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ISSN: 0128-7680
Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. 17 (1): 9 – 20 (2009) © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

The Important Role of Concurrent Engineering in

Product Development Process

A. Hambali1*, S.M. Sapuan1, N. Ismail1, Y. Nukman2 and M.S. Abdul Karim3

1
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering,
Universiti Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
2
Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, University of Malaya,
50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3
School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical and Computer Sciences,
Nottingham University Malaysia Campus,
43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
*
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
Nowadays, Concurrent Engineering (CE) is becoming more important as companies compete
in the worldwide market. Reduced time in product development process, higher product
quality, lower cost in manufacturing process and fulfilment of customers’ requirements are
the key factors to determine the success of a company. To produce excellent products, the
concept of Concurrent Engineering must be implemented. Concurrent Engineering is a
systematic approach which can be achieved when all design activities are integrated and
executed in a parallel manner. The CE approach has radically changed the method used
in product development process in many companies. Thus, this paper reviews the basic
principles and tools of Concurrent Engineering and discusses how to employ them. Similarly,
to ensure a product development process in the CE environment to run smoothly and
efficiently, some modifications of the existing product development processes are proposed;
these should start from market investigation to detail design.

Keywords: Concurrent engineering (CE), product development process (PDP), CE principles

and tools

Introduction
Concurrent Engineering (CE) is sometimes called simultaneous engineering, integrated
engineering or life-cycle engineering, which is more a philosophy than a method (Tummala
et al., 1997). The concept of CE was initially proposed as a means to minimize product
development time (Winner et al., 1988).
Some common definitions are as follows:

“Concurrent engineering is the extent to which product and process designs are generated
simultaneously in the early stages of the product development process”
(Koufteros et al., 2001).

Received: 2 August 2007

Accepted: 1 November 2008
*
Corresponding Author
 A. Hambali, S.M. Sapuan, N. Ismail, Y. Nukman and M.S. Abdul Karim

Another definition of CE was presented by Junjie et al. (2006), as:

“Concurrent engineering is an advanced manufacture technology in modern product

design and development, which is a compact and concurrent systematic method of product
design and its corresponding process (including manufacturing process and supporting
process).”

Nowadays, CE is regarded as a key factor in determining the success of a company.

CE involves overlapping various stages of developing new products to reduce delays. This
reduction of delays is achieved by intensively implementing the CE principles. These CE
principles have been cited as the main keys for the rapid new product development process
and it was introduced by the Japanese firms (Bowonder and Miyake, 1993).
However, employing CE has not always been proven easy. As the popularity of CE grows
and its applications have become more diverse, the core principles which define CE have
become more and more vague. The CE approach is sometimes viewed as expensive in the
short term, requiring resources and levels of commitment which may not be available.
According to Sapuan (2006), implementing the CE can reduce costs, shorten the time
of product development process and improve product quality (CTQ), if all design activities
are performed in a parallel manner and the decision making among different groups are
integrated. However, CE does not mean a simultaneous undertaking of all activities in the
product development process at the same time.
The objectives of this paper were to present the findings of the research on the use of
CE in the product development process, review several CE principles and tools in solving
product development process problems as well as propose some modifications of the existing
product development process.

Concurrent Engineering (CE) versus Sequential Engineering (SE)

The method where each design phase mostly starts, when the previous one has been
completed, is called sequential engineering’ (SE), as shown in Fig. 1. The SE can also
be defined as a process, in which different stages such as customer investigation, product
design specification, detail design, manufacturing, and testing are separately and sequentially
conducted (Portioli-Staudacher et al., 2003). Therefore, some problems which may arise
during product development process may cause the need for the product to be redesigned
and this redesigning activity will increase development time and cost of the product (Bhuiyan
et al., 2006). Moreover, a critical issue in this approach is how much the requirements and
design have been modified in order to be finally accepted for manufacturing and production.
These factors will weaken the competitiveness of products (Kamrani and Vijayan, 2006).
In order to improve the efficiency of the product development process, CE approach
must be implemented; this is shown in Fig. 2. In this method, all the activities in the product
development process are integrated and run in parallel with the feedback when needed, and

Market Product design Conceptual Detail Manufacture Sale

investigation specification design design

Fig. 1: Steps in product development process with serial engineering

10 Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009

 The Important Role of Concurrent Engineering in Product Development Process

the information and CE tools continuously flow along with all the activities in the product
development process. Consequently, many of the problems which can occur under the
sequential engineering process can be completely prevented after a proper consideration.
A recent study carried out by Bhuiyan et al. (2006), by means of comparison between
the CE and SE projects in terms of process, tools and technology, communication, time
to market, project performance, etc., showed that the use of the CE project was more
successful than the SE project at Telcom, where tremendous improvements in terms of
time to market, project development, cost and product quality were achieved.

