ABSTRACT
There is much awareness regarding the impact of product design on the subsequent costs of the product once released for production. A consistent theme is that the cost of a product or service is “built in” when that product or service is designed. After introduction to the market, control over cost is, to a large extent, lost. Unfortunately, many organizations fail to address supply chain costs in the early stages of product development when the technology challenges are likely to dominate. The focus is on solving those technical problems and getting the product into the market on schedule within defined budgets. As the opening quotation notes, the other “constituencies” that need to contribute to the effort appear on the scene too late.
