| In manufacturing organizations there are at least three distinct design areas: product design, manufacturing process design, and design of the organization itself. Historically these activities have been carried out in relative isolation, by separate people on different timelines. What if they could all be brought together into a domain-independent design process? The heady nature of this prospect is captured by using the term enterprise design.;In this dissertation a decision-based approach is developed for enterprise design, founded in the notion of formulating and solving Decision Support Problems (DSPs). This approach to enterprise design is embodied by a method for creating mathematical formulations of decisions as compromise DSPs, a philosophy for implementing this method based on the notions of bounded rationality and empowerment, and a foundation in system modeling and statistical metamodeling techniques. Enterprise design therefore becomes: (1) Identifying and assessing the enterprise-wide effects of each local decision, (2) Identifying and assessing the effects of other external decisions on the local decision at hand, and (3) Making each decision to satisfy as many of the enterprise-wide goals as possible, while being as robust as possible to external decisions that are beyond the decision-maker's control.;In effect, formulating these decisions fosters the integration of enterprise design activities. This approach to enterprise design, once developed, is illustrated through its application to the design of a Forward-Looking Infrared Radar system. |
