Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3663

An Industry Based Electronic Drawing Control System

Farouk G. Attia, Ph.D. and Chris A. Jorden CMRT Department, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-4083

Abstract

The current study describes the design and development of an Electronic Drawing Control System (EDCS), which enhances communication between customers and suppliers, shortens manufacturing lead times, improves product quality, and increases the overall profitability of the manufacturer. This type of system could be developed and applied to most manufacturing environments. The EDCS was developed in a Houston based company which produces oilfield equipment for customers worldwide. Development of the system lasted for about two years, utilizing one company engineer, two contract programmers and one systems developer. The system provides tools to send graphics and data in real-time allowing the customer to view the desired product electronically. The EDCS comprises of electronic communication, commercial software applications, and appropriate computer hardware. These tools include digital drawings, databases, documentation of product features, and programs to display data in several different formats. Over the last year the company has successfully used the new EDCS. However, implementing the new system resulted in a few modifications, hardware upgrades and software enhancements. The system is designed to continually accommodate the fast changing field of computer hardware and software. The paper presents a case study which identifies specific needs of a typical oil and gas customer and provides solutions through the use of the manufacturer’s EDCS. The Internet is utilized to efficiently communicate with customer sites around the world.

I. Introduction

Global industrial competition requires American manufacturers to make high quality products with proven designs while satisfying the customers’ demands. Electronic communications is one aspect of manufacturing which continues to improve productivity gains. Recent advances in technology provide an inexpensive and efficient communication environment for customer interaction with the manufacturing enterprise. As technology continues to enhance the ability to communicate in real-time, customers can expect their needs to be met with increasing speed, accuracy, and critical details. Current enhancements in computer hardware and software allow data processing to evolve from traditional numbers located on a mainframe into pictures quickly transmitted across the Internet. Software improvements provide more information in less time, while using a fraction of the resources. In addition, advancing hardware technologies provide inexpensive and more powerful systems, allowing manufacturing companies to adapt quickly to the changing needs of their customers. An increasing need to develop a new technology, which leads to lower lead times and higher quality and productivity was clearly identified.

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Jorden, C., & Attia, F. (2001, June), An Industry Based Electronic Drawing Control System Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9375