Concurrent engineering (コンカレントエンジニアリング) is a method that runs the stages of product development in parallel, overlapping them in time instead of making each wait its turn, so as to shorten development time.
Traditional sequential approach
Concurrent engineering
How stages proceed
The next stage starts only after the previous one ends
Stage periods overlap one another
Information between departments
Handed over at the end of each stage
Shared from an early stage
Overall duration
The sum of all stages
Shorter by the amount of overlap
In traditional sequential development, the stages from design to manufacturing are finished one at a time, but this method lets their periods overlap. Because design, manufacturing and other departments work together from the start and build concerns such as ease of manufacture into the design early, there is also less rework (手戻り), where a problem found in a later stage forces an earlier stage to be redone.
AnalogyIt is like moving house and loading each packed box onto the truck as soon as it is ready, instead of waiting until everything is packed. The more the jobs overlap, the sooner you can leave.
How to remember"Concurrent" comes from Latin for "running together". Picture several streams of work running side by side at the same time.
Exam points
ExamThe purpose of adopting concurrent engineering (コンカレントエンジニアリング) is to shorten the development time (開発期間) before a product reaches the market.
ExamConcurrent engineering (コンカレントエンジニアリング) is a way of developing products in which several stages overlap in time and the departments involved work together.
Mix-upConcurrent engineering (コンカレントエンジニアリング) is an idea about how stages proceed, while CAD, which does design on a computer, is a tool that supports it by making design data easier to share.
Simulation (シミュレーション) is a method that reproduces a phenomenon with a model, instead of building or running the real thing, to check the results in advance.
Model the target
Set the conditions
Run the model
Feed results back to design
Revise the design based on the results, and change the conditions and try again if needed.
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A model here means a representation of the target's properties and behavior using equations, data, scale models and the like. Because strength and performance can be estimated at the design stage, fewer prototypes need to be built and broken, which keeps costs and schedules down. Conditions that would be dangerous or impossible to repeat with the real thing can be tried again and again on a model.
AnalogyIt is like moving paper cutouts around a floor plan to decide where furniture will go before you buy it. You can tell whether it fits without carrying anything in.
How to remember"Simulate" comes from Latin similis, "like". Think of testing with something made to be like the real thing.
Exam points
Mix-upSimulation (シミュレーション) differs from prototype evaluation (試作評価), which builds and tests a physical prototype, in that it obtains results on a model without using the real thing.
Sensing technology (センシング技術) uses sensors to measure physical quantities such as temperature, pressure and light, and converts them into data that computers can process.
Real physical quantity
Detected by a sensor
Converted to signals and data
Passed to control or analysis systems
Sensing ends here; control or analysis systems receive the data and use it.
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A sensor (センサ) is a component that detects changes such as heat, force or light intensity and converts them into electrical signals. The resulting data is used for automatic machine control, monitoring equipment condition, setting the conditions given to a model and more. Sensing technology is what brings the real world in as numbers, the entry point for putting data to use.
AnalogyIt is like your eyes, ears and skin. They pick up how bright or warm it is outside and send it on as signals your brain can interpret.
How to remember"Sense" means to perceive. The part that perceives is a sensor, and the act of perceiving is sensing.
Exam points
Mix-upSensing technology (センシング技術) only goes as far as measuring real quantities and turning them into data. Making judgments or predictions from that data is the job of the analysis or control systems that receive it.
Simulation vs. Sensing technology
Aspect
Simulation
Sensing technology
Key differenceWhat it deals with
Phenomena reproduced on a model
Physical quantities occurring in reality
What you get
Predicted results for given conditions
Actually measured values
Key points
The aim of concurrent engineering is shorter development time, supported by cooperation between departments and less rework.
Simulation checks results in advance on a model, cutting the number of prototypes and their cost.
Sensing technology measures real physical quantities with sensors and turns them into data usable for control and analysis.