The impact of 'concurrent art -to -part environment' (CAPE technology) on engineers, designers, and technicians: Their reaction to change, and how change affects their performance on the job and their future outlook within United Defense L.P.

摘要

Adapting to change in technology poses a major challenge to many technical professionals. While a great deal of research has been done on technological change, much less emphasis has been placed on understanding the impact of new technologies on the people who must work with them. This research investigates the influence of a change in technology on technical personnel at United Defense L.P. (UDLP), specifically, the impact of the "Concurrent Art-to-Part Environment" (CAPE) on engineers, designers, and technicians. The study examines reactions to the introduction of CAPE, the effects on job performance, and changes in employees' sense of their future prospects within UDLP.;The intent in implementing CAPE was to achieve sizeable cost savings through a seamless integration of people, processes, and operating systems. All employees working on a product were to be given access to core design documents, along with relevant product descriptive data and standard parts libraries. The goal was to achieve a cohesive engineering environment where all functional units could get their jobs done right at the first attempt.;The research was conducted by means of a questionnaire using a Likert scale constructed around four hypotheses. The hypotheses were designed to assess the reactions of UDLP's technical personnel to the introduction of CAPE into their work environment. The last section of the questionnaire added an important qualitative dimension to the research by asking open-ended questions that called for written comments.