Communication for the International Conférence 1999 of the Hong-Kong Institute of Value Management,
Hong-Kong, May 6-7, 1999
1 - THE FIVE SUSTAINABLE VE-VM PRINCIPLES
2 - THE STORY OF THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES DESIGN : HOW ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS EMERGED ?
3 - CRITERIA RELATED TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
4 - FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY
5 - AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENHANCE CHANGES IN VE-VM MIND AND PRACTICE
Value Engineering and Value Management are broadly based on five important (sustainable) principles which can explain, in long range, the real usefulness and efficiency of the methodology:
- the satisfaction of the users'or clients' needs,- the reduction or optimization of costs,
- the mobilization of information and competency,
- the methodology of project management,
- the respect of the environment' constraints.
After a short presentation of these fundamental principles, one examines what was the development of the design and manufacturing process during the 50 last years, identifying different phases or steps more or less linked with the emergence of some of these principles.
During the recent period, one tends to put much more emphasis on sustainable values (sustainable development, ecoefficiency,…) which can easily be interpretated as an accentuation of the fifth principle (the respect of the environment' constraints).
That leads to explore more precisely what are now the criteria of such sustainability and how VE-VM can be developed in order to help to better take into consideration requirements regarding sustainable development.
Some ideas are proposed at the end of the communication concerning the work that should be done by VE-VM specialists and organizations (all over the world) for adapting the Value Methodology and the related practices to sustainable development values and criteria
1 - THE FIVE SUSTAINABLE VE-VM PRINCIPLES
Value Analysis and Engineering and broadly Value Management aim at increasing the competitiveness of products, services and organizations through technics and tools based on five main rules or fundamental principles :
- to focus all design efforts on the satisfaction of users' or clients' needs as well as stakeholders requests thanks to a rigourous and efficient functional analysis of products and to the use of the Functional Performance Specification (Cahier des Charges Fonctionnel or CdCF, in French);
- to optimize (and generally speaking reduce) production as well as maintenance costs of these products and services taking first into account the priorities or criterias expressed by users or clients (it means reducing non-necessary or non-valuable costs, eliminating non user-oriented components of the products or services) ;
- to strengthen the global and active mobilization of information, intelligence, competency and creativity in the design process ; that leads for instance to use technics and tools for an efficient management of useful information, a multidisciplinary or multi-competencies group working and the stimulation of creativity of people ;
- to develop a rigourous approach during the design process and the VE-VM study with the use of a functional working plan close to the problem solving methodology and the project management technics and rules ;
- last, but not least, to take into account the true constraints imposed by the large environment of the products which are provided to the users or clients ; that means a complete system analysis of such a global surrounding and a good understanding of the interactions between the products and their environment.
In the following chapters, one will designate these five principles as :
- the satisfaction of users'or clients' needs (SCN)- the reduction or optimization of costs (ROC)
- the mobilization of information and competency (MIC)
- the methodology of the project management (MPM)
- the respect of the environment' constraints (REC)
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2 - THE STORY OF THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES DESIGN : HOW ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS EMERGED ?
Companies can only be competitive and survive if they release profit thanks to the optimization of the whole process of design, production (manufacturing), commercialization and maintenance of the products and services they provide to the users or clients. The aim is obvious : to produce profit margins by designing and selling products that are appreciated by the clients. For some other organizations, non-profit oriented (public institutions, charity organizations, …) the aim is more the satisfaction of specific target groups needs, for instance for better conditions of life (education, health,…), however taking into account the necessity to maintain the costs at the lowest costs as possible.
Historically, how companies tried to find solutions to the problem of linking their aims, goals or ambitions and their expenses or costs ? The following paragraph will schematically show that there were different phases or steps.
From the end of the 19th Century till the middle of the 20th Century, emphasize was mainly put on the increase of production capacities with the aim to reduce costs thanks to scale effects and thanks also to intensive productivity efforts. One now recognize that often this trend led to some difficulties facing the satisfaction of the real needs of the users and also to a very bad use of the human potential (which is in fact the most important resource for the development of companies). The ROC (reduction of cost) principle was dominant (or the unique paradigm) and was developed until its never-reached limits. One can obviously see the consequences of such a trend in looking at the situation of many traditional industrial regions which are now sinistred.
After the Second World War, new concepts and a new philosophy of optimization of resources emerged. Around the 50's-60's and thanks to Miles (and also others), one put much more emphasize on value and quality ; one tried to better take into account the real user's needs and also to consider the human resource as the key factor of a modern design and production process. The development or new methods such as Value Analysis and Value Engineering (as well as the Problem Solving Methodology and the creativity technics) was not easy, but the trend can be considered now as irreversible, even if it still continues to exist organizations which mainly base their development on a pure productivist approach. During the 30-40 last years, the SCN principle (satisfaction of the users or clients' needs) was more and more introduced and became a key factor for rethinking products and services, improving their competitiveness, with an interactive link with the ROC principle (typically, the phase of the VA-VE development).
