The engineer as hero or scapegoat: implementing new technologies

摘要

Many companies adopting advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) have found that real gains are elusive, and have become disenchanted. The author examines why this is so. A three-year study of the adoption of AMT systems in ten Canadian companies showed that many problems stemmed from insufficient attention to implementation, especially to the critical role played by the technology champion, usually a mid-level engineer.