Managing the design-manufacturing interface in VEs through MUVEs: a perspective approach

The interfaces among different organisational functions are often affected by barriers against integration, particularly in the case of design and manufacturing. The relevance of overcoming such barriers - that may become a driver of cost and opportunity loss - grows with the degree of virtualisation of the enterprise. In this paper the authors tackle the problem of lowering barriers between design and manufacturing in virtual enterprises through the exploitation of ICT (information and communication technology), that - in this vision - becomes a key success factor not only for eliciting (tacit) knowledge, but also for fostering social interaction. The paper explores the possibility to use virtual worlds (such as Multi User Virtual Environments) in virtual enterprises for creating suitable digital habitats able to support the higher levels of the semiotic ladder and then lowering the design-manufacturing integration barriers.