Using Combination of Reverse Engineering and Value Engineering for Improvement in Designs, Construction Projects and Manufacturing Industries

Transcription

1 Using Combination of Reverse Engineering and Value Engineering for Improvement in Designs, Construction Projects and Manufacturing Industries Hossein Amoozad Khalili 1 *, Anahita Maleki 2, Shabnam Ayatollahi 3 1. Industrial Engineering Department, Islamic Azad University Nowshahr Branch, Nowshahr, Iran , Amoozad_ie@iauns.ac.ir 2. Industrial Engineering Department, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran , Anahitamaleki@yahoo.com 3. Business Administration Department, Islamic Azad University Tehran North Branch, Tehran, Iran ,sh_ayatollahi@yahoo.com Abstract Nowadays, under developed countries for progress in science and technology and decreasing the technologic gap with developed countries, increasing the capacities and technology transfer from developed countries. To remain competitive, industry is continually searching for new methods to evolve their products. To address this need, we introduce the combination of Reverse Engineering and Value Engineering which is profession involved in designing, manufacturing, constructing, and maintaining of products, systems, and structures. In construction projects, the concept of Value Engineering allows a contractor to suggest alternatives to materials, equipment, or even designs provided by the design professional that can save the owner money in up-front or long-term maintenance costs. Use of Reverse Engineering has applied in more industries and in different projects by considering the complexity and high level of technologies in products. In this paper we suggest using Reverse Engineering methods and Value Engineering in Designs, construction projects and Manufacturing Industries can be useful for increasing the success of process and decreasing cost, time and risks in manufacturing. Our results show that using this new method make a tremendous capability to the firm to identify the company weaknesses and strength and improve his strategy to achieve more profitability. Keywords: Reverse Engineering- RE, Value Engineering- VE, Expense, Redesign, Profitability Introduction Engineering is the profession involved in designing, manufacturing, constructing, and maintaining of products, systems, and structures. At a higher level, there are two types of engineering: forward engineering and reverse engineering. Reverse engineering is very common in such diverse fields as software engineering, entertainment, automotive, consumer products, microchips, chemicals, electronics, and mechanical designs. Parts, materials, technology and environmental factors constantly change and develop, and in order to remain competitive it is imperative that products, systems and processes are continually updated. In fact, particularly significant savings have been achieved through applying Value Engineering to long established products and processes. 1. * Corresponding Author. 518

2 Reverse Engineering The process of duplicating an existing component, subassembly, or product, without the aid of drawings, documentation, or computer model is known as reverse engineering. Reverse engineering is the general process of analyzing a technology specifically to ascertain how it was designed or how it operates. This kind of inquiry engages individuals in a constructive learning process about the operation of systems and products. Reverse engineering as a method is not confined to any particular purpose, but is often an important part of the scientific method and technological development. The process of taking something apart and revealing the way in which it works is often an effective way to learn how to build a technology or make improvements to it. a chemical company may use reverse engineering to defeat a patent on a competitor's manufacturing process. In civil engineering, bridge and building designs are copied from past successes so there will be less chance of catastrophic failure. In software engineering, good source code is often a variation of other good source code[1]. Another reason for reverse engineering is to compress product development times. In the intensely competitive global market, manufacturers are constantly seeking new ways to shorten lead-times to market a new product. Rapid product development refers to recently developed technologies and techniques that assist manufacturers and designers in meeting the demands of reduced product development time. Value Engineering From the beginning the concept of value engineering was seen to be cost validation exercise, which did not affect the quality of the product. The straight omission of an enhancement or finish would not be considered value engineering. value engineering is a methodology used to analyze the function of the goods and services and to obtain the required functions of the user at the lowest total cost without reducing the necessary quality of performance. for VE to be effective, the design of the organization structure shall be such that constant interaction between engineering, construction and procurement process is enabled and the approach should be project-based design approach. Value Engineering is used at the design stage of a product or process in order to avoid unnecessary cost. just as Value Engineering can be applied across all stages of the decision making process, so it can be used to reduce costs across a vast range of functions and systems. One of the key challenges in this growing industry is member turnover or the need to replace members who no longer see value in the monthly membership dues. Optimum Value Engineering is the process of comparing alternative materials and methods to determine the least costly combination that will result in the desired end product. Similarly, at an operational level, value studies are generally focused on those areas where significant cost benefits can be realized: o High value products and processes o High waste (be it time or materials) products and processes o High volume products and processes These opportunities can be identified during brain-storming sessions, through customer feedback or, as is most often the case, by individuals who recognize a potential opportunity for reducing costs within the scope of their own work environment. Technology transfer with reverse engineering approach One of the important channels for access to technology is reverse engineering. This way has not require to active participate of technology source. In this way, a group of specialists in different subjects of sciences, for exactly introducing the functional mechanism of a product and access to it s technology and by use of equipments and laboratory instruments including the suitable management and organization, analyzing the technology of products and trying after gain of documents and product s designs, be active in manufacture and production of products. In under developed countries, reverse engineering is as a shortcut method for access to technology and develops and completes it. By use of this method, under developed countries can decreasing the technologic gap between itself and industrial 519