During the same period, and certainly more recently (20 last years), one considered the mobilization of information, intelligence and competency (MIC principle) as something more and more important. That led to new ways of thinking and working, that led also to an important use of research results (and of course an important development of information systems). The use of appropriate methods and the development of project management technics (MPM principle) was strongly supported, even if it was not easy to conclude of the short term usefulness of such new approaches. At the end, one saw an important development of standards in these various fields of competitiveness management and also the development ad-hoc certification procedures (from ISO 9000 to VA-VM standards,…).
During the very last years, an important mutation can be observed and many signs of that show that we are entering now a new era : capitalistic concentration of companies and organizations at a worldwide level, `"globalization" and internationalization of many industrial, economical and human activities, breakthrough of the new information and communication technologies (Internet, groupware),… Companies become more and more networks of decentralized units. Non-material flows (information, intelligence, finance,…) become more important than the traditional material flow (raw materials, products,…). A consequence of that new trend can be seen in many fields : role of the computers in the design and production processes (CAD, CAM, …), importance of business intelligence for competitiveness, open and worldwide networking, developement of virtual universities or companies,… Regarding the MIC principle, information, intelligence and competency are now the main key words ; one speaks frequently now of a new information and intelligence society in which Internet, for instance, is the most visible and innovative paradigm).
But at the same time, the more one works within a global and informative village, the more also one uses a worldwide and global information technology, the more one has now to understand problems in a new systemic way, taking into account numerous interactions between many factors : products, people, organizations, countries, cultures, nature,… which are as many components of a global environment. In some way, the REC principle is the only one which can now provide sense in such a global society. Complexity, interactions, sustainability are new key-words that we cannot ignore.
One important aspect of that (which was often be rejected or refused by traditional industrialists) is the necessity to better integrate now the ecological consequences of the various human and industrial activities. Sustainable development is becoming the key concept for this end of the Century (and Millenarium). Sustainable development (SD) is a new paradigm which will help to reoriente our traditional activities and to develop also a new balanced competitiveness. Big companies as well as SME's are considering now SD as a chance for conquering new markets. Non governmental as well as inter-governemental organizations put much emphasis on SD (as for instance does it now WFEO &endash; the World Federation of Engineering Organizations -). From now the REC principle , well known by VE-VM practitioners, will become as much important as the SCN (satisfaction of users' needs) and ROC (reducation of costs) principles. Value Management will certainly have now many chances to be positively linked with Sustainable Development.
3 - CRITERIA RELATED TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The results of recent scientific or research works which are done in the field of Sustainable Development are taking into consideration in many technical universities or engineering schools and lead to a new consciouness among young (and less young) engineers, designers and industrialists. Thus, for the same Functional Performance Specification, based on a clear definition and integration of users' needs, technical and economical solutions (products, services) will now be selected depending the way in which they are satisfying new criteria related to Sustainable Development and respecting constraints expressed from or by a global environment (REC principle). That new positioning will help to attract clients and to develop new markets (in other words, respecting an environmental constraint can be positively transformed in a chance for conquering market shares : see for instance the IKEA policy).
But what are the criteria that caracterize Sustainable Development and that could be integrated within a global Value Management approach ?
First, one can mention the assessment and integration within the design and manufacturing process of all consequences and impacts in the middle and long range (what to leave to the future generations, to our children). In some way, that could be designated as a true "earth citizen" responsibility that nobody can ignore (companies as well as individuals). Choices or decisions based on pure short term optimizations will be more and more refused, rejected and many communities and groups of stakeholders will more and more react (see for instance recent trials, medias campaigns, with consequences about market shares reductions).
Another criteria is the acceptance of a full or global complexity when one tries to solve society problems today, the acceptance also of all interactions between many components or aspects of these problems. From a pure vision of the industrial production (taylorism, productivism,…), one has now to move towards other perspectives based on :
- a global intelligence or understanding of what users, clients, stakeholders and society really needs &endash; and will need tomorrow - ;- a more systemic approach of the design and manufacturing process (a simply 19th Century approach is no more acceptable) ;
- a more multidisciplinary integration of many factors (human, social, industrial, social, legal,…), beside the pure technical or technological disciplines ;
- an open, worldwide and network oriented way of thinking and working ;
- a dynamic and efficient use of new information resources allowing such a global optimization of the products (solutions) equation.
