Production and Development Process
The traditional approach to product development stresses on a rigid sequence of steps. Usually R&D engineers exclude the manufacture process and purchase process during the product design stage. R&D engineers normally assume that process engineers/manufacturing engineers could develop the processes required for a new product. The prototype model of the new product under development goes through the universal production process to prove the concept, and for initial trials, without using the mass production techniques, tools, and fixtures. As a result, the process time for manufacturing is extended and the expenses also increase.
After the completion of design, to prevent high cost and long time consumed in development, a system of concurrent activity of production and development is created. In this system, the designer and processor work in close coordination with each other, which results in considerable reduction in the development cycles.
This has gained high level of importance in the present scenario of high costs and severe competition. It is called as simultaneous engineering or concurrent engineering. The traditional approach of sequential activity of product and process design is replaced by concurrent operation of development and design, by cross-functional teams consisting of representatives from product design, process design, quality, production planning and so on. The results of simultaneous engineering are reduced time to market, reduced product cost, and better quality.