Project planning in a concurrent engineering environment

Shortening product life cycles, reducing price and faster delivery are already the norm in manufacturing. These trends are certain to continue, with profitability being largely determined by the speed with which a company responds to market needs. This conclusion has been borne out by a number of studies. In order to meet these challenges, industry has responded by adopting new methodologies. One of these is commonly known as Concurrent Engineering (or Simultaneous Engineering). However, Concurrent Engineering (CE) radically affects the way we plan and monitor product development projects. This paper addresses the deficiencies of current project planning systems from a Concurrent Engineering perspective, and proposes a system which complements, rather than replaces, existing project planning techniques to enhance their utility in such an environment