Computing and Organizational Assessment in the Furniture Industry

Three-dimensional Computer-aided Design (CAD) and Product Data Management (PDM) software used over LANs has seen strong growth in the 1990's. However, the introduction of computing and networking tools within an organization has greatly outpaced the organizational restructuring needed to maximally leverage the technology; the introduction of 3-D product models distributed and managed over LANs involves a unique set of organizational issues (Majchrzak, Chang, Barfield, Eberts & Salvendy, 1987). The central purpose of this research is to assist in the implementation of CAD/PDM into wood-based furniture companies located in the Southeastern United States. To this end, this research prepared organizational assessments of product development divisions with a particular emphasis on product design information flow among the departments. The goal is to create a more agile design and manufacturing environment that: 1) respects the messy, open-ended nature of the design process, 2) fosters collaborative, coordinated effort among members of the design and manufacturing teams, and 3) leverages computer and network technology to create an efficient and effective product information exchange medium (Kidd, 1994).