Operationalizing the concept of concurrent engineering: a case study from the US auto industry

This paper presents the results of case study research conducted at a major US automotive firm. Four waves of qualitative data were collected to identify the organizational and technological changes needed to implement concurrent engineering practices. The desire to cut product development time was the driving factor in a strategy designed to boost sales and market share. The company was successful in shortening concept-to-market time by over one year on its first newly designed vehicle, primarily through the use of product-focused, cross-functional platform teams which permitted the early integration of manufacturing personnel into product and process development. While technology played an important role in this transformation, organizational, and human resource changes were the greatest enablers.