CONCURRENT ENGINEERING Product Development Time = > Figure 2.1, The timing of costs during product development. customers, finance, accounting, and other discipline: cal geometry of the product. Concurrent engineering is a popular and frequently discussed way for manufacturing to improve competitiveness and for the government, specifically the U.S. Department of Defense, to purchase better products for less cost. An Institute for Defense Analysis report (3) defined concurrent engineering as “‘a systematic approach to the integrated, concurrent design of products and their related processes, including manufacture and support. This approach is intended to cause the developers, from the onset, to consider all elements of the product life cycle from conception through disposal, including quality, cost, schedule, and user require- ments." Concurrent engineering is simply designing a product, its size, shape, materials, etc., and at the same time designing the manufacturing processes and related support that will be needed once the product is delivered. ‘Much of the motivation for concurrent engineering is based on the economic leverage of addressing all aspects of the design of a product as early as possible. Many industries have documented the fact that while the out-of-pocket costs for product development are small during the early stages, the impact on final costs is large (Figure 2.1). If the quality of work done during the early stages is improved, there will be a large effect on later stages once actual manufacturing has commenced. ind the engineering design of the physi- 2.4 THE FEATURES OF CONCURRENT ENGINEERING Concurrent engineering does not occur in a single form, Its features vary from industry to industry, from organization to organization, and from product to product. Sometimes a particu- lar product requires a unique CE plan. The specific features of CE vary with the implementation but generally include a combination of the following ingredients. Multidisciplinary Teams Groups representing two or more functional areas are gathered to develop a product consisting of people from various disciplines. Many such teams may be necessary. The particular member- ship of the team depends on the product involved and the overall organization. Generally, the team at least includes engineering design and manufacturing engineering. It may include many other disciplines such as finance, marketing, research and development (R&D), logistics, pur- chasing, and quality control. Customers and vendors are sometimes included. There may be a hierarchy of teams, with individual teams concerned with one part of a product (such as the door of a car) or with a system (such as the hydraulic system of an airplane). A team leader is needed, but equality and participation of all members are absolutely necessary ‘The hierarchy of teams may be for the development of a part of a product. Integration or overall teams (teams of teams) may be formed that consist of representatives of subteams or