Reference no: EM133026745 , Length: word count:2500

UFMEEC-15-M Concurrent Engineering and Design for Manufacture - University of the West of England

CONCURRENT ENGINEERING AND EARLY SUPPLIER INVOLVEMENT

To remain competitive in today's global market it has become crucial for companies to successfully manage new product development (NPD) processes. Companies have therefore implemented the principles of Concurrent Engineering (CE) for both product and process design to address issues relating to the product life cycle, product customisation and to reduce time-to-market. Nowadays this increasingly requires a strong alignment with suppliers and partners in the supply chain. Collaboration through increased supplier involvement and incorporating early consideration of the supply chain perspective during new product and process design is discussed in the literature as "three-dimensional concurrent engineering" (3DCE) (Fine, C.H., 1998).

For this assignment you are required to prepare a short but fully referenced report on how the future of supply chain involvement/management could impact on concurrent engineering thinking for a UK manufacturing company and how it might need to respond. Focus on the future relevance and if/how it might need to evolve over the next few years. You already recognise that confidence in the support of a high performing supply chain will be critical when designing and developing new products for a highly competitive market. Imagine that the company in question is a typical small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) with 250 employees selling its products across the world with approximately 40% going to mainland Europe.

While many companies are faced with a volatile situation at present, it is imperative that this report is focussing not just on current issues but future and long-term implications, particularly as nobody really knows how Covid-19, Brexit and other global events etc. will pan out. You must demonstrate that you have given the subject some serious thought as it is a question running through the minds of many UK manufacturing managers at this very moment!

The report must demonstrate considerable evidence of you having researched the subject and must be fully and correctly referenced. It is not sufficient to simply use sources from the internet without careful quality control. Where applicable you need to make use of academic papers, journal publications, text books, the University's e-library etc. Other details, if required, should be included in the appendices. It is very strongly recommended that you follow the links for Study Skills & Support on Blackboard and carefully look at the sections on Academic Writing, Referencing etc.

Attachment:- Concurrent Engineering.rar