Development of Training Method and New Materials
for Novice Designers(Aiming at development of design ideas)
Shigeo HIRANO*1,2, Susumu KISE*2, Sozo SEKIGUCHI*2
Kazuya OKUSAKA*2 and Tsutomu ARAKI*3*1

Professor emeritus, Tokyo City University
3-44-5 Isobe, Mihama-ku, Chiba-city 261-0012, JAPAN
rs4775hirano@ybb.ne.jp*2

Artner Co. Ltd, JAPAN2F Sumitomonakanoshimabiru,3-2-18 Nakanosima, Kita-ku
Osaka-city 530-0005, JAPAN
kise@artner.co.jp*3

Professor emeritus, Tsukuba University of Technology
5-444-26 Aioi, Kiryu-city, Gunma, 376-0011, JAPANtutaraki@yahoo.co.jp

Abstract
The following were revealed through technical education for young designers and new employees. (1) They have abroad range of engineering knowledge but lack true fundamental knowledge. (2) They are unable to constructmechanisms.

Knowledge on element design alone is insufficient for creating effective designs. To increase the degreeof perfection of designs created by novice designers, technical textbooks in each specialized area are used. For the
purpose of developing training methods and new materials for novice designers, we produced training materials basedon a book entitled “Mechanism no Jiten” (Encyclopedia of Mechanisms), which is a fundamental textbook onmechanics. The original 2D drawings in the textbook were mainly replaced with 3D drawings so that trainee designers
can easily understand how mechanisms work and the relationship between constituent parts. In this article, thefollowing are explained. (1) The improvement of technical skills through the acquisition of three-dimensional modelingskills (design = determination of shape = reduction of ambiguity and shape formation). (2) The development of training
materials used to clarify the relationship between two- and three-dimensional shapes in mechanics. (3) The external
evaluation of the feasibility of our training materials by people in charge of providing technical training to new
employees of 20 external companies.
Keywords: drawing reading comprehension, technological folklore，design technique and know-how，technicalskills, human skills, encyclopedia of mechanisms

1. INTRODUCTION
The following were revealed through technical education for young designers and new employees. (1) They have abroad range of engineering knowledge but lack true fundamental knowledge. (2) They are unable to constructmechanisms.

Knowledge on element design alone is insufficient for creating effective designs.

Regardless of the product, its structure becomes increasingly complex as the number of functions increases.
Technologies from different fields are combined in many aspects of a product, and the integration of such factors raises
the complexity of the entire product.

The difficulty of design increases exponentially with the complexity of thestructure, resulting in a low probability of success. Under such circumstances, the ability to comprehend designcontents is required.

This ability includes, for example, skills for determining whether (1) the overall composition isappropriate and (2) the integrity of components is ensured.

Designers should be able to comprehend design contents

from various perspectives.

Otherwise, high-quality design cannot be maintained.

To this end, we should improvecreativity and design skills.

To increase the degree of perfection of designs created by novice designers, technicaltextbooks in each specialized area are used.
For the purpose of developing training methods and new materials for novice designers, we produced training
materials based on a book entitled “Mechanism no Jiten” (Encyclopedia of Mechanisms), which is a fundamental
textbook on mechanics.

The original 2D drawings in the textbook were mainly replaced with 3D drawings so thattrainee designers can easily understand how mechanisms work and the relationship between constituent parts.
In this article, the following are explained.
(1) The improvement of technical skills through the acquisition of three-dimensional modeling skills (design =determination of shape = reduction of ambiguity and shape formation).
(2) The development of training materials used to clarify the relationship between two- and three-dimensional shapes
in mechanics.
(3) The external evaluation of the feasibility of our training materials by people in charge of providing technicaltraining to new employees of 20 external companies.

2. TECHNICAL SKILLS ＆ HUMAN SKILLS
2.1 Technical skills[1]While providing technical training to new employees, we found that, for example, young machine designers havelittle experience in reading, writing, drawing, and comprehending drawings.
run a computer search, then retrieve and copy and paste the information.

To come up with an answer, they firstAs a result, their answer is correct but someof them are not able to explain the reason for their answer.
It is said that in the near future, optimal design will be achieved simply by inputting design conditions andparameters to a designing system.

Although this may be the trend of technology today, if unlimited wisdom of people

can be brought forth through thinking and struggling, then creating ideas and visualizing them in rough sketches are theessence of the design process.

Without taking these steps, machine design skills will not be improved.

