Linking strategy thinking to engineering design

This paper searches for fit between corporate strategy and the engineering design process. In order to emphasize the strategic side of engineering designers´ decisions, the designers should be managed in the very early stages of engineering design process. Also, the data banks and performance measurement for engineering design should be designed so that they emphasize the future aspect of decisions instead of concentrating on post calculations of present products. The above features are close to the characteristics of strategy process. The most relevant issues in their framework are: future orientation and communication. These themes are emphasized by integrating the work and tools of design engineers to the company´s strategy and performance analyses