Computers, it's often said, have made it possible for one person to do the work of many, and in a fraction of the time. But what's more important--though heralded less frequently--is that computers are now making it easier than ever for many to work together as if they were one, forming high-functioning workgroups, with participants across the room and across the globe. This is revitalizing the very idea of collaborative work, making a significant impact on engineering and manufacturing due to the effectiveness and efficiency of collaborative product development. In turn, collaborative product development is likely to have a far-reaching effect on both business and consumers.

Today, due to advances in both technology and process, manufacturing is approaching what many believe is the logical culmination of Henry Ford's original concept of mass production. Ford's idea was that unprecedented cost effectiveness could be achieved by producing products in massive quantities--in a lot size, say, of a million, or even several millions. He was, of course, extraordinarily astute, and his timing was impeccable: the world was ready for Ford's idea. But the world is now ready for new ideas. Not surprisingly, the Ford Motor Company is among the forward-thinking organizations now implementing collaborative product development. Varian, Boeing, Rubbermaid, Cessna, and Lockheed are among the many others.

Henry Ford's manufacturing methods revolutionized industry, commerce, and society at large. Now, thanks to the evolution of technology, and in response to the changing demands of consumers, collaborative computing may soon make it possible to achieve the same level of cost effectiveness in very small lot sizes as in lots of a million. And today, as in Henry Ford's time, it all has to do with how people use technology to make working together work better.

THE NEED FOR COLLABORATION
Among the multitude of benefits gained from collaborative product development are the fundamental four: shortening of the development cycle, improved quality, greater flexibility, and increased competitiveness.

The need for collaboration is increasingly critical because the very nature of manufacturing has changed so much over the years, and competition is now more intense than ever. Also, the products themselves are far more complex, customers' demands are greater and more specific, and many manufacturing companies have facilities around the globe, with, for example, an R&D lab in one country, financial headquarters in another, and a marketing department in still another.

Recently, Darek Gallar, a mechanical engineer and "unofficial UNIX(R) system administrator" at Varian's Oncology Systems Division, a manufacturer of cancer therapy equipment, says that one of the primary reasons his company has placed an emphasis on collaborative computing is the international nature of the corporation. "Varian," he remarks, "has a worldwide organization, and we live with all the communications problems that can breed. In addition to the United States, we have parts of the company in Norway, Switzerland, and England. We've found that it can be extremely difficult to schedule meetings. Our marketing people travel like crazy--they're usually in some time zone where they're awake while we're asleep. The engineers are often away on customer visits. And bouncing voice mail messages back and forth, along with faxes that get lost, gets old fast. In the past, we've had a hard time simply getting together and communicating."

Gallar emphasizes that Varian has had a "concurrent engineering culture for a long time." He recalls that "awhile back, we needed tools to further facilitate our collaborative computing--systems that would fit into our environment. We wanted to expand rather radically, enhancing the collaborative engineering aspect of our operation. We went to Silicon Graphics. They showed us the collaborative tools"--such as Showcase(TM), InPerson(TM), Inventor(TM), Annotator(TM), and the Indigo Magic(TM) user environment--"and we discussed the Indigo(R) workstation's performance. I was later given an Indigo2(TM) workstation to benchmark, and it turned in some absolutely fantastic numbers. It blew away the competition."

Silicon Graphics provides integrated enabling
technologies such as IndyCam that function
seamlessly in the service of collaborative
product development.

THE BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION
Now that the Silicon Graphics systems are in place, Gallar and his colleagues remain enthusiastic. "What occurs is a truly cross-functional effort," he says, describing how the approach works. "On-line contributors may include representatives from mechanical and electrical engineering, drafting, manufacturing, quality assurance, purchasing, and every other function that might be part of the design team. The team then goes through the various phases of the project. Naturally, different people are involved at different stages. The process begins with defining feasibility, cost, and planning, then proceeds all the way through detailed design and into production."

The benefits start right up front with the Silicon Graphics user environment. Gallar notes, "My users are in love with the Indigo Magic desktop. Also, the network peripheral access is so easy. The users can access virtually anything on the network that they wish to."

COLLABORATION: IT JUST MAKES SENSE
SiliconWorks solutions for manufacturers help companies meet today's design challenges while equipping them for the future.

To help workgroups easily achieve spontaneous communications among all members, Silicon Graphics offers InPerson advanced desktop video conferencing software as part of the SiliconWorks solution. InPerson helps people get together in real time, along with their computer-based data, for the sort of high-speed interaction that makes all the difference in accelerating the decision-making process and bringing products to market quickly. But video conferencing is only part of the picture.

For digital media presentations that might be used to brief executives and prospective customers on new products, or simply for presenting ideas to colleagues, Silicon Graphics Showcase, which is bundled with every system, is an astonishingly powerful communications tool. Showcase enables interactive hyperscripting and the manipulation of 3D models and 2D graphics, as well as text processing and modification of colors, textures, and lighting--all within the application.

For groups where "store-and-forward" collaboration is employed, Z-Code's MediaMail(TM), also bundled with every Silicon Graphics system, makes it easy to attach video, audio, or Showcase presentations to e-mail for distribution across the network.

The most valuable, and unique, element of SiliconWorks may be the ability to share and annotate 3D models. Using the Inventor viewer you can view and modify 3D models and literally "mail" copies of the model to your colleagues. 3D Annotator lets you annotate your 3D models with text, audio, or video. And, of course, SiliconWorks supports the multi-user, interactive sharing of X applications over a network along with cross-platform hardware support.

Finally, as Varian's Darek Gallar has made abundantly clear, the Indigo Magic user environment wins converts quickly. A lavish set of media creation and manipulation devices, Indigo Magic includes audio and video tools as well as 2D image processing tools, all designed to enhance creativity and productivity.