It requires some ingenuity to turn a knowledge-oriented mindset, which has the above characteristics, into ahands-on mindset.

To this end, we developed training materials to make new employees experience an ordinary

workflow of observing, thinking, deciding, and yielding output on their own responsibility.
One of the training materials is a practical exercise used for mechanical education, called the “disassembly” of acalligraphy machine named Fude-R (Fig. 1).

The structure of this machine has three axes, X, Y, and Z.

The X- andY-axes are equipped with a stepping motor and a ball screw driving device, while the Z-axis is equipped with apush-pull solenoid.

The task for new employees is to create freehand drawings of parts from the assembly drawingsof the calligraphy machine and the machine itself.

Fig. 1

Calligraphy machine named Fude-R

This is a common task in mechanical courses, and “comprehending and creating drawings” is one of thefundamental design skills.

Namely, new employees must recognize the shape from the drawings and convert the

information received through the eyes into freehand drawings.
To create drawings, it is necessary to fully understand the mechanism.

A vague understanding is not sufficient.

If one knows mechanical drawing techniques but is not able to comprehend and create drawings, it is like knowing thestructure of a bicycle but not being able to ride it.

The knowledge obtained through memory-based learning alone isinsufficient to find solutions.．
People gain a feeling of accomplishment when they find a reasonable solution to a problem on their own, which
gives them some confidence and a sense of fulfillment.

It serves as a stepping stone to the next step.

This is what

we aim to achieve in this training.
The lecture method has also been well considered.

New employees are given documents in which some parts,

marked in red, have been modified to be incorrect.

They are also informed of the type and number of suchmodifications.

They are given only hints, not the exact answers, to encourage them to solve the problems bythemselves.
This style of education requires persistence on the part of both the instructors and the new employees.
2.2 Human skills[1]Our company carries out a character evaluation of new employees on the basis of documents after they join ourcompany so that we can offer training programs suited to the characteristics of each employee.

The human skills

classified by various traits are quantified, and the trend of the human skills of each new employee is examined on thebasis of the results of character evaluation over the last five years.

The traits of new employees are analyzed by our

original method through (1) a digital analysis carried out before they joined our company, using an equation
representing the trend and (2) an analog analysis through interview after they joined our company. The data obtained
will be useful for encouraging them to develop a sense of being an integral member of society as they transition from afree-living student to a productive adult.
The training of new employees is carried out under the premise of an employment relationship.

Under theemployment relationship, there is a certain coercive force applied by the instructors and there is a risk that they may
give advice to new employees on the basis of their personal views and likes and dislikes.

Viewing new employees as

people who will come to play leading roles in the company with a sense of coexistence will create a relationship ofmutual trust.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the most important factor in the growth of the skills of new

employees is the way instructors interact with new employees.
As we interact with many new employees, we find that there are factors that may inhibit the growth of their skills.
We need to motivate them to overcome these factors while preserving their self-esteem and nurturing theirself-awareness.

The instructors should be conscious of encouraging new employees while giving them technicaladvice.
One of the traits of new employees is that they worry about how they are evaluated by others.

This may be

because they have been told by people around them “do not do this because it is dangerous” since they were children.
We call this type of education “do not do this” education.

No parents allow their children to play until they get hurt.

I feel this is one of the negative effects of a risk society.
Fundamentally, people are active and interested in things around them and learn new techniques while confirming
their effectiveness.
experiences.

Although they may meet with occasional failures, such incidents serve as valuable growth

In other words, experiences obtained through autonomous venture and activities are required.

I feelthat recent new employees have few such experiences.
The basic skills required for members of society are “the strength to take initiative (action)”, “the ability to think(thinking)”, and “the ability to work in a team (teamwork)” as defined by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
These are also the fundamental skills required when people work cooperatively with others in a local community andone’s workplace.

In more detail, these skills are the abilities to (1) step forward and make steady efforts even after

failures, (2) pose questions and think things through, and (3) cooperate with various people to achieve goals.
The reason behind the proposal of these three skills by the Ministry is simply that young members of society lackthem.

When their tendency is expressed by the opposite of the above abilities, they do not make judgements or act bythemselves for fear of failure, are not interested in various phenomena, rely on others, and act only within theirpersonal.

Although this is an extreme expression, new employees have this tendency.

Instructors in our company have long considered that new employees should be educated by company staff
because they can give appropriate advice to new employees on the basis of their long experience working as engineers,
the failures they have encountered, and the methods they adopted to overcome these failures. The effects of training
are quantified in the form of an evaluation of new employees by customers several months after training.
quantified effects are also used as feedback to improve the contents of training.