Among concrete criteria that are traditionally considered for the assessment of products or technologies (regarding Sustainable Development), one can also mention :
- the evaluation of the use, within the production process, of resources or raw materials whose extraction or exploitation could fragilize some existing ecosystems or could tend to irreversible evolutions (thus we have now to answer the question when designing a product : with what the product will be producted and what's about the resources used ?) ;- the analysis of the impact on the environment of the dissemination of the various products (in the middle and long range) ; a classical set of questions regarding Sustainable Development is the following : how the products will be eliminated at the end of their life cycles, what to do with the products after their use, how could they be recycled ?
- the control of the production process itself which should also respect new requirements regarding the environment protection as well as sustainable development of such a production ;
- the exigences of minimizing the use of rare resources, of limiting the use of non-renewable energies and of a strict control on a non-justified over-dimensioning of technical solutions.
4 - FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY
It seems opportune and necessary to question the links that could be established now between Value Management and Sustainable Development. To be sure, the VE-VM methodology is quite appropriate for taking into consideration these new requirements. However, one has to check that the concepts, tools and procedures (VE-VM) can really contribute to an integration of sustainability value and principles within the design and manufacturing process.
Research works should be encouraged, publications should be stimulated, real experiences should be developed which could provide clears testimonies of such an adaptation of VE-VM principles to Sustainable Development requirements. Sustainability should be better pointed out within the work done here and there in the field of VE-VM standardization. Such works should be done by mixed teams in which specialists of Value Management could meet experts or specialists of Sustainable Development. This could easily done, for instance, within technical universities or engineering schools, as well as within engineering organizations, in which both components exist (but often, in different separated departments).
One could now use the following vocables :
- Value Engineering or Management for Sustainable Development (VESD, VMSD)- Value Engineering or Management for Sustainability (VES, VMS) ;
- Sustainable Value Engineering or Management (SVE, SVM).
Beyond these terminological aspects, how can we try to adapt VE-VM concepts, technics and tools to that new exigence of sustainability ?
A first and simple approach could consist in trying to introduce, as much as possible, within the Functional Performance Specification, requirements related to Sustainable Development, with specific criteria which could be detailed (and with appropriate levels to be respected). Thus one could imagine Functional Performance Specification oriented towards SD, whose promotion could be largely encouraged.
Another perspective could be to develop the creation of Functional Trees of Technological Solutions which could explore more sytematically the specific aspects of Sustainable Development.
One could also suggest the constitution of VE-VM working groups which could better take into consideration this new sustainability requirements (as it was done some years ago, when one had to introduce Quality aspects within the design process).
On the methodological side, it should be interesting to rethink some traditional tools (such as the Functional Analysis) in order to better integrate :
- the increased complexity of problems to be solved now (interactions between the products and their environment, interdependency of various factors,…) ;- the middle and long range consequences of the production and dissemination of the products ;
- the sustainability requirements (use of rare resources, final destination of the products,…) ;
- a new view at the global life cycle of the products.
5 - AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENHANCE CHANGES IN VE-VM MIND AND PRACTICE
One has often a strange feeling of a relative lack of renewal of the ideas, concepts and tools related to VA-VM.
Invented during the 50's, VA was developed with some success during the 60's 70's and 80's and one saw during that period many methodological progresses (a lot of efforts were done for instance in France, by AFAV, leading to a very important standardization work and to the development of the use of CdCF &endash; Functional Performance Specification). The VA-VE-VM technics migrated with some success from the traditional big industry (aeronautics, defense, telecommunications,…) to the SME's and also to the tertiary sector (services). However, one can observe a certain methodological breathlessness and a too weak interaction of VE-VM with other perspectives that are now developed and promoted in other domains (for instance : the huge development of new information and communication technologies that are transforming the day to day activities of the companies and the people). This is also the case when looking at the new requirements in the field of Sustainable Development and the very few concrete examples of a new use of VE-VM related to eco-efficiency and sustainability.
Value Management for (or oriented towards) Sustainable Development could consitute a real chance of a profound renewal of the VE-VM ideas, technics and practices. It seems that the distance between VE-VM concepts and Sustainable Developement requirements is not so big and that the VE-VM methodology can easily be adapted to that new perspective and provide new fields for a very creative and efficient work.
One wants encourage all VA-VM organizations to mobilize their troops (members, experts, committees, electronic forums,…) on such an objective and to associate in such a work all partners (at national or international level) who actively contribute to the promotion of sustainability.
The French Association for Value Management, AFAV, will take into account such a perspective within its 1999 action plan and will also introduce Sustainable Development as a key theme of its future Congress AFAV 2000.
Some useful addresses
michel-j@mail.enpc.fr
