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1 – 10 of over 43000M. Reza Hosseini, Julie Jupp, Eleni Papadonikolaki, Tim Mumford, Will Joske and Bahareh Nikmehr
This position paper urges a drive towards clarity in the key definitions, terminologies and habits of speech associated with digital engineering and building information modelling…
Abstract
Purpose
This position paper urges a drive towards clarity in the key definitions, terminologies and habits of speech associated with digital engineering and building information modelling (BIM). The ultimate goal of the paper is to facilitate the move towards arriving at an ideal definition for both concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper takes the “explanation building” review approach in providing prescriptive guidelines to researchers and industry practitioners. The aim of the review is to draw upon existing studies to identify, describe and find application of principles in a real-world context.
Findings
The paper highlights the definitional challenges surrounding digital engineering and BIM in Australia, to evoke a debate on BIM and digital engineering boundaries, how and why these two concepts may be linked, and how they relate to emerging concepts.
Originality/value
This is the first scholarly attempt to clarify the definition of digital engineering and address the confusion between the concepts of BIM and digital engineering.
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Keywords
Thomas Cummings, Per Jenster and Francis Bidault
When a unit of DEC establishes a strategic alliance in Europe with key customer ITT to combat a competitor, the venture proves difficult to manage.
Maria-Isabel Sanchez-Segura, Fuensanta Medina-Dominguez, German-Lenin Dugarte-Peña, Antonio de Amescua-Seco and Roxana González Cruz
The current scenario is dominated by an urgent need for economic recovery caused by the global health emergency that has been at work since January 2020. Digital transformation…
Abstract
Purpose
The current scenario is dominated by an urgent need for economic recovery caused by the global health emergency that has been at work since January 2020. Digital transformation plays a crucial role in bringing about this recovery. However, the failure rate of digital transformation projects over the last 10 years is very high. Considering the growing demand for digital transformation from businesses, the digital transformation failure rate, if unchanged, could lead to an exponential growth in technical debt. Technical debt is acquired when the digital transformation to be deployed at a business fails. The accumulation of technical debt will lead not only to economic stalemate but possibly also to yet another setback.
Design/methodology/approach
The developed set of methodologies form what has been termed the Digital Transformation Governance Engineering Process (DTGEP). This process can help any business wishing to undertake a digital transformation project to materialize their project in a sustainable, productive and competitive way.
Findings
DTGEP prevents the generation of technical debt because organizational knowledge is aligned with the technological solution that best suits the needs of each business in order to support its strategic or business objectives.
Research limitations/implications
DTGEP has already been used to successfully discover the relationship between business features and the prospective digital transformation. However, it needs to be applied in case studies on many other businesses across the economy in order to gather more accurate information that could be clustered by sectors.
Originality/value
DTGEP was tested on a set of 25 projects, and this paper reports several interesting findings regarding its use, like the impact of the digital transformation on different parts of the business model canvas (BMC) and the intellectual capital of the organization developing the digital transformation, and how the status of the organization's intangible assets affects the decision-making process with respect to the prospective digital transformation.
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Juan Ramón Molina, Francisco Rodríguez y Silva and Miguel Ángel Herrera
The purpose of this paper is to show the evaluation of the learning process to determinate if engineering student marks would be better from sand-table teaching than from…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show the evaluation of the learning process to determinate if engineering student marks would be better from sand-table teaching than from traditional teaching.
Design/methodology/approach
The innovative teaching project incorporating digital sand-table use was evaluated by asking undergraduate and postgraduate students to rate their learning experiences and by analyzing their academic performance.
Findings
The results show that the percentage of students passing the courses, and marks on the course tests were higher for students taught using sand-table, compared to students taught without using this tool.
Practical implications
Engineering curricula are constantly revised to address the demands for undergraduate courses and specialization courses, and the differing needs of actual practice in relation to theoretical knowledge.
Originality/value
The experience at the University of Córdoba (Spain) offers some insights to other engineering degrees and educational institutions that wish to focus on the development of innovative academic programs and student capabilities.
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Bendik Bygstad, Gheorghita Ghinea and Geir‐Tore Klæboe
The purpose of this paper is to examine from a socio‐technical point of view the impact of semantic web technology on the strategic, organisational and technological levels. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine from a socio‐technical point of view the impact of semantic web technology on the strategic, organisational and technological levels. The semantic web initiative holds great promise for the future for digital libraries. There is, however, a considerable gap in semantic web research between the contributions in the technological field and research in the organisational field.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive case study of the National Library of Norway (NL) is conducted, building on two major sources of information: the documentation of the digitising project of the NL; and interviews with nine different stakeholders at three levels of NL's organisation during June to August 2007. Top managers are interviewed on strategy, middle managers and librarians are interviewed regarding organisational issues and ICT professionals are interviewed on technology issues.
Findings
The findings indicate that the highest impact will be at the organisational level. This is mainly because inter‐organisational and cross‐organisational structures have to be established to address the problems of ontology engineering, and a development framework for ontology engineering in digital libraries must be examined.
Originality/value
ICT professionals and library practitioners should be more mindful of organisational issues when planning and executing semantic web projects in digital libraries. In particular, practitioners should be aware that the ontology engineering process and the semantic meta‐data production will affect the entire organisation. For public digital libraries this probably will also call for a more open policy towards user groups to properly manage the process of ontology engineering.
