Chapter 14: Life Cycle Engineering

Title: Coordination in new product development: a model to evaluate potential benefits

Author(s): Samuel Suss, Vince James Thomson

Address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada | Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Reference: International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management 2009 pp. 712 - 721

Abstract/Summary: In organizations that design complex products with multiple partners, it is the coordination of the creation and communication of information that has become the most important performance factor for the product development process. Improving the coordination of design tasks offers an opportunity to substantially reduce span time and effort. In this paper a model of the development of a complex product is described. The model evaluates the impact of various coordination mechanisms (policy decisions) that affect information flow. Simulation results show the relative effectiveness of different coordination mechanisms.

Order a copy of this article