Specification of a collaborative framework for equipment suppliers´ integration in product development process

The role of equipment supplier in a successful manufacturing process of product components is very important. For this reason, the collaboration between OEM and equipment suppliers should rather go into strategic partnership, covering the whole equipment´s lifecycle. This paper presents a PLM framework that aims at improving the suppliers´ integration in the Product development process by enhancing the vertical collaboration between OEM and equipment suppliers, grouped in a global supplier network, relating to the equipments development project. This framework could improve the innovative capacities and the technical competencies of suppliers, by means of an efficient horizontal collaboration among a new global supplier network and by providing this network an interface to support collaboration with OEM.