SIMULTANEOUS ENGINEERING

Simultaneous engineering is the practice of using a multidisciplinary team to conduct conceptual thinking, product design, and production planning at all one time.

It is also known as concurrent engineering, quality by design or parallel engineering.

The team is composed of specialists from business, engineering, production and the customer base.

Suppliers of process equipment, purchased parts and services are also included on the team at appropriate times.

In broad definition, simultaneous engineering is a team of specialists who simultaneously design and develop a product to ensure ease of produce ability and customer satisfaction.

In simultaneous engineering (engineers such as mechanical, electrical, structural, quality, material etc),production and business (such as purchasing, marketing, finance) as well as suppliers and customers brainstorm together to develop a product that considers all facets of its functionality as well as its costs.

When each of the specialists has early input to the product definition and specifications cost is minimized. Thus better quality products are manufactured for less cost with shorter time to market.

Getting input at the beginning from all areas eliminates engineering changes later in the project.

Communication flows better and people are more apt to compromise to assure better manufacturability.