The use and implementation of CAD in the Swedish furniture industry
2006
Hagstrom, L. | Ritzen, S. | Johansson, J.
This paper reports the results of and conclusions drawn from a questionnaire survey concerning the use and implementation of computer-aided design (CAD) in the Swedish furniture industry. The main question areas were how far the Swedish furniture industry has progressed in the use of CAD in product development, and how implementation has been performed. It was regarded as important to find out what impacts implementation has on the usage of CAD and whether companies in the furniture industry think the use of CAD could improve their product development. More than half of all product-developing companies in the Swedish furniture industry are using CAD today, and an increasing number of companies are implementing it. The furniture industry has come rather far in the use of CAD, but it could be better at implementing the systems in a proper manner. This could be related to companies often not planning their implementation; accordingly, they do not examine issues like organizational needs and goals, what the tool might be used for, and the resources required. The study found that the following factors are involved in successful implementation: management support, realistic budgeting, selection of system, and effective, company-specific training. Most CAD users are satisfied with their system and think that it fulfills their needs. Many of the difficulties referred to by respondents can be related to the implementation phase, and they could be avoided. In general, the furniture industry considers that CAD improves their product development work.
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