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Highlights annual conference of the American Society of Engineering Education, specifically the part for Engineering Librarians.
Abstract
Purpose
Highlights annual conference of the American Society of Engineering Education, specifically the part for Engineering Librarians.
Design/methodology/approach
Provides a brief review of the conference.
Findings
Engineering Librarians are increasingly interested in information literacy in their subject areas and incorporating that in outreach activities. Scholarly publishing in Engineering in increasingly interdisciplinary with more interest in the Business/management Literature.
Research limitations/implications
More subspecialties are emerging in engineering curriculum and research.
Practical Implications
Partnerships between academe and industry and the federal government is increasingly important. No library however strong can be considered to have an exclusive engineering collection as interdisciplinary applications magnify.Value – Reinforcing good service reflecting instruction, collection development and subject strength contributes to effective responsibilities as an Engineering Librarian.
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Javier Monllor and Aracely Soto-Simeone
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role exposure to digital fabrication technology plays in the development of students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role exposure to digital fabrication technology plays in the development of students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 131 students enrolled in a business administration undergraduate program at a large Midwestern university in the USA. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results provide evidence on how exposure to and hands-on experience with digital manufacturing technology in universities can have a positive impact on students’ ESE and intentions to become entrepreneurs.
Practical implications
Results support initiatives by business schools and entrepreneurship programs to invest in digital manufacturing technology as they help increase students’ confidence in their technological and entrepreneurial abilities.
Originality/value
This is the first study that directly looks at the role that exposure to digital technology in a business and entrepreneurship education program has on students’ ESE and intentions.
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Usman Tariq, Ranjit Joy, Sung-Heng Wu, Muhammad Arif Mahmood, Asad Waqar Malik and Frank Liou
This study aims to discuss the state-of-the-art digital factory (DF) development combining digital twins (DTs), sensing devices, laser additive manufacturing (LAM) and subtractive…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to discuss the state-of-the-art digital factory (DF) development combining digital twins (DTs), sensing devices, laser additive manufacturing (LAM) and subtractive manufacturing (SM) processes. The current shortcomings and outlook of the DF also have been highlighted. A DF is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that uses innovative technologies, including automation, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, additive manufacturing (AM), SM, hybrid manufacturing (HM), sensors for real-time feedback and control, and a DT, to streamline and improve manufacturing operations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents a novel perspective on DF development using laser-based AM, SM, sensors and DTs. Recent developments in laser-based AM, SM, sensors and DTs have been compiled. This study has been developed using systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, discussing literature on the DTs for laser-based AM, particularly laser powder bed fusion and direct energy deposition, in-situ monitoring and control equipment, SM and HM. The principal goal of this study is to highlight the aspects of DF and its development using existing techniques.
Findings
A comprehensive literature review finds a substantial lack of complete techniques that incorporate cyber-physical systems, advanced data analytics, AI, standardized interoperability, human–machine cooperation and scalable adaptability. The suggested DF effectively fills this void by integrating cyber-physical system components, including DT, AM, SM and sensors into the manufacturing process. Using sophisticated data analytics and AI algorithms, the DF facilitates real-time data analysis, predictive maintenance, quality control and optimal resource allocation. In addition, the suggested DF ensures interoperability between diverse devices and systems by emphasizing standardized communication protocols and interfaces. The modular and adaptable architecture of the DF enables scalability and adaptation, allowing for rapid reaction to market conditions.
Originality/value
Based on the need of DF, this review presents a comprehensive approach to DF development using DTs, sensing devices, LAM and SM processes and provides current progress in this domain.
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Andrew Thomas Hall, Serdar Durdyev, Kerim Koc, Omer Ekmekcioglu and Laura Tupenaite
Building information modeling (BIM) is a prominent concept to digitalize data collection and analysis processes. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a…
Abstract
Purpose
Building information modeling (BIM) is a prominent concept to digitalize data collection and analysis processes. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a considerable percentage of the works performed in the construction industry. The adoption rate of BIM by SMEs is still, however, not at the desired level in the New Zealand construction industry. This study aims to evaluate barriers to BIM implementation for SMEs in the New Zealand construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted four-step methodology to evaluate barriers to BIM adoption for SMEs. First, a comprehensive literature review, followed by a focus group discussion was performed to identify barriers to BIM adoption. Then, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used to assess identified barriers. Finally, experts’ agreements (both internal and external) were ensured by consistency analysis and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (Kendall’s W) tests.
Findings
The findings indicate that (1) interoperability between software platforms, (2) lack of government mandate on BIM usage at project level, (3) high cost of acquiring the software and licensing required to use BIM and (4) lack of client demand for adopting BIM were the most significant barriers in terms of technological, governmental, resource and cultural categories, respectively. Further investigation of the expert evaluation showed strong consistencies (each expert separately) and agreements (among experts) in each AHP matrix.
Practical implications
Primary focus should be training of local market (particularly SMEs) professionals as the shortage in qualified professionals makes the country-wide adoption challenging. The publicity in the local market can help SMEs understand how BIM is leveraged for further improvements in project performance.
Originality/value
Overall, this research not only provides a roadmap for the widespread adoption of BIM within SMEs in New Zealand through analysis of the barriers encountered but also highlights the power that policymakers hold over the mass adoption of BIM within SMEs.
Details