Y 4. SCI 2: 103/136 ESTABLISHMENT OF A DESIGN COUNCIL HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT AND AVIATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS DEPOSITORY Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, De ISBN 0-16-045986-9 NOV 0 8 1994 Stanford University COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY GEORGE E. BROWN, JR., California, Chairman MARILYN LLOYD, Tennessee DAVE MCCURDY, Oklahoma TIM VALENTINE, North Carolina JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR., Ohio PETE GEREN, Texas JIM BACCHUS, Florida TIM ROEMER, Indiana ROBERT E. (BUD) CRAMER, Jr., Alabama ERIC FINGERHUT, Ohio PAUL MCHALE, Pennsylvania DON JOHNSON, Georgia SAM COPPERSMITH, Arizona JAY INSLEE, Washington EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois ROBERT S. WALKER, Pennsylvania* SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York HARRIS W. FAWELL, Illinois DICK ZIMMER, New Jersey SAM JOHNSON, Texas EDWARD R. ROYCE, California CONTENTS Page Tom Hardy, Director of Strategic Consulting, Design Continuum Dr. Peter Dewhurst, Professor and Graduate Program Director, Depart- ment of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Robert Brunner, Director, Industrial Design Group, Apple Computer Congressional Record: Extension of Remarks, June 29, 1994 by Hon. George H.R. 4673, A Bill To establish a U.S. Design Council as an advisory commit- 189 203 ESTABLISHMENT OF A DESIGN COUNCIL IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 1994 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, Washington, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 2318, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. George E. Brown presiding. Mr. BROWN. The Subcommittee on Technology, Environment and Aviation will come to order, and I want to welcome all of you here, particularly the distinguished panel of witnesses who are giving us of their time and expertise, and, also, I welcome the audience. We are going to focus on a legislative proposal to establish a design council in the Department of Commerce. The purpose of the council would be to promote awareness of the importance of design to the successful commercialization of technologies and to U.S. competitiveness. What is design and what is its relationship to technology? Like quality, it is a term not easily defined. Nevertheless, design has the potential to impact American manufacturing, just as total quality management principles have dramatically impacted the productivity of American industry in recent years. When introduced early in the production process, design can reduce manufacturing costs, improve quality, and save the consumer and manufacturer money, while reducing waste caused by poorly made products. By defining design as a practice or continuous process involving an entire organization rather than as a separate component, this concept becomes accepted as a link in a chain of factors required for success. Many of our international competitors have long recognized that design can be an essential element to improving economic prosperity. Today there are more than 100 design councils in countries around the world, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, for instance, Britain, Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and Finland. Virtually all are funded either in whole or in part by their respective governments. The purpose of this hearing is to gather views on such issues as: What advantages do our industrial competitors gain from their design councils? What activities should a design council pursue to increase the competitiveness of U.S. companies? How should the Federal Government interact with the private sector in these matters? (1) |