THE HIDDEN PROFESSIONALS - PRODUCT DESIGNERS AND THEIR IMPACT ON DESIGN QUALITY

The management of designers and the design process controls a crucial element in the efficiency and effectiveness of product realization. U.S. companies typically distinguish the role of "design engineer," treated as a professional, from that of "designer," treated as a worker who creates the detailed design. This paper discusses the roles of designers in the development engineering phase of product development, and examines the effects of designer communication, job design, organization climate, and CAD system quality on design quality. A survey of designers and design engineers at ten manufacturing sites was conducted. Communication with downstream processes, task significance, and job commitment were associated with greater achievement of manufacturability objectives. Communication with downstream processes and within the design core team were associated with achievement of strength objectives. Job commitment was a significant predictor of achievement of cost objectives. CAD system quality was not associated with any of the outcome measures. These results suggest that managers of development engineering organizations should treat designers more as professionals and less as workers. They should also redesign the jobs of both designers and design engineers to insure that the designers have greater responsibility and authority for linking with external groups.