Competitive edge in today's world markets can only be achieved by an integrated approach to manufacturing. Concurrent or Simultaneous Engineering offers the promise of a reduced product development cycle, using complex technologies to satisfy customer demand for high quality, competitively-priced products brought to market in minimum time. The CONSENS implementation of Concurrent/Simultaneous Engineering (CSE) is an integrated package developed over recent years by some of the leading manufacturers and research institutes in Europe. It is the product of the flagship EU research project into the use of IT in Manufacturing led by the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart. In particular, this study describes the management of change, network organisation, CONSENS architecture and module integration, SiFrame Management Information System, design for CSE and industrial implementations of CONSENS.

An integrated, highly practical approach to product developmentusing simultaneous engineering Industrial engineers and designers as well as managers working on new product development (NPD) typically do not have the time or the expertise to get involved in functions outside their immediate area. Yet the very nature of NPD requires a number of functions and processes to be performed concurrently. This is where simultaneous engineering comes in. Simultaneous Engineering for New Product Development offers state-of-the-art, integrated coverage of these two hot topics in manufacturing. Industry expert Jack Ribbens draws on firsthand experience with the successful application of simultaneous engineering in the automotive industry, discussing how this approach can help streamline the entire development and production process, resulting in high-quality, competitive goods. He examines all phases of the process, devoting a chapter to each key element-from market research to design and engineering to manufacturing, selling, and customer service and support. And while most books on concurrent engineering stress the theoretical aspects of the field, Ribbens's book is decidedly practical, complete with case studies from the automotive, aerospace, heavy vehicle, and electronic industries that can be applied to any manufactured product. With mathematical model development as well as useful graphs, checklists, and references, Simultaneous Engineering for New Product Development will help manufacturing professionals take advantage of new trends and technologies in manufacturing well into the twenty-first century.

A thorough, original guide to using Concurrent Engineering principles to develop products that meet customer needs -- and to do so as quickly and efficiently as possible.This book shows how CE encompasses manufacturing competitiveness, life-cycle management, process reengineering, cooperative workgroups, systems engineering, information modeling, and product, process and organization integration. This book also identifies, for the first time, 25 fundamental CE metrics and measures. These are categorized into four groups: simulations and analysis, product feasibility and quality assessment, design for X-ability assessment, and process quality assessment. The book describes the new process of Concurrent Function Deployment, which allows workgroups to work concurrently on conflicting values and compare notes and common checkpoints. Extensive exercises and illustrations are included throughout. Managers involved in any type of product development.

Prof. Jürgens is renowned for his scientific work in such fields as human resources, work organization and organization of production and development, especially for automotive industries. In this publication, authors from different countries discuss models of integration in development and production as realized in practice. Of interest to those practitioners who need to develop benchmarks for their own development and production.

In the area of computer-integrated manufacturing, concurrent engineering is recognized as the manufacturing philosophy for the next decade.

Agile manufacturing is defined as the capability of surviving and prospering in a competitive environment of continuous and unpredictable change by reacting quickly and effectively to changing markets, driven by customer-designed products and services. Critical to successfully accomplishing AM are a few enabling technologies such as the standard for the exchange of products (STEP), concurrent engineering, virtual manufacturing, component-based hierarchical shop floor control system, information and communication infrastructure, etc.The scope of the book is to present the undergraduate and graduate students, senior managers and researchers in manufacturing systems design and management, industrial engineering and information technology with the conceptual and theoretical basis for the design and implementation of AMS. Also, the book focuses on broad policy directives and plans of agile manufacturing that guide the monitoring and evaluating the manufacturing strategies and their performance. A problem solving approach is taken throughout the book, emphasizing the context of agile manufacturing and the complexities to be addressed.

This book covers recent advances in simultaneous engineering and contemporary issues related to the development and implementation of successful systems. The scope of material includes recent research related to simultaneous engineering problem-solving architectures, organizational issues, tools and techniques of simultaneous engineering, design methods, and application of artificial intelligence and numeric tools.