Market investigation

Product design specification

Conceptual design

Detail design

Information CE tools
Manufacture

Sale

Fig. 2: Steps in product development process with CE environment

The Principles of CE
In general, CE principle can be divided into three key factors which can contribute to time
reduction, cost reduction, improve product quality and fulfil customer’s need, as shown in
Fig. 3 (Portioli-Staudacher et al., 2003; Kalkowska et al., 2005; Bhuiyan et al., 2006).

People
In the CE approach, utilizing the appropriate human resource at the right time is critical
and it accelerates development by keeping rework to a minimum. To be successful in
CE implementation requires some factors have to be considered as follows:

i. Teamwork
Team work is the basic principle of the CE (Lettice et al., 1995; Kusar et al., 2004).
Teamwork emphasizes interpersonal relationship, cooperation, negotiation and
collaboration decision making. Teamwork is an integral part of CE, as it represents the
means for organizational integration.

ii. Multidisciplinary teams

CE is based on multidisciplinary product development team. Multidisciplinary teams,
involving experts from all stages of the product development process such as design,
process, production, marketing, manufacturing, etc., are very important in order to

Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009 11

 A. Hambali, S.M. Sapuan, N. Ismail, Y. Nukman and M.S. Abdul Karim

Fig. 3: Basic principles of CE

succeed in CE implementation. Multidisciplinary teams can break down the barriers

between departments and provide effective means of communications.

iii. Communication
Communication is the basic principle for success in CE. Teams will work better if they know
what other members are doing. Team members have regular meetings which allow fast and
efficient exchange of information (Kusar et al., 2004). Communication between suppliers,
customers and manufacturer is also a basic principle in the implementation of CE at the
early stage of product development process (Portioli-Staudacher et al., 2003; Hamid et al.,
2005). However, according to Bhuiyan et al. (2006), less communication can result in less
time spent and lower the potential for confusion.

iv. Management Support

According to Abdalla (1999), the main problem during practicing CE was the commitment
of management in implementing CE. Thus, the lead and support from the top management
is important to realize the implementation of a successful CE. The top management
must not only support the CE initiative, but also actively participate in formulating and
implementing the CE goals.

v. The Involvement of Customers and Suppliers

In designing and manufacturing a product, the integration between the customers,
suppliers and manufacturer is essential in determining the success of a product. This
CE principle can reduce a significant portion of design error and rework due to
misunderstandings or miscommunication between the company, the customers, and the
suppliers, at the early stage of product development process.

12 Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009

 The Important Role of Concurrent Engineering in Product Development Process

Process
A key in implementing the CE approach is to have a single well-defined process with
clear ownership and goals. Thus, the process and the related schedule of activities must
be based on some basic principles, as follows:

i. Work structure
In general, all activities in product development process must be performed in a parallel and
simultaneous approach. In order to construct a clear work structure or framework, some
factors have to be worked out such as defining and formalizing the CE process, defining
overlapping activities, identifying process ownership and setting goals clearly.

ii. Early Problem Discovery

Problems which are discovered at the early stage of the product development process
(particularly during the first 20% of the cycle time) are easier to solve than those which
are discovered later.

iii. Early Decision Making

The ‘window of opportunity’ to affect a design is much wider during an early design
stage than in a later stage, i.e. when some of the decisions are frozen and the design is
matured.

Tools and Technology

An appropriate set of tools and technology should be chosen to help achieve the maximum
benefits which enable integrated product development. For an effective CE implementation
to be accomplished, the use of tools and technology is greatly required. However, there
are two aspects which need to be considered when implementing the tools and technology;
firstly, the tools and technology which enable an effective implementation of CE need to
be identified, and secondly, people who will use these tools and technologies should be
trained.

Product Development Process with Concurrent Engineering

Concurrent engineering (CE) is a very important concept in the world of new product
development. It is a methodology used for creating timely products, while maintaining
the highest quality, lowest cost and most customers’ satisfaction. In conventional product
development, activities such as market investigation, product design specification, conceptual
design, detail design, manufacturing and sales are sequentially performed and the trend
is to complete 100% of each stage before performing the next. In this approach, a large
number of modifications have to be made in the later stages of the product development
process. Consequently, this can contribute to the increase in the time and cost involved in
the product development process. Meanwhile, CE is a systematic approach to integrate all
the design activities, and it provides a framework to make changes in design.
Basically, product development process is a process for translating customers’
requirements into product design and manufacturing. Product development process
provides a roadmap to designers for the activities or processes and deliverable required
in designing, developing and manufacturing a particular product. The main objectives
of a product development process are to minimize the life-cycle cost, maximize product
quality, as well as maximize customers’ satisfaction, maximize flexibility and minimize lead

Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009 13

 A. Hambali, S.M. Sapuan, N. Ismail, Y. Nukman and M.S. Abdul Karim

time (Mazumdar, 2002). Product development process can be categorized into two main
processes, firstly, deal with development of a product and secondly, deal with its production
(Kusar et al., 2004). However, this paper only describes the development of a product, which
is initially started from market investigation up to the detail in the designing stage.
In the literature, there has been no standard product development process or designing
process in the context of the CE environment. Nevertheless, various product development
processes, within a CE environment, have been developed and proposed in the literature.
There are a number of well-known and established product development models which are
being implemented by most product designers or engineers, such as the Pugh’s model (Pugh,
1991), Pahl & Beitz’ model (2007), French’s model (1985) and Shigley’s model (Groover
and Zimmers, 1984). These models are intended to be general and aim to guide designers
to traverse a series of design stages and carry out a number of design activities in order to
understand and solve design problems. These models are included under the umbrella of
CE. However, most product development models developed, as mentioned above, merely
provide a guideline or design flow to assist designers or engineers in performing designing
activities, but they still lack in terms of addressing the CE tools, which is a key factor to
success in the new product development in the CE environment.
The design flow of the product development process used in this research was based
on the total design method or the Pugh’s method (Pugh, 1991). This method has widely
been used by most designers or researchers in developing a new product or automotive
components. However, this method does not specifically show development in terms of the
CE tools needed, but are rather descriptive of design activities; whereas, the CE tools and its
flow are key elements which must really be addressed in the product development process
in the CE environment. Sapuan (1996) criticized on the sequential flow of the designing
process and stressed that the concept of CE must be implemented in a clear manner in this
method.
There are some examples which show the importance of addressing the use of the
CE tools in product development process under the CE environment in the literature.
Among others, Sapuan (1998) developed a concurrent engineering design system for
polymeric-based composites automotive components. The system was developed in order
to assist designers to determine the materials which would satisfy a set of pre-defined design
constraints, particularly in terms of reduction of weight and cost. The system comprised
the integration of various CE tools, such knowledge-based system (KBS), solid modelling,
material database and design analysis tools. Meanwhile, Yan (2003) developed an innovative
design process model for a computer-based engineering design through an integrated and
coherent use of computer-aided design (CAD) systems. The design approach which was
based on the computer multiperspective modelling and evaluation derived from the above
design process model could provide a comprehensive and integrated design support for
various engineering design activities. Rozlina et al. (2004) proposed a product development
model by integrating various CE techniques such as quality function deployment (QFD),
morphological chart, concept convergence and design for assembly (DFA). The proposed
model allows users’ requirements to be identified, generates various design concepts and
its evaluation; based on which, the chosen design is then optimized for manufacturing
assembly. Thus, it has been proven that the CE tools should be clearly addressed at every
stage of product development process under the CE environment.
A literature review of the existing studies shows the importance of addressing the CE
tools in product development process, and none of the above researchers have addressed
the use of the CE tools in their proposed product development process, i.e. starting from

14 Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009

 The Important Role of Concurrent Engineering in Product Development Process

market investigation until the detail in the designing stage. To overcome these limitations,
this paper proposed a model which could provide some basic steps in the CE tools required,
starting from market investigation to detail design in order to assist design teams to perform
their design activities more effectively and efficiently.

The Proposed Modification of the Modelling of Concurrent Engineering System in Product

Development Process
Product development process can be further divided into two main processes; firstly, it deals
with the development of a product and secondly, it deals with its production (Kusar et al.,
2004). It has generally been known that approximately 80% of the manufacturing cost of
a product is determined by the design of the product (Mikkola and Skjoett-Larsen, 2003).
Thus, this paper only describes the development of a product which is started from market
investigation to detail design. Fig. 4 shows the product development process being practiced
by most manufacturers; this process does not specifically show development in terms of
the CE tools needed, but it is rather a description of the design activities. Meanwhile, the
CE tools and their flow are key elements which must really be addressed in the product
development process in the CE environment.

