10/96 mechanical engineering: letters

editorial
Redefining Re-engineering

By John G. Falcioni,
Editor-in-Chief

Some say that the term re-engineering has become a victim of its own success. No longer the sole domain of the engineering profession, where it originally meant improving a technical or industrial process, re-engineering has come to mean restructuring, downsizing, or - to put it more simply - layoffs. In fact, this negative connotation is the one that businesses have adopted to describe a way to improve their bottom line. Even government has gotten into the re-engineering mind-set; several years ago, Vice President Al Gore was put in charge of the administration's Reinventing Government (read "Re-engineering") effort to slash layers of federal bureaucracy.

In its purest sense, re-engineering is lived and breathed by those on the front line. Whether it is improving a manufacturing plant's performance or finding a better way to fabricate automobile parts, mechanical engineers have become accustomed to thinking of re- engineering as a way not only of doing things cheaper but also of doing them better.

For better or worse, re-engineering is on everyone's mind. To explore this topic in more depth, Mechanical Engineering has assembled a group of seven influential executives to discuss their companies' interpretation of the term re-engineering and how it has been implemented where they work. The forum, to be held on Nov. 20 at ASME's 1996 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Atlanta, will be a unique opportunity for attendees to gain insight into how industry leaders think and to get answers to important questions. The panelists were selected based primarily on their ideas about and participation in re- engineering. Companies were determined by first identifying the key industries, then selecting those firms that have undergone or are undergoing some form of re-engineering.

The 90-minute forum will be hosted by editors of this magazine and by Thomas C. Curry, president and CEO of The MacNeal- Schwendler Corp., a leading analysis software developer. The scheduled panelists are Marilyn R. Coll, vice president of continuous performance improvement at Fluor Daniel, one of the world's largest international engineering, construction, maintenance, and diversified-services companies; Clifford J. Davis, general manager of vehicle engineering operations at Chrysler Corp.; R. Gary Diaz, senior vice president for manufacturing and engineering at Case Corp., a leading heavy-equipment manufacturer; John F. Elter, vice president of strategic programs within the Office Documents Products Group at Xerox Corp.; Jim Feiertag, director of standard drives manufacturing at Rockwell Automation; and Stephen D. Wallace, vice president for quality systems and services at McDonnell Douglas.

"Re-engineering is a radical redesign that makes 70 percent of the people mad at you," said Emmanuel A. Kampouris, chairman, president and CEO of the manufacturing company American Standard, in Chief Executive magazine. "That's the penalty you pay until you succeed."

The stakes are as high as they ever have been for today's big and small companies. That's why whether re-engineering is being implemented to enhance profits, decrease losses, or make a better mouse trap, it is important that employees have a clear understanding of what the mission is and what they can do to help in those efforts.

For information on how to register for the Congress, see page 15 in this issue or call (800) THE-ASME. You can also check the Meetings & Conferences page on ASME's World Wide Web site at http://www.asme.org.

Email your comments or questions to: falcionij@asme.org