The

Our abilities to evaluate the traits of

new employees and train them properly have evolved as a result of continuous feedback.
To improve the human skills of new employees, we have developed the following tools and methods through thetraining carried out over the last ten years:(1) human skills evaluation table, (2) recognize → plan → do → check →act (RPDCA) table, (3) table for simulation of a meeting with customers, and (4) group discussion.
The RPDCA table used to improve human skills is explained here.

The basic concept behind this is tocontinuously improve business processes by repeating the cycle of plan → do → check → act (PDCA).
recognition at the beginning of PDCA.

We add R for

The point of the RPDCA table is to identify one’s shortcomings that shouldbe improved through self-analysis and write down these shortcomings.

Next, one should plan the improvement

method, act voluntarily, and manage the progress of improvement, hence achieving self-reform by drawing out the
inner power to overcome these weaknesses.

However, people generally do not want to recognize one’s flaws orcannot find the clues for improvement even when they recognize the flaws.

Therefore, the RPDCA table can be used

as a tool for self-reform using an appropriate combination of a change in consciousness and the desire for improvementin their daily activities.
At heart, people want to recognize their weak points and overcome them, even though they grapple with thedifficulty of doing so.

3. “Encyclopedia of Mechanisms” (“Mechanism no Jiten”)
A book entitled Mechanism no Jiten (“Encyclopedia of Mechanisms”, edited by Shigeru Ito) was revised andpublished as a compact edition, Shinpen: Kikaino Moto (“New Edition: Element of Machines”), published by
Rikogakusya Publishing Co., Ltd., in 1983.
The preface from the book is cited here. “Recent development of machine industry in Japan has been remarkable;in particular, the advancement of robots in Japan has been attracting the attention of many countries.
assembled by combining several mechanisms.
of this book.

Robots are

In this sense, the mechanism of robots is closely related to the contents

Many demanding tasks, such as long-term continuous work requiring high precision and work that may

cause harm to human bodies, are frequently carried out by robots these days.

We hope that this “Encyclopedia of

Mechanisms” will serve as the bible for students in the mechanical engineering department and for engineers, as well
as for those who want to be inventors”.
The book is a great book read by many engineers and students and is currently published by Ohmsha, Ltd [2].
We have developed training materials that help young designers understand how mechanisms work.

The

training materials are based on a book entitled “Mechanism no Jiten (Encyclopedia of Mechanisms)” with all theoriginal 2D drawings in the book having been replaced with 3D drawings.

Figures2–8 show some of them [3].

The evaluation of drawings is based on whether a product that meets the requirements can be manufactured fromthe drawings.

Drawings are considered to be acceptable if young designers or new employees have defined thetolerance, surface texture, and surface treatment on the basis of their own reasoning.

The key is whether theirintention is conveyed in the drawings.

When they give an answer but are unable to explain the reasoning behind theiranswer, their understanding is insufficient.
The outcomes of using the training materials are as follows.
1) Young designers understand design procedures (total flowchart).
2) They experience the problem resolution process (concept design and rough sketches) keeping in mind that theirdesign directly affects the manufacturing process (design = manufacturing).
3) They understand mechanisms on their own (solids and projection drawings).
4) They become able to choose appropriate materials (examples of application of new materials).
5) They become able to devise machining methods (how to manufacture products).
6) They become able to design existing instruments.
We are still at the trial stage and have achieved no noteworthy outcomes.

However, the questionnaire survey

conducted after the training indicates positive changes in how young designers approach a design process and a design
object.
For example, the following comment was given in the opinion column on the submitted answer sheet: “Allmanufacturing processes or some of them, such as the examination of structure, the determination of shape anddimensions, the analysis for functional verification, the realization of a shape by controlling the machine tools, and theevaluation of the deliverable, can be reflected in the model.

Now I clearly see the connection between the processes

through a 3D environment, although they previously showed little correlation.”

2D Drawing

3D Drawing
Figure 2: Ito's parallel movemen

2D Drawing

3D Drawing

Figure 3: Transformation of four clause organization

2D Drawing

3D Drawing
Figure 4: Sou return organization

2D Drawing

3D Drawing
Figure 5: Solid mechanism of a crank

2D Drawing

3D Drawing
Figure 6: Steering equipment

2D Drawing

3D Drawing
Figure 7: Hitchcock coupler

2D Drawing

3D Drawing
Figure 8: Differential gearing

4. Design mind and cultivation of human resourcesChildren these days tend to have little interest or knowledge in science and technology, and more and more
students are turning to studies other than the sciences.
development has been decreasing.