Fig. 4: Total design activity model (Pugh, 1990)

The proposed model of product development process in the CE environment is shown

in Fig. 5. Several CE tools should be addressed and implemented to produce a product
with good quality. Typically, all designing phases in this model are operated in parallel,
simultaneously and iteratively but systematically operating within the design phase will
minimize unnecessary iteration. From this proposed model, those who are involved in
the product development process - begin with market investigation and end with detail
design - will be able to understand the process flow of the product development in the CE
environment. The proposed product development process, in the CE environment
process, consists of four main phases, as follows:

Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009 15

 A. Hambali, S.M. Sapuan, N. Ismail, Y. Nukman and M.S. Abdul Karim

concurrent engineering

Product development Process

*QFD

Market Investigation
Basic IT (Excel)

Product design specification

Conceptual design
*Brainstroming

Concept generation
*AHP

Concept evaluation
*CAD (Solidworks)

Concept development

Detail design V
I
R
*CAD (Solidworks)
T
Detail 3D modeling Material selection U
A
L

Assembly prosess A
*CAD (Solidworks) N
*DFA(Teamset)
A
L
Design analysis Y
*FMECA (Teamset) S
I
S
Final 3D modeling

Mold development

Prototype
* CE tools

Fig. 5: Proposed product development process with CE environment

i. Market investigation
Market investigation phase is the first step in product development process and it is essential
in determining the success of a product. There are many products which have been reported
as unsuccessful in the marketplace because they do not meet the customers’ expectation
(Cooper, 2003). It is necessary to implement a tool which can ensure a better understanding
of the customers’ needs and requirements. One of the useful and familiar methods is quality
function deployment (QFD) (Hsiao, 2002; Chen and Yang, 2004). QFD is a customer-
oriented approach to product development. It supports design teams in developing new
products in a structured way, based on the assessment of customers’ needs.

ii. Product Design Specification (PDS)

The design specification or product design specification (PDS) is constructed after analyzing
the marketplace and customers’ needs. PSD is a document prepared early in the product

16 Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009

 The Important Role of Concurrent Engineering in Product Development Process

development process; it sets out the requirements which the design will have to satisfy. In
a way, PDS acts as the control for the total design activity because it places the boundaries
on the subsequent designs (Pugh, 1991). As PDS is a control document, basic computer
applications have to be employed.

iii. Conceptual Design

Conceptual design is carried out within the envelope of the PDS. The conceptual design
phase is more essential as compared to other design phases in product development process.
This is because it forms the background work and involves many complex evaluation and
decision making tasks (Sapuan, 2005a; Xu et al., 2007) at this stage. In general, conceptual
design consists of three steps; these are concept generation, concept evaluation and concept
development.

– Concept Generation
One of the tools which can generate ideas to meet the PDS is brainstorming. This
method involves generating ideas, which is typically done in small groups. By the end of
a brainstorming session, there will be a list of ideas, most useless, but some may have the
potential to be developed into a concept. This brainstorming session can work better if the
most of the teams have different areas of expertise.

– Concept Evaluation
Once a suitable number of concepts have been generated, it is necessary to choose the
most suitable design or alternative to fulfil the requirement to set out the PDS. There are
many useful tools to be used in evaluating and making the best decision; these include
expert system, fuzzy logic, neural network, analytical hierarchy process, etc. In the concept
development phase, the chosen concept or alternative can be further developed in detail.

– Concept Development
After evaluating and decision making have been accomplished, the product should be
developed in detail. At this phase, the CE tool such as the computer aided design (CAD) is
essential and it must be implemented actively. The chosen concept design is designed in detail,
by considering all the dimensions and specifications until the final design is carried out.

iv. Detail Design

At this phase, 3D modelling must go through five processes before the product can be
manufactured. This 3D modelling and material selection analysis must be performed
simultaneously, as shown in Fig. 5. The CE tools (such as computer aided design, or CAD)
have to be applied so as to create a detail 3D modelling and for design analysis purposes. The
products which have a number of parts must be analyzed using design for assembly (DFA)
method in order to reduce the number of parts which are not necessary to be manufactured.
After that, the product will be analyzed by employing failure mode effects critical analysis
(FMECA) to evaluate the potential failure of a particular product or process. Based on the
results gathered from the material selection, the 3D modelling must be analyzed to ensure
the selected material is able to be manufactured easily. Then, the final detail of the 3D
modelling, using the CAD, will be carried out once the design analysis is completed. Finally,
the mould design of the product will be developed using the CAD applications. Generally,
all the processes in the detail design phase are known as the virtual analysis because all these
designing aspects can be simulated and analyzed using design simulation software.

Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. Vol. 17 (1) 2009 17

 A. Hambali, S.M. Sapuan, N. Ismail, Y. Nukman and M.S. Abdul Karim

Conclusions
This research supports the claims that CE is very important in product development process.
The application of the CE concept and its tools in the product development process
can help the designers to manufacture products more efficiently and effectively. The
firms which have been implementing CE tool in their product development have
gained tremendous benefits, particularly in terms of reducing cost incurred, reducing
time for product development process, improving product quality and fulfilling customers’
requirements. Moreover, some design uncertainties can be reduced using this method,
and the product can be designed in a more transparent process.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) and Universiti Putra
Malaysia (UPM) for the support granted for this research.

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