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Design Process Hampered by Lack of Time
Lack of time is the most commonly identified major factor hampering improvements to the design process. This is the principal finding of recent research conducted by The Business Advantage Group Plc, with a third of mechanical engineering sites considering it a major problem.
Senior managers at 250 UK sites operating within the mechanical engineering sector were interviewed about their attitudes to barriers to change as part of a telephone survey held in August 2001. The sample was taken from Business Advantage's database of 20,000 UK CAD/CAM user sites.
The research also found that:
- The cost of new solutions was identified by the next greatest number of CAD users (a quarter of respondents) as a major barrier to change.
- Over a quarter of CAD/CAM users felt that they did not encounter any barriers to change at all.
- Other factors identified as important were in descending order: internal resistance, data exchange, inefficiency of suppliers, recruiting CAD/CAM operators, legacy data, sharing data internally and problems with design software.
A higher proportion of larger companies than smaller companies rated all nine factors discussed as major barriers to improving the design process.
According to Chris Turner, Managing Director of The Business Advantage Group Plc, "It may be surprising that fewer smaller companies than larger ones voted factors such as the cost of new solutions, and time available to plan/implement change as major barriers to change. However, comparing the perceptions of very small companies to the rest demonstrates how the needs and attitudes of different segments can vary, and how solutions from suppliers must be tailored to each group's specific needs."
The full report, including colour charts, can be read free of charge at www.businessadvantage.co.uk/spaghetti/barriers.htm
The Business Advantage Group Plc is a specialist research, marketing and management consulting practice operating in the Information Technology Sector.
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