211

Improving Productivity by Classification, Coding, and Data Base Standard-

ization, by William F. Hyde, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1981. ISBN
0-8247-1404-0, xiv + 332 pages, illustrated, hard back SFr. 105.00.

The author works with Brisch Birn and Partners, the American classifica-
tion consultants, and this book is a distillation of his many years of exper-
ience in the field. Naturally, therefore, it is built around and concentrates
exclusively on the Brisch approach, and all of the examples described use
their system. It is principally concerned with engineering, and in particular
with the metal-cutting industry.
The introductory chapter is rather polemic in nature, and some of the
comparative economic data on productivity growth rates should be treated
with caution. When next describing classification principles, only the hier-
archical approach (as used by Brisch) is discussed, and the alternative prin-
ciple of "fixed digital significance" is not mentioned. Similarly, the Brisch
principle that each application requires a unique coding system is assumed.
Thus, all of the many published existing industrial coding systems are not
mentioned. The text also describes the Brisch system of Monocodes, Poly-
codes, and Multiplexing.
In the chapter on simplication, the use of Preferred Number Series (a
much neglected topic) is usefully described, with plenty of good examples.
The author enters the controversial field of group technology with the
points that it is a technique which has been talked and written about too
much at the expense of useful action, and that it can mean everything from
single machine loading through to job enrichment. Incidentally, in his
history of the evolution of group technology, I think he gives too much
weight to the work of the Russians. It is likely that group technology has
been used far more in the West, and the work of Grayson established this
point.
There is an interesting chapter on the application of computers in classifi-
cation work, and the principles of accessing data through keywords. This
section would perhaps have benefitted from the inclusion of some of the
recent developments in computer specialist database management work.
The author rightly devotes a chapter to the relationship between classifi-
cation and coding and CAD/CAM, as the potential in this area is enormous.
The power of current micro- and mini-computers combined with currently
available database management software has opened up a huge area for in-
expensive potential applications in industry. The author discusses the use
of classification numbers in planning and manufacture and a number of case
studies of Brisch applications are described, such as those at Perkins Engines,
Cincinnati Milacron, Hoover, and Coles Cranes.
In conclusion, this is an excellent introduction to the Brisch system of
classification, variety reduction, and group technology.i It includes many
useful examples of engineering and financial data which will be of great help
to those building up a management case for presentation. It does not at-
tempt to review the whole field of classification or group technology and the
212

many diverse contributions which have been made in the area, and perhaps
this should have been made clear in the title. The text is clearly written by
an industrialist for other industrialists and has an easy-to-read style. For
anyone intending to use (or teach) classification and group technology, this
is certainly a b o o k which should be looked at.

C.C. G A L L A G H E R

Engine Noise: Excitation, Vibration and Radiation, by R o b e r t Hickling and

Mounir M. Kamal (Eds.), Plenum Press, New York, 1982. ISBN 0-306-
41168-7, ix + 497 pages, illustrated, hard cover US$62.50 (plus 20%
outside of the U.S. and Canada).

The problem facing the automotive diesel designer is to produce machines

that will satisfy increasingly stringent legislation on noise and exhaust
emissions, while ensuring that fuel e c o n o m y is maintained or improved.
These requirements are conflicting: an increase in the maximum firing
pressure and temperature in the cylinders will improve the thermal efficiency
of the engine, b u t will tend to exacerbate the noise and emissions problems.
Increasing the mass of the engine structure can reduce noise levels, b u t will
result in a reduced vehicle payload or increased fuel consumption. Clearly
this is a difficult problem to solve, and considerable efforts are being made
to optimise the design process.
This b o o k comprises an edited collection of papers read at a symposium
on "Engine Noise: Excitation, Vibration and Radiation" held at the General
Motors Research Laboratories during October 1981. The editors have wisely
decided to include items from the disc~lssions which followed the reading of
each paper, thus the usefulness of the material presented can be judged
taking into account the expert criticism available. Contributors from the
USA, Japan, Britain and Austria, including some of the foremost authorities
on this subject, cover many aspects of the problem.
Various sources of noise are investigated and theoretical and empirical
methods for the prediction of the resulting sound pressure levels are devel-
oped. Noise generation b y combustion, fuel-injection equipment, and various
mechanical sources are covered.
An interesting technique for the determination of the instantaneous
mean temperature within the cylinder is proposed as a useful by-product of
this work. The resonant frequencies of the sound waves within the cylinder
vary with the speed of sound in the gas, while that speed is related to the
temperature.
Having shown how to obtain the magnitude of the vibration excitation,
the following section of the b o o k concerns itself with the nature of the
transmission of the vibrations through the engine structure. The increasingly
ubiquitous technique of finite-element analysis makes its appearance here,
along with the predictive methods of modal analysis and the generation of
mobihty-transfer functions. As elsewhere in the text, theoretical analysis is