This paper reports the results of and conclusions drawn from a questionnaire survey concerning the use and implementation of computer-aided design (CAD) in the Swedish furniture industry. The main question areas were how far the Swedish furniture industry has progressed in the use of CAD in product development, and how implementation has been performed. It was regarded as important to find out what impacts implementation has on the usage of CAD and whether companies in the furniture industry think the use of CAD could improve their product development. More than half of all product-developing companies in the Swedish furniture industry are using CAD today, and an increasing number of companies are implementing it. The furniture industry has come rather far in the use of CAD, but it could be better at implementing the systems in a proper manner. This could be related to companies often not planning their implementation; accordingly, they do not examine issues like organizational needs and goals, what the tool might be used for, and the resources required. The study found that the following factors are involved in successful implementation: management support, realistic budgeting, selection of system, and effective, company-specific training. Most CAD users are satisfied with their system and think that it fulfills their needs. Many of the difficulties referred to by respondents can be related to the implementation phase, and they could be avoided. In general, the furniture industry considers that CAD improves their product development work.
The ATLANTIS project joins the European Union and the United States of America in an unpreceded endeavor to foster international education on the undergraduate level. Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUD), Germany, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, and Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University (VT), Blacksburg, VA, will jointly establish Dual Bachelor of Science Programs in Mechanical Engineering between 2007 and 2010. The objective of the project is to produce highly competent graduates in the field of Mechanical Engineering (BSME) that are uniquely prepared to successfully engage and excel in the new global engineering economy. Another objective is to demonstrate that graduation is possible without delaying graduation to the extent that it delays the start of a consecutive master's program. Thus, the study program will be 4 years for students from Virginia Tech and 3 years and a few months for students from TUD and KTH. The language of instruction will be German for students staying at TUD, English for students staying at Virginia Tech, and Swedish or English for students staying at KTH. The program consists of two transatlantic dual BSME degree programs: VT-TUD and VT-KTH. The third combination TUD-KTH is basically an intra-European exchange and not considered here. The general model for these two dual degree programs is that (1) the students complete their introductory courses at their home universities; (2) they spend a summer at the third university that they will not receive a degree from; and (3) they spend their final year (senior) at the second university that they are receiving a degree from.
The objective of the research described in this paper is to investigate a scenario technique based on a user-technical process. This means that the scenario is built with the aid of three processes in parallel: the mental activities of the user, the user actions and the technical functions. Four product development teams have tested the technique on products that were under development. The results from the explorations have shown that the technique assists in understanding design problems, prompts discussion within the group, presents no great problems in usage, elicits new thoughts about the design problem and serves a useful purpose in comparing different product concepts with each other.