Concurrent engineering

Concurrent engineering emerged as a response to traditional sequential development, often called "over the wall" engineering, where each function completed its work before passing to the next. Sequential approaches create long development cycles and late-discovered problems requiring costly redesigns.

The concurrent approach requires organizational changes: co-located or well-connected teams, collaborative tools, and management support for parallel activity. It also requires comfort with uncertainty, as downstream activities begin before upstream work is complete.

Key enablers include early and continuous communication, shared access to evolving design data, regular integration points to synchronize parallel efforts, and willingness to iterate as new information emerges. PLM systems support concurrent engineering by providing shared access to current design information.

Procurement's role in concurrent engineering includes early engagement to inform make/buy decisions, parallel supplier identification and qualification, early cost estimation to guide design tradeoffs, and supply chain planning that overlaps with design development.

Frequently asked questions

What is concurrent engineering?

Concurrent engineering is a development approach where design, manufacturing engineering, procurement, quality, and other functions work simultaneously rather than sequentially on product development. Running activities in parallel with continuous collaboration compresses development schedules and catches problems early, when changes cost less.

What is the difference between concurrent and sequential engineering?

Traditional sequential development, often called over-the-wall engineering, has each function complete its work before passing to the next, which creates long development cycles and problems discovered late, when redesigns are costly. Concurrent engineering overlaps those activities, so manufacturing, tooling, and sourcing work proceeds while the design is still evolving.

What does concurrent engineering require to work?

Concurrent engineering requires co-located or well-connected teams, collaborative tools, and management support for parallel activity, plus comfort with uncertainty, since downstream work begins before upstream work is complete. Key enablers include early and continuous communication, shared access to evolving design data, regular integration points, and willingness to iterate, with PLM systems providing everyone the current design information.

What is procurement's role in concurrent engineering?

Procurement engages early to inform make-or-buy decisions, identifies and qualifies suppliers in parallel with design work, provides early cost estimates to guide design tradeoffs, and plans the supply chain while the product is still in development. Supplier qualification overlapping with design finalization means sourcing does not start from zero at design release.

What do integrated product teams look like?

A cross-functional team including design, manufacturing, quality, and procurement representatives works together throughout development, with daily interaction enabling immediate feedback rather than sequential handoffs. The parallel efforts converge: product designers develop the device while manufacturing engineers design the assembly process, tooling engineers develop test fixtures, and procurement qualifies suppliers.