Concurrent engineering: practices and prospects

Concurrent engineering, a more systematic approach to creating high quality products at lower in significantly less time, has recently been promoted in the automotive, computer and electronics, and aerospace industries as a response to competitive pressures. It also attracted the attention of the Department of Defense and in 1988, the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) was asked to investigate concurrent engineering. The authors describe the investigation, present highlights of the evidence, and set forth the principal findings and recommendations. They include a sample of reported benefits, an outline of the methods and technologies of concurrent engineering, and a conceptual framework to describe the continuing research needed in this area