Managing the design–manufacturing interface in virtual enterprises through multi user virtual environments: a perspective approach

Abstract

The interfaces among different organisational functions are often affected by barriers against integration, particularly in the case of design and manufacturing. The relevance of overcoming such barriers – that may become a driver of cost and opportunity loss – grows with the degree of virtualisation of the enterprise. In this paper the authors tackle the problem of lowering barriers between design and manufacturing in virtual enterprises through the exploitation of ICT (information and communication technology), that – in this vision – becomes a key success factor not only for eliciting (tacit) knowledge, but also for fostering social interaction. The paper explores the possibility to use virtual worlds (such as Multi User Virtual Environments) in virtual enterprises for creating suitable digital habitats able to support the higher levels of the semiotic ladder and then lowering the design–manufacturing integration barriers.

Keywords:

• virtual enterprise
• design–manufacturing interface
• Multi User Virtual Environment (MUVE)
• knowledge management
• social network
• semantic web

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Flavia Bruno, Fiorella De Cindio, Ines Di Loreto, Giacomo Fiumara, Loredana Gatta, Dario Maggiorini, Alessandro Provetti, Carlo Bernava, Paolo Mariotto, Francesca Piazza, Andrea Spirolazzi and Arianna Strada. Without their efforts and work our investigations and knowledge of SL would have been far less effective.