Concurrent Engineering

from the Perspective of Competitive Advantage

by
Edwin B. Dean

There are many perceptions about the nature of concurrent engineering, also known as simultaneous engineering.

Winner, Pennell, Bertrand, and Slusarezuk (1988) define 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 outset, to consider all elements of the product life cycle from conception through disposal, including quality, cost, schedule, and user requirements."

Jagannathan, V., K. J. Cleetus, R. Kannan, A. S. Matsumoto, and J. W. Lewis (1991) define concurrent engineering as "the process of forming and supporting multifunctional teams that set product and process parameters early in the design phase." According to Dean and Unal (1992), "Concurrent engineering is getting the right people together at the right time to identify and resolve design problems. Concurrent engineering is designing for assembly, availability, cost, customer satisfaction, maintainability, manageability, manufacturability, operability, performance, quality, risk, safety, schedule, social acceptability, and all other attributes of the product."

My most recent perception of concurrent engineering is that it includes concurrent design which is the simultaneous

design of the product,
design of the evaluation of the product,
design of the prototyping of the product,
design of the test of the product,
design of the production of the product,
design of the deployment of the product,
design of the operation of the product,
design of the support of the product,
design of the evolution of the product,
design of the retirement of the product, and
design of the management of the product.

How much more does it include? The literature is not clear on this point. The genopersistation recursion could be used to define concurrent engineering in it's entirety as it was used it to define concurrent design above. Even though concurrent engineering is not well defined, it's use tends to reduce cycle time and to reduce cost when appropriately applied. The challenge of the future is to scientifically determine the definition of "appropriately applied."

Parsaei and Sullivan (1993) provides an excellent set of articles which address a number of important issues within concurrent engineering. Gerwin and Susman (1996) summarizes the articles found in the IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management special issue on concurrent engineering.

References

Dean, E. B. and R. Unal (1992). "Elements of Designing for Cost," presented at The AIAA 1992 Aerospace Design Conference, Irvine CA, 3-6 February, AIAA-92-1057.
Gerwin, D. and G. Susman (1996). "Special Issue on Concurrent Engineering," IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 43, No. 2, May, pp. 118-123.
Jagannathan, V., K. J. Cleetus, R. Kannan, A. S. Matsumoto, and J. W. Lewis (1991). "Computer Support for Concurrent Engineering: Four Strategic Initiatives," Concurrent Engineering, September/October, pp. 14-30.
Parsaei, H. R. and W. G. Sullivan (1993). Concurrent Engineering: Contemporary Issues and Modern Design Tools, Chapman and Hall, London, England.
Winner, R. I., J. P. Pennell, H. E. Bertrand, and M. M. G. Slusarezuk (1988). The Role of Concurrent Engineering in Weapons System Acquisition, IDA Report R-338, Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria VA.

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