As a result, the number of students who wish to study design

Talking to students, my impression is that the number of students who showinterest in the word “design” is decreasing.
Drawing on my long experience with designing, I take every opportunity to convey, from the aspects of the joy,spirit, and required training of designing, how interesting designing is to new employees as follows.
〇 Designing is interesting
1. There is joy in realizing something for the first time
2. There is joy in expressing one’s own knowledge, experience, and idea as a concrete shape
3. There is joy in contributing to society using manufacturing technology〇 Abilities required for designing
1. Rich observation skills to understand the shape and mechanism of products on the basis of interest in the products
2. Power to generate new ideas to create shapes limited only by sensibility and imagination
3. Ability to decide the shape of products as a designer on the basis of a wealth of experience and theoreticalbackground data
〇 Designing needs training
1. Training through learning by mimicking what exists in nature
2. Training by putting ideas to paper
3. Training by actively incorporating culture and the knowledge of different fields
There is no definitive method of cultivating human resources.
continuously improved.

We believe that training methods should be

People grow up in various environments and are educated differently.

employee has different abilities and characteristics.
environment may be needed.

Therefore, each new

In the actual workplace, sudden changes to adapt to the dynamic

What is important here is to establish a strong relationship of trust between new

employees and instructors, provide advice to new employees without exercising coercive force, remove obstacles that
may inhibit their growth, and provide an environment in which new employees can voluntarily carry out training toacquire lifelong abilities through continuous self-reform.
The essence of training is character formation.

Particularly in the field of designing, we must train people so thatthey are independent and possess boundless imagination and creativity.

Therefore, not only new employees, but also

the instructors themselves should continuously evolve through applied effort and training.

5. External evaluation of the training materials under development
We have asked instructors in charge of providing technical training to new employees of 20 external companies toevaluate the feasibility of part of our training materials (30 drawings of two- and three-dimensional shapes with
explanations of their mechanisms).

The development work of the training materials is still in progress.

We havereceived the following comments, although the details have been omitted.
◇The drawings of two- and three-dimensional shapes are precise.

We agree with the concept of the training

materials and would like to use them in our training of new employees (5 companies).
◇We think the training materials are good for the training of young designers (4 companies).
◇We really agree with the contents of the training materials and would like to tell younger staff and colleagues aboutthem.
◇We will use the training materials in the training of new employees (4 companies).
◇We consider that the training materials are effective in improving the skills of young staff and will convey thetechnique to younger staff (2 companies).
◇We think the training materials will serve as a model of technical training.

We will refer to the training materials.

◇We believe that new employees must be trained to acquire a wide range of basic knowledge, method of thinking, andability to handle problems as early as possible, whereas they can learn techniques and abilities that are unique todesigning through on-the-job training (OJT).

In this sense, the training materials are useful.

We would like to use

the training materials in the future(4 companies).
◇Along with the diversification of major subjects in universities, the skill level and technical knowledge of young
engineers have become biased; this is a source of concern for instructors.

The way of thinking of basic mechanics

required for young engineers is clearly explained in these training materials.

We will refer to the training materials (5companies).

6. CONCLUSIONS
A common source of concern for designers at the beginning of their careers is the factors that need to be
determined on the basis of experience and the lack of a sense of balance as designers.
experienced designers.

Such factors are no obstacle to

However, no matter how much young designers think about those factors, they cannot arrive

at a solution and they can only pose very simple questions about such factors.

In designing, young designers often

encounter factors that cannot be determined from standards or logical calculation.

We endeavor to give simple

answers to their simple questions by using analogies.
The use of training materials with an abundance of examples with the purpose of conveying techniques iseffective for the training of young designers.

References[1] Susumu Kise and Shigeo Hirano: A Case of New Employee Training in Business (About Technical Skills andHuman Skills), Journal of JSDE, 54, 3 (2019),163-169..
[2] Shigeo Hirano, Susumu Kise, Sozo Sekiguchi, Kazuya Okusaka and Tsutomu Araki: Development of training
method and materials for young designers in three-dimensional mechanical design.12th Asian Forum on Graphic
Science (AFGS 2019).
[3] Shigeru Ito: Encyclopedia of Mechanisms, Ohmsha,Ltd (2012).