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David Morgan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Design Complexity in termite fishing tools of chimpanzees pan troglodytes
    Biology Letters, 2009
    Co-Authors: Crickette M Sanz, Josep Call, David Morgan
    Abstract:

    Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of Design Complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Prior to termite fishing, chimpanzees applied a set of deliberate, distinguishable actions to modify herb stems to fashion a brush-tipped probe, which is different from the form of fishing tools used by chimpanzees in East and West Africa. This means that ‘brush-tipped fishing probes’, unlike ‘brush sticks’, are not a by-product of use but a deliberate Design feature absent in other chimpanzee populations. The specialized modifications to prepare the tool for termite fishing, measures taken to repair non-functional brushes and appropriate orientation of the modified end suggest that these wild chimpanzees are attentive to tool modifications. We also conducted experimental trials that showed that a brush-tipped probe is more effective in gathering insects than an unmodified fishing probe. Based on these findings, we suggest that chimpanzees in the Congo Basin have developed an improved fishing probe Design.

  • Design Complexity in termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
    Biology letters, 2009
    Co-Authors: Crickette M Sanz, Josep Call, David Morgan
    Abstract:

    Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of Design Complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Prior to termite fishing, chimpanzees applied a set of deliberate, distinguishable actions to modify herb stems to fashion a brush-tipped probe, which is different from the form of fishing tools used by chimpanzees in East and West Africa. This means that ‘brush-tipped fishing probes’, unlike ‘brush sticks’, are not a by-product of use but a deliberate Design feature absent in other chimpanzee populations. The specialized modifications to prepare the tool for termite fishing, measures taken to repair non-functional brushes and appropriate orientation of the modified end suggest that these wild chimpanzees are attentive to tool modifications. We also conducted experimental trials that showed that a brush-tipped probe is more effective in gathering insects than an unmodified fishing probe. Based on these findings, we suggest that chimpanzees in the Congo Basin have developed an improved fishing probe Design.

Crickette M Sanz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Design Complexity in termite fishing tools of chimpanzees pan troglodytes
    Biology Letters, 2009
    Co-Authors: Crickette M Sanz, Josep Call, David Morgan
    Abstract:

    Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of Design Complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Prior to termite fishing, chimpanzees applied a set of deliberate, distinguishable actions to modify herb stems to fashion a brush-tipped probe, which is different from the form of fishing tools used by chimpanzees in East and West Africa. This means that ‘brush-tipped fishing probes’, unlike ‘brush sticks’, are not a by-product of use but a deliberate Design feature absent in other chimpanzee populations. The specialized modifications to prepare the tool for termite fishing, measures taken to repair non-functional brushes and appropriate orientation of the modified end suggest that these wild chimpanzees are attentive to tool modifications. We also conducted experimental trials that showed that a brush-tipped probe is more effective in gathering insects than an unmodified fishing probe. Based on these findings, we suggest that chimpanzees in the Congo Basin have developed an improved fishing probe Design.

  • Design Complexity in termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
    Biology letters, 2009
    Co-Authors: Crickette M Sanz, Josep Call, David Morgan
    Abstract:

    Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of Design Complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Prior to termite fishing, chimpanzees applied a set of deliberate, distinguishable actions to modify herb stems to fashion a brush-tipped probe, which is different from the form of fishing tools used by chimpanzees in East and West Africa. This means that ‘brush-tipped fishing probes’, unlike ‘brush sticks’, are not a by-product of use but a deliberate Design feature absent in other chimpanzee populations. The specialized modifications to prepare the tool for termite fishing, measures taken to repair non-functional brushes and appropriate orientation of the modified end suggest that these wild chimpanzees are attentive to tool modifications. We also conducted experimental trials that showed that a brush-tipped probe is more effective in gathering insects than an unmodified fishing probe. Based on these findings, we suggest that chimpanzees in the Congo Basin have developed an improved fishing probe Design.

Spyros Vassilakis - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • managing Design Complexity
    Industrial Organization, 2002
    Co-Authors: Spyros Vassilakis
    Abstract:

    This paper contains a model of waste elimination through Design. It argues for the importance of managing Design Complexity in improving cost, quality, variety, and time--to--market performance variables. Management of Design Complexity is identified with creation, choice, and application of Design problem representations, divisions of Design labor, and product architectures that provably eliminate waste. The paper's thesis is illustrated with a comparison of Toyota's technology strategy (based on waste elimination) to that of General Motors (based on frontier--shifting investment).

  • Managing Design Complexity, to Improve on Cost, Quality, Variety, and Time-to-Market Performance Variables
    1997
    Co-Authors: Spyros Vassilakis
    Abstract:

    This paper contains a model of waste elimination through Design. It argues for the importance of managing Design Complexity in improving cost, quality, variety, and time-to-market performance varaibles. Management of Design Complexity is identified with creation, choice, and application of Design problem representations, divisions of Design labour, and product architectures that provably eliminate waste.

