Abstract This paper presents a theoretical approach to complexity engineering by considering the complex thinking framework proposed by Edgar Morin. The main foundations of this approach are an open system design, emergence, randomness inclusion, and Gödel incompleteness, which are contextualized using real-word instructive problems. Considering these concepts, several conjectures related to engineering activity and engineering education are presented taking several Brazilian catastrophes as counterexamples.

Este trabalho discute as possibilidades de mudança do fordismo em direção a sistemas de produção mais flexíveis. Algumas das mudanças que vêm ocorrendo no Brasil são ilustradas através de casos nas indústrias de calçados e automobilística. Aparentemente, a modernização acontece nos setores voltados para o mercado externo. Há poucas evidências de mudanças radicais para maior flexibilidade em qualquer setor. Em vez disso, as mudanças são implementadas em ritmo lento e de modo incremental.

This article is an exploratory essay on the possibility of changind the fordist may of organising production processes towards greater flexibility. Some changes in Brazil are illustrated through cases in the footwear and automobile industries. It seems that the modernisation wave is taking place mostly in externally oriented sectors. Further, there is little evidence of a radical shift towards flexibility in any sector. Instead, firms are changing in a slow step-by-step pattern.