The fierce competition between manufacturing companies in recent years has forced them to revise their organizational structure in order to implement the changes needed to keep up with new developments. The most important challenges that a manufacturer faces today are to anticipate consumer demand, improve product quality without increasing overheads and reduce lead time. In practice this means that the company must launch the right product at the right time and at the right price.
The term 'concurrent engineering' was coined in the 1980's to indicate a way of working in product development and design to meet consumer demands in shorter time, with fewer errors, and lower costs. In this methodology, several teams within an organization work concurrently to develop products and services. Product design, quality, unit cost, and manufacturing time are the most important parameters that impact the profitability of an organization. The concurrent engineering approach is intended to involve all these stakeholders of a product in order to consider all elements of the product life cycle - from conception to disposal - including quality, cost, schedule, and user requirements right from the start. As the word implies, the essence of concurrent engineering is the concurrent execution of design processes with the design of downstream processes, in particular manufacturing. The concurrent engineering approach is thus based on the idea that different phases of a product life cycle should be accomplished concurrently and initiated as early as possible within the product creation process. This approach increases efficiency and reduces errors in the late phases of the product lifecycle management (PLM). Because of its growing utility, the concepts of concurrent engineering have been adopted by many diverse industries such as automotive, aerospace, marine and mechanical, and have also been adopted in the development of new services.
Benefits of Concurrent Engineering
In traditional product development, only a small part of the development time is dedicated to define the product. The key to reducing lead times is to define the product accurately even before engineering design begins, and requires collaborative efforts of many departments involved in the work even before the engineering design phase begins. Thanks to concurrent engineering approach, many departments come together to generate a product concept, approve, develop and ultimately implement a product that meets the goals. It even involves the purchase and after-sales departments, so that any potential roadblock is mitigated before the product reaches production phase. The main idea is that the development should not only be carried out by technical departments, but also all other teams involved in PLM. This approach usually involves fewer design changes and ensures that the product has fewer errors at the start of production and results in lower product development costs. It also empowers manufacturers to increase product variety and technical complexity. This in turn gives them an edge over their competitors by bringing to market a product with more features with better quality at the same price.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
The key to achieving success in accelerating product development is using technology to integrate people and process. By doing this, the engineering team can work in tandem with say, the production team, and overcome the shortcomings of linear engineering. PLM, which unites all aspects and phases of product development, is therefore an important part of the concurrent engineering process.
PLM software like PTC Windchill enables a seamless flow of real-time and accurate information between engineering and manufacturing teams so teams can work concurrently to deliver better quality products more efficiently.
The most critical factor in the success of concurrent engineering is the availability of a framework to form multifunctional teams with all specialties present and active early, and PLM provides this framework. PLM or product lifecycle management is the integral, corporate-wide management and control of all data and processes related to the entire lifecycle of a product; from its conception and envisioning through its manufacturing, deployment and maintenance and culminating in its removal from service and final disposal. PLM systems enable the integration and the optimal running of tasks by establishing a knowledge hub that includes all the details of a product. A good PLM software like Windchill establishes a product knowledge base so that the system has all details at hand whenever needed. PLM can help the company to improve cost-efficiency of their operations by delivering more innovative products as well as services, reducing development and production costs, improving the quality of products and services, shortening lead times, and in general enhancing customer experience.
PLM arose in response to the growing needs of product design organizations, as they struggled to manage, synchronize and share increasingly complex, interdependent CAD files among global teams involving both internal and external members. It enabled product engineers to work and rework products to optimize designs, and with the rise of Internet, to collaborate on the goal globally, in real time. Together with concurrent engineering, PLM systems are enabling technologies for integrating people, data, business processes, manufacturing processes and anything else pertaining to a product. They also provide a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise. Together, they form a business strategy that applies a number of business solutions that support the creation, management, dissemination and use of product information. Concurrent engineering and PLM:
In Summary
The core concept of concurrent engineering is that all the stakeholders in the entire development life cycle, including customers, sales, design engineers, manufacturers, test engineers, etc, work together in close communication especially in the design phase. This helps improve the quality of product design and in turn reduces development cost by minimizing costly rework in later phases. Since the aim of PLM is to reduce marketing time, improve the product quality in new product as well as in service, centralize product record, minimize cost and waste reduction, both concurrent engineering and PLM work in tandem. A good PLM software incorporates all the principles of concurrent engineering, providing a competitive edge to the manufacturer.