ComputerAided_Design_Engineering_amp_Manufactur.pdf

CAD systems. The sample consists of companies primarily associated with the electronics and telecommunication
industries who represent different sizes and organizational structures. This research proposes
a model that depicts how training programs are affected by organizational factors and how the choice
of a training program may lead to specific benefits for the company. Empirical data from intensive clinical
case studies are included to highlight several of the important and interesting alternatives that managers
face in their selection of appropriate training methods. The research provides helpful information regarding
the strengths and weaknesses associated with different training methods employed under different
working environments. The findings of this study raise a number of issues related to the development
of CAD training programs, as well as the costs and benefits of CAD.
6.2 Issues in CAD Training
Given the complexity of many high-tech product designs, it is often impossible to produce and modify
the requisite designs without using a CAD system. As CAD use becomes prevalent in a number of
industries, particularly the electronics, telecommunications, and automotive industries, the company that
uses CAD can no longer assume that it holds a competitive advantage. Instead, it may find that its
competitors are also using CAD and also realizing the benefits of both time savings and improved quality
in design work. In these industries, CAD use is reduced to a qualifying requirement for sustained design
competitiveness. However, given the intense cost pressures these industries are experiencing due to global
competition, a company can achieve significant cost savings by developing a CAD training plan that
enhances the value added by design work. Thus, when CAD becomes a core technology, the issue for
management is no longer whether to use CAD, but rather how to strategically leverage the full potential
of the CAD system through cost-effective training programs aimed at improving worker skills and abilities.
It has been shown that CAD helps companies increase design productivity and improve the quality
of designs. Forslin and Thulestedt19 found that 90% of CAD users surveyed felt that their CAD system
had produced time savings. However, successful use of CAD does not come without proper worker
training. Majchrzak and Salzman30 also stress the importance of developing worker skills and training
programs as critical social and organizational dimensions that are crucial to the firm in reaching the full
potential of CAD systems.
Training programs focus on improving skills so that the worker will be able to operate the new system
efficiently. “Skill relates to the ability to perform a particular task in a particular way and is built up by
an individual over time. A technical innovation like CAD requires the acquisition of certain new skills
while rendering others largely redundant.” 26 Bretz and Thompset state that, although it is estimated that
U.S. organizations spend over $44 billion per year on employee training, “training methods are often
seen as fads, training program evaluation is rare, and rigorous evaluation is virtually nonexistent.” 10 Thus,
a company’s selection of the proper training program or method may lead to significant cost savings
relative to other companies that have made suboptimal choices with respect to training. However,
companies rarely perform a systematic evaluation of their training processes in order to determine how
to improve the selection of training methods so that future training programs are more effective. 38
A review of recent research relating to CAD systems and their associated training programs is useful in
understanding the complexity of the major issues. The review of the CAD acquisition literature is broken
down into two categories of issues: pre-adoption and implementation. Pre-adoption training issues are those
in which training is considered prior to a firm’s final decision regarding purchase of the new technology.
These issues are critical because unless a firm is attentive to the important “people” issues, (e.g., the extent to
which the entire workforce needs to be trained, or whether the present workforce is willing or able to be trained
for the new technology) prior to the acquisition, there is a significant risk that the adoption will not be
successful. Implementation issues are those which occur after the firm has already committed to the adoption
of the system. A key issue is the design of the implementation process in order to maximize the usefulness of
the system, while keeping costs in check. Examples of implementation issues (to be discussed later in this
section) include decisions regarding the training method that will be used and the deployment of lower-skilled
workers in using the new technology (de-skilling). Table 6.1 displays the issues according to their stage. 37