ABSTRACT
Leaders have found collaboration is key element to overcoming problems faced in product design. In one apparel company, designers were accustomed to hand sketching and had to be carefully moved to computer‐aided design techniques. Hundreds of users also had to be brought online, often with painful results. The effort took five years but, in the end, reduced the design time by 50%. While this is a good example of what can be done, other problems can be significant. Less technically developed suppliers of an important element, for example, might not collaborate because they have no CAD system. Technology support should include the following:Document sharingFull tracking of the product across its life cycleDetermination of customer results and satisfactionQualityInventory status
