ABSTRACT
The term Concurrent Engineering (CE) was coined in the late 1980s to explain the systematic method of concurrently designing both the product and its downstream production and support processes (Evbuomwan and Anumba, 1995; Huovila et al., 1997). CE was proposed as a means to minimise product development time (Prasad, 1996). This was necessitated by changes in: manufacturing techniques and methods, management of quality, market structure, increasing complexity of products and demands for high quality and accelerated deliveries at reduced costs. These changes resulted in a shift in corporate emphasis with the result that, the ability to rapidly react to changing market needs and time-to-market became critical measures of business performance (Constable, 1994; Thamhain, 1994).