  • Managing Design Complexity to Improve on Cost, Quality, Variety, and Time-to-Market Performance Variables
    SSRN Electronic Journal, 1997
    Co-Authors: Spyros Vassilakis
    Abstract:

    This paper contains a model of waste elimination through Design. It argues for the importance of managing Design Complexity in improving cost, quality, variety, and time-to-market performance variables. Management of Design Complexity is identified with creation, choice, and application of Design problem representations, divisions of Design labor, and product architectures that provably eliminate waste. The paper's thesis is illustrated with a comparison of Toyota's technology strategy (based on waste elimination) to that of General Motors (based on frontier-shifting investment).

Josep Call - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Design Complexity in termite fishing tools of chimpanzees pan troglodytes
    Biology Letters, 2009
    Co-Authors: Crickette M Sanz, Josep Call, David Morgan
    Abstract:

    Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of Design Complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Prior to termite fishing, chimpanzees applied a set of deliberate, distinguishable actions to modify herb stems to fashion a brush-tipped probe, which is different from the form of fishing tools used by chimpanzees in East and West Africa. This means that ‘brush-tipped fishing probes’, unlike ‘brush sticks’, are not a by-product of use but a deliberate Design feature absent in other chimpanzee populations. The specialized modifications to prepare the tool for termite fishing, measures taken to repair non-functional brushes and appropriate orientation of the modified end suggest that these wild chimpanzees are attentive to tool modifications. We also conducted experimental trials that showed that a brush-tipped probe is more effective in gathering insects than an unmodified fishing probe. Based on these findings, we suggest that chimpanzees in the Congo Basin have developed an improved fishing probe Design.

  • Design Complexity in termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
    Biology letters, 2009
    Co-Authors: Crickette M Sanz, Josep Call, David Morgan
    Abstract:

    Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of Design Complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Prior to termite fishing, chimpanzees applied a set of deliberate, distinguishable actions to modify herb stems to fashion a brush-tipped probe, which is different from the form of fishing tools used by chimpanzees in East and West Africa. This means that ‘brush-tipped fishing probes’, unlike ‘brush sticks’, are not a by-product of use but a deliberate Design feature absent in other chimpanzee populations. The specialized modifications to prepare the tool for termite fishing, measures taken to repair non-functional brushes and appropriate orientation of the modified end suggest that these wild chimpanzees are attentive to tool modifications. We also conducted experimental trials that showed that a brush-tipped probe is more effective in gathering insects than an unmodified fishing probe. Based on these findings, we suggest that chimpanzees in the Congo Basin have developed an improved fishing probe Design.

Jessika E. Trancik - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Role of Design Complexity in technology improvement
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011
    Co-Authors: James Mcnerney, J. Doyne Farmer, Sidney Redner, Jessika E. Trancik
    Abstract:

    We study a simple model for the evolution of the cost (or more generally the performance) of a technology or production process. The technology can be decomposed into n components, each of which interacts with a cluster of d - 1 other components. Innovation occurs through a series of trial-and-error events, each of which consists of randomly changing the cost of each component in a cluster, and accepting the changes only if the total cost of the cluster is lowered. We show that the relationship between the cost of the whole technology and the number of innovation attempts is asymptotically a power law, matching the functional form often observed for empirical data. The exponent α of the power law depends on the intrinsic difficulty of finding better components, and on what we term the Design Complexity: the more complex the Design, the slower the rate of improvement. Letting d as defined above be the connectivity, in the special case in which the connectivity is constant, the Design Complexity is simply the connectivity. When the connectivity varies, bottlenecks can arise in which a few components limit progress. In this case the Design Complexity depends on the details of the Design. The number of bottlenecks also determines whether progress is steady, or whether there are periods of stasis punctuated by occasional large changes. Our model connects the engineering properties of a Design to historical studies of technology improvement.

  • The Role of Design Complexity in Technology Improvement
    SSRN Electronic Journal, 2009
    Co-Authors: James Mcnerney, J. Doyne Farmer, Sidney Redner, Jessika E. Trancik
    Abstract:

    We study a simple model for the evolution of the cost (or more generally the performance) of a technology or production process. The technology can be decomposed into n components, each of which interacts with a cluster of d-1 other, dependent components. Innovation occurs through a series of trial-and-error events, each of which consists of randomly changing the cost of each component in a cluster, and accepting the changes only if the total cost of the entire cluster is lowered. We show that the relationship between the cost of the whole technology and the number of innovation attempts is asymptotically a power law, matching the functional form often observed for empirical data. The exponent alpha of the power law depends on the intrinsic difficulty of finding better components, and on what we term the Design Complexity: The more complex the Design, the slower the rate of improvement. Letting d as defined above be the connectivity, in the special case in which the connectivity is constant, the Design Complexity is simply the connectivity. When the connectivity varies, bottlenecks can arise in which a few components limit progress. In this case the Design Complexity is more complicated, depending on the details of the Design. The number of bottlenecks also determines whether progress is steady, or whether there are periods of stasis punctuated by occasional large changes. Our model connects the engineering properties of a Design to historical studies of technology improvement.