3 countries, but use of this method must be responsible to requirements and has development and application affect and performs innovation in these countries[2]. The most important advantages and applications of reverse engineering are as follow: The primary benefit of reverse engineering is new product development. Transforming absolute products into useful ones by adopting them to new systems and platforms. The primary objective of reverse engineering is the development of unrestricted technical data, adequate for competitive procurement, through engineering evaluations of existing hardware. The use of Value Engineering in Decision Making Process It is a popular misconception that use of Value Engineering is limited to product design and product re-engineering. It is, in fact, a far more versatile instrument and has seen considerable success as both a strategic and an operational tool that is applied at various stages and levels of the decision making process. To facilitate the use of Value Engineering in these vastly diverse functions, it is separated into three sub-divisions whereby the methodology remains the same but the applications differ: Value Management is used at the conceptual stage of a product or process to optimize cost. As the name implies, this is principally a management tool which provides a logic to decision making, whether it be at an operational or strategic level. Value Engineering is used at the design stage of a product or process in order to avoid unnecessary cost. A design is scrutinized using the Value methodology in order to establish whether any function can be fulfilled more cost effectively. Value Analysis is used on existing products or processes to reduce cost. Change is a constant and unless products and processes are continually re-evaluated for more cost effective ways of providing the desired function, a firm is likely to be left sorely behind. Still, despite the bounded nature of each element, they combine to form a successful system, whereby the methodology can be used for cost reduction across all areas of decision making, and at all levels, from inception to continuous improvement. Just as Value Engineering can be applied across all stages of the decision making process, so it can be used to reduce costs across a vast range of functions and systems. Reverse Engineering and Value Engineering in Design and Product In order to reverse engineer a product or component of a system, engineers and researchers generally follow the following four-stage process: Identifying the product or component which will be reverse engineered Observing or disassembling the information documenting how the original product works Implementing the technical data generated by reverse engineering in a replica or modified version of the original Creating a new product (and, perhaps, introducing it into the market) In the first stage in the process, sometimes called "prescreening," reverse engineers determine the candidate product for their project. Potential candidates for such a project include singular items, parts, components, units, subassemblies, some of which may contain many smaller parts sold as a single entity. The second stage, disassembly or recompilation of the original product, is the most time-consuming aspect of the project. In this stage, reverse engineers attempt to construct a characterization of the system by accumulating all of the technical data and instructions of how the product works. In the third stage of reverse engineering, reverse engineers try to verify that the data generated by disassembly or recompilation is an accurate reconstruction the original system. Engineers verify the accuracy and validity of their designs by testing the system, creating prototypes, and experimenting with the results[3]. The final stage of the reverse engineering process is the introduction of a new product into the marketplace. These new products are often innovations of the original product with competitive designs, features, or capabilities. These products may also be adaptations of the original product for use with other integrated systems, such as different platforms of computer operating systems. 520

