th at sh ort pe riod, e quipm e nt idle tim e h as alre ady d e c r e ase d by 3 0 % , with e stim ate d savi n g s o f 200 000 USD pe r ye ar.

6. Co n clu d in g re m arks Th is pap e r brie fly discusses som e issue s in th e fie ld of e n terprise m ode lling an d e n gin e e rin g, outlinin g th e ir re le van ce within the m an ag e m e n t of organ ization al an d te c h n ological in n ovatio n in SMEs. In

Migration Plan Changes in organizational structure

Dies are the scarce resource of the department, and planning their utilization requires a large amount of information and knowledge which is difficult to structure, since it changes very quickly and is owned by different persons. A new `Dies and Problems (DP) team is to be introduced, consisting of the responsible for die management, the die warehouseman, process and tooling engineers. The task of this group is the retrieval, processing, storage and maintenance of information concerning technological and organisational problems connected to dies. The this The and responsibility of procedures concerning shift changeover is split between shift foreman and other departmental managers; authority overlap causes conflicts and problems in product quality. role of shift foremen will be removed, and shift changeover will be directly managed by operator team leaders of the ending beginning shift.

The enlargement of responsibilities given to operator team leaders induces new potential organizational conflicts. The increased autonomy of operator team leaders will be balanced by increasing the plant managers line authority.

Changes in work-flow procedures

The die warehouseman is involved in too many activities; he is often late in delivering required dies, increasing equipment idle time. Clerical activities connected to warehouse management will be accomplished directly by operators asking for dies. As consequence of the absence of required information, and of fragmentation in authority allocation within the department, production plans are often incompatible with molding technological constraints. Production schedules will be discussed among the plant foreman and the DP team. New-product pilot runs cause many conflicts in production activity control. Production planning will give the required resources to new-product pilot runs and will transmit results to the DP team Set-up time must be reduced to improve shop-floor flexibility and reduce lot size. Activities related to die change (including machine cleaning, loading, etc.) will be jointly executed by all workers involved.

Changes in Information System

Production activity control isnt currently supported by any software, this is preventing integration with the companys MRP system. A new software application for production planning in the department is to be developed. The main expected features are: to integrate department production activity control with the companys MRP system; to support the processing of daily department production plans; to improve the availability of sharp information ion production activity control. Production flow must be controlled more closely. A person will be dedicated full time to monitoring production flow, die availability, and coordination with internal and external customers.

Figure 8. Migration plan prop ose d for the case study.

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M. Can tamessa an d E. Paolu cci

