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COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation. PhD. (Chemistry)/ M.Sc. (Physics)/ M.A. (Philosophy)/M.Com. (Finance) etc. [Unpublished]: University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from: https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Index?site_name=Research%20Output (Accessed: Date). Department of Engineering Management University of Johannesburg Open Design as sustainable competitive advantage Student Name: JW Uys Student Number: 201281499 Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MPhil of Engineering Management in the Faculty of Engineering at University of Johannesburg Supervisor: Prof JHC Pretorius Co-supervisor: Dr GA Oosthuizen 25 January 2016 Declaration Department of Engineering Management University of Johannesburg Declaration By submitting this thesis electronically I, Johannes Wilhelm Uys , the undersigned, hereby declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by University of Johannesburg will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. 2016 – 01 – 25 _______________ Date Signature i Declaration Department of Engineering Management University of Johannesburg ii Abstract Department of Engineering Management University of Johannesburg Abstract The sustainability of the quality and rate of the design process has always posed challenges. Initial open design concepts evolved from the need for an even faster rapid product development process and the desire to have co-creative platforms. Innovative open design platforms and toolkits ensure a continuous interchange of knowledge between many and diverse stakeholders from a community with a common vision. Companies continuously research social strategies to attract volunteer’s attention and keep their interest so as to contribute to the company’s objectives. Doing this can create significant value for the company’s customers and shareholders. Nowadays, within this wave of the Internet of Things (IoT), the innovation process has totally opened up to global communities in which everybody can participate. Everybody can access and use existing design tools and solutions on these platforms and co-create even more solutions. There is a large focus, industry wide, on social manufacturing and on the business model of several innovative manufacturing companies. In addition the effects of social manufacturing on rapid product development are discussed in this research study as well as the support it can provide to local suppliers. The objective of this research study was, therefore, to understand the main reasons for contributing to these open design platforms. An investigation regarding the changes in societal needs, markets, business models and enabling technologies of the different manufacturing paradigms is undertaken in the thesis. Both community- and company-driven open design platforms were studied and the benefits and challenges for utilising these platforms discussed. As a result, boundary conditions were identified as areas to be exploited, without compromising the constraints of current design systems. iii Acknowledgements Department of Engineering Management University of Johannesburg Acknowledgements To my friends, without whom I would have graduated two years earlier, and the other people I have yet to include in my acknowledgements: Dr GA Oosthuizen for providing me with the opportunity to carry out this research and for supporting me the whole way; Prof JHC Pretorius, for assisting me with this study as my supervisor; All participants included in the experiment to conduct this research; and The Lord for blessing me with the opportunity and ability to study further. iv Table of Contents Department of Engineering Management University of Johannesburg Table of Contents Declaration ............................................................................................................................................... i Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Glossary .................................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background and Motivation.................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Problem Statement .................................................................................................................. 5 1.3. Research Objectives ................................................................................................................ 5 1.4. Significance of Research ......................................................................................................... 6 1.5. Article of Research published ................................................................................................. 6 1.6. Research Methodology ........................................................................................................... 6 2. Literature Study .............................................................................................................................. 1 2.1. Manufacturing paradigms (1850 – 2000) ................................................................................ 4 2.1.1 Craft Production .................................................................................................................. 4 2.1.2 Mass Production .................................................................................................................. 5 2.1.3 Flexible Production ............................................................................................................. 6 2.1.4 Mass customisation and personalisation ............................................................................. 7 2.1.5 Social Manufacturing .......................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Knowledge Management and Technology Transfer ............................................................. 12 2.3. Open Design for Product Development ................................................................................ 20 2.4. Open Innovation .................................................................................................................... 25 3. Research Methodology ................................................................................................................. 29 4. Experimental Results and Discussion ........................................................................................... 31 4.1. Open Design Platform and Enterprises ................................................................................. 31 v Table of Contents Department of Engineering Management University of Johannesburg 4.1.1 Open Design Toolkits ....................................................................................................... 33 4.1.2 Open Design Projects ........................................................................................................ 34 4.1.3 Open Design Education and Learning .............................................................................. 35 4.1.4 Open Design Enterprises ................................................................................................... 35 4.2. Reasons for Open Design Contributions ............................................................................... 35 4.3. Product development platforms and networks ...................................................................... 38 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 40 References ............................................................................................................................................. 41 Appendix A: SAIIE 25 Conference Paper ...........................................................................................