4 Value engineering refers to the creation of an improved system or product to the one originally analyzed. While there is often overlap between the methods of value engineering and reverse engineering. the goal of reverse engineering itself is the improved documentation of how the original product works by uncovering the underlying design. The working product that results from a reverse engineering effort is more like a duplicate of the original system, without necessarily adding modifications or improvements to the original design. Following are reasons for reverse engineering a part or product: The original manufacturer of a product no longer produces a product. There is inadequate documentation of the original design. The original manufacturer no longer exists, but a customer needs the product. Some bad features of a product need to be designed out. For example, excessive wear might indicate where a product should be improved. To strengthen the good features of a product based on long-term usage of the product. To analyze the good and bad features of competitors' product. To explore new avenues to improve product performance and features. To gain competitive benchmarking methods to understand competitor's products and develop better products. The original supplier is unable or unwilling to provide additional parts. The original equipment manufacturers are either unwilling or unable to supply replacement parts, or demand inflated costs for sole-source parts. To update obsolete materials or antiquated manufacturing processes with more current, lessexpensive technologies. Reverse engineering through rapid prototyping of stereo lithography models is essential nowadays for the rapid development of machine parts, sculptured products and styling objects. In modern manufacturing terms, RE is an enabler of agility in product development and manufacturing. There is an extensive amount of research in the open literature discussing agile and flexible manufacturing philosophies. Industry has led the way in directing the research in this important area by collaborating to define the future needs of agile manufacturing. The economic effects of reverse engineering depend on a number of factors, including the purpose for which it is undertaken, the industrial context within which it occurs, how much it costs, how long it takes, whether licensing is a viable alternative, and how the reverse engineer uses information learned in the reverse engineering process. In this subsection, we concentrate on the economics of reverse engineering undertaken for the purpose of developing a competing product. Reverse Engineering and Value Engineering in Construction Projects Projects are becoming more complex and customers are requesting that they be built faster, less expensive, and with higher quality standards. Customers are requesting value. As value service providers, we need to deliver projects that meet, or exceed, the customers expectations: maximizing value and minimizing waste through strategies and techniques that enhance value. The ideal in both Value Engineering and Lean Construction is to maximize value and minimize waste by systematically applying a method to a process or service to provide the customer with an enhanced product or service that fulfills their needs in a cost effective and timely manner. Lean Construction practices do not compete with value engineering; it is intended to complement value engineering. When the strategies of lean construction are employed, it connects strategy of the management level to execution at the project level, resulting in a collaborative effort that encourages teamwork and removes many of the barriers and unknowns creating a safer, more efficient and effective worksites. Identifying the project tasks that need to be complete and the issues surrounding the success of the task completion is the first step; in other words, identify the facts, unknowns, and assumptions. The next step is to identify the tasks that are major milestones or critical path tasks, similar to identifying the higher order objectives because sometimes. 521

5 Use of reverse engineering has applied in more industries and in different projects. By considering the complexity and high level of technologies in products, if reverse engineering does not use scientific and systematically, the project might be failed and inaccessibility to technologies that applied in products[4]. In construction projects, the concept of value engineering allows a contractor to suggest alternatives to materials, equipment, or even designs provided by the design professional that can save the owner money in up-front or long-term maintenance costs. From the contractor's perspective, value engineering may also simplify the construction process, thereby reducing the chances of construction errors or disputes. Lean Construction strategies and techniques including the following: o Apply Target Costing and Value Engineering to lower costs and increase value. o Use modularization and pre-assembly to reduce on site labor cost and compress project duration. o Structure supply chains to enable just-in-time delivery and reduce on-site o inventories and costs. o Reduce lead times for engineered products by eliminating delays, rework and unnecessary reviews and inspections. Lean Construction works to focus master schedules and long-range planning tools into reliable tasks that clearly identify constraints and the people responsible for the execution of the tasks. Lean Construction is a successful tool because of the common language that it establishes and the collaborative environment it creates that provide for the continuous flow of work, which ultimately lends itself to giving customers exactly what they need reflecting effective, high value solutions. Reverse engineering method is desire for access to the technology with minimum cost, risk and time. Using this method is useful if has development and application affects and ended to innovation. Use of reverse engineering in aerospace industry has more benefits that are significant point for use of this method in these projects. Also, consideration to the points of reverse engineering and selection of method and execution, scientific and systematically is ended to success of reverse engineering in projects and as a result decreasing the cost, time and risk and increasing the success and possibility of access to the technology and making innovation in these projects. The following tasks are undertaken by quantity surveying practitioners and are not considered to form any part of value engineering - Producing contract documents including the bill of quantities - Analyzing complex projects into manageable work packages - Planning and controlling cost - Valuing work in progress and exercising cost control during construction - Advising on taxation grant and financial matters - Schedule resources - Planning and programming design and construction work - Use of network analysis techniques - Project and construction management Conclusion Reverse engineering is fundamentally directed to discovery and learning. Engineers learn the state of the art not just by reading printed publications, going to technical conferences, and working on projects for their firms, but also by reverse engineering others products. Learning what has been done before often leads to new products and advances in know-how. Reverse engineering may be a slower and more expensive way for information to percolate through a technical community than patenting or publication, but it is nonetheless an effective source of information. Of necessity, reverse engineering is a form of dependent creation, but this does not taint it, for in truth, all innovators stand on the shoulders of both giants and midgets. Progress in science and the useful arts is advanced by dissemination of know-how, whether by publication, patenting or reverse engineering. 522

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