Data Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Using Metadata Acquired by ‘Spyware’

Abstract

Data generated during a product development process are increasingly created and communicated using a digital format. Management of these data can be a key enabler of the design process; strategic, tactical, and operational management of the data can lead to shorter product development timeframes and hence competitive advantage in the marketplace. While larger companies have both the infrastructure and resources to implement sophisticated software to manage the myriad of data created, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), owing to their inherent characteristics, lag in the adoption of data management tools. This paper describes research using so-called ‘Spyware’ software and reports how this software is used in a novel methodology to develop information management functions for SMEs.

Keywords

small and medium-sized enterprise SME data spyware metadata process

References

Helms

R. W.

Product data management as an enabler for concurrent engineering. PhD Thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, 2002.

Whybrew

Shaw

A. I.

Aitchison

D. R.

Raine

J. K.

Use of design tools and methodologies for rapid product development in the New Zealand manufacturing industry. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Engineering design, design applications, Glasgow, UK, 2001, pp. 27–34 (Professional Engineering Publishing, Bury St Edmunds and London).

Shaw

A. I.

Aitchison

D. R.

Real time rapid product development process data and information management for smaller enterprises. In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Engineering design, Stockholm, Sweden, 2003, 505 (The Design Society).

Tufte

E. R.

Visual explanations. 2nd Edition, 1997 (Graphics Press, Connecticut).