The importance of communication infrastructure in concurrent engineering : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
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Date
2009
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Massey University
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Abstract
Concurrent engineering is an imperative concept in the world of
product development. With the globalisation of industry, the market
has been demanding higher quality products at lower costs,
delivered at faster pace. With most companies today accepting the
concurrent engineering approach as a formula for product
development success, this approach is becoming ever more popular
and dominating over the slower sequential product development
method. Fast changes in technology, forced design cycle time
reduction, emergence of new information technology and
methodologies, as well as other aspects such as organisational and
behavioural basis caused the sequential design process to progress
into a concurrent engineering approach.
The basic concept behind the concurrent engineering approach is
that all parts of the design, manufacture, production, management,
finance, and marketing of the product are usually involved in the
early stages of a product’s design cycle, enabling faster product
development through extensive use of simulation. Its key approach
is to get the right data for the right person at the right time.
There are forces that govern changes in the product development,
and these forces must be steered towards prompt response to
competition and higher productivity in order for companies to exist
and successfully expand in the global market place.
Concurrent engineering is made up of four key dimensions, one of
them the communication infrastructure dimension, which is the focus
of this study. This study defines the information infrastructure
dimension, and some of the tools and technologies that support
communication and collaboration. It then discusses how to employ the
concurrent engineering approach from a communication
infrastructure dimension point of view, starting with assessing the
current product development process and eventually envisioning the
path to take to a successful concurrent engineering environment.
Communication infrastructure technologies and tools can be seen as
central to a company’s implementation of concurrent engineering, as
shown in the case studies covered in this work.
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Keywords
Communication infrastructure, Concurrent engineering, Computer systems engineering