C O LQ UHO UN, G. J., BAINES, R. W. and CRO SSELY, R., 1993, A state of the art revie w of IDEF0. In ternational J rn al of Computerou In tegrated Man ufactu rin g, 6, 252 264. C O LQ UHO URN, G. J., BAINES, R. W. an d CRO SSELY, R., 1996, A com posite be havioral m ode lling app roach for m anufacturing en te rprise s. Intern ation al J rn al of Computer-Integrated ou Man ufactu ring, 9, 463 475. C UTTS, G., 1991, SSADM Structu red Systems An alysis an d Design Methodology( O xford: Blackwell Scie ntific) . DAVENPO RT , T. H. and SHO RT , J. E., 1990, Th e n ew indu strial en gine ering: inform ation te chnology and busin ess proc ess re de sign. Sloan Managemen t Review, 11, 11 27. DEVEREUX , S., SMITH , P. and WO O D, D., 1995, A survey of the use of de sign m e th od ologie s for im plem e ntin g change in m an ufacturing com pan ie s in the Unite d Kingdom . Intern ation al Jou rn al of Man ufactu rin g System Design , 1, 51 58. DO UMEINGTS, G., 1989, GRAI app roach to de signing and con trolling advan ced m anufacturing syste m in CIM environ m e nt. In S. Y. Nof and C. L. Moodie ( e ds) Advanced In formation Techn ologies for In du strial Material Flow Systems ( Be rlin Heidelbe rg: Sprin ge r) , pp. 196 214. DO UMEINGTS, G., VALLESPIR, B. and CHEN , D., 1995, Me thodologie s for de signing CIM system s: a surve y. Computers in In du stry, 25, 263 280. FUNG, R. Y K., 1993, A structured analysis of th e m an agem e nt . of high com plexity jobbin g produ ction. Proceedin gs of the IX CAPE Con feren ce, Nanjing, China, July 1993 ( Chin a: Aviation Indu stry Pre ss) , pp. 23 28. GO VINDARAJAN, V. and S HANK, J. K., 1992, Strategic Control Man age m e nt: tailoring con trols to strategie s. Jou rn al of Cost Man agemen t, Fall, 14 24. H AMMER , M., 19 90 , Re -e n gin e e rin g work: Don t au tom ate , oblite rate . Harvard Busin ess Review, Ju ly Au gu st, 104 112. H O STNIK, C. J., B ILLO , R. E. an d RUCKER, R., 1985, Makin g the m ost of structured an alysis in m anufacturing inform ation syste m de sign : app lication of icon s and cycle tim e . Computers in In dustry, 16, 267 278. H O WARD, R., 1990, Can sm all busin ess he lp coun trie s com pe te ?. Harvard Bu sin ess Review, January Fe bruary. JO RYSZ, H. R. and VERNADAT , F. B., 1990, CIM-OSA part 1: total en te rprise m ode lling an d function view. In ternational J rn al ou of Computer-In tegrated Man ufactu ring, 3, 144 156. KING, J. R., 1980, Mach in ing-com pon ent groupin g in produ ction flow an alysis: an approach usin g a Ran k O rde r Cluste rin g algorithm . In tern ation al J rn al of Produ ction ou Research, 18, 213 232. KO O NCE, D. A., JUDD, R. P. an d P ARKS C. M., 1996, Man ufacturing system s e ngine e ring and design: an intelligen t, m ultim ode l, in te gration arch ite cture . In tern ation al Journ al of Computer-Integrated Manu factu rin g, 9, 443 453. KUSIAK, A., LARSO N, T. N. and WANG, J. R., 1994, Re e ngine ering of de sign an d m an ufacturin g proce sse s. Computers in In du strial En gin eerin g, 26, 521 536. LEIFER, R. and B URKE, W. J., 1994, O rganizational activity an alysis: a m e thodo logy for analyzin g an d im provin g te ch nical organ ization. IEEE Transaction s on En gin eering Man agemen t, 41, 234 244. MARCA, D. A. and MC GO WAN, C. L., 1988, Structured Analysis an d Design Techn iqu e ( New Y ork: McGraw Hill) .

particular, spe cial atte ntion is cast upon m e th odologie s th at m ay be e asily an d e ffe ctive ly adopte d by SMEs. Th e proposal m ad e in th is pap e r m ay be se e n as a re vision of th e wid e ly-kn own SADT ap proach , wh ose obje ctive is to dram atically re duce th e de ve lopm e n t le ad -tim e of th e m ode l, to m ake it e xe m pt from subje ctive vie wp oints, as m uch as possible , an d in cre ase th e e ase of proce ssing in form ation con tain e d in it. Le ad -tim e sh orte n in g re du ce s th e am oun t of re source s re que ste d by m ode l de ve lopm e nt an d an alysis, an d m ake s its m ain te nan ce e asie r. The proposed m e th odology h as be e n succe ssfully ap plie d in a m e dium -size d e n te rprise , supportin g its ap plication with a software tool de sign e d for th e re quire d data colle ction an d an alysis tasks. A furthe r ste p will be the inte gration of th e se two package s in orde r to allow tran spare n t e xch an ge of in form ation be twe e n the m . Ackn o wle d gm e n ts Th e au th ors wish to th an k G. More tti an d S. Ruffini for th e ir pre cious work in te stin g the m e th odology. Th an ks are also due to Mr P. Aragn o for his support in carryin g out th e case study in com pan y E.

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