ABSTRACT
Increasingly, using an information system is essential for new product development. Because products delivered to customers are regarded as “design information embedded in media” (Fujimoto, 2005), IT systems such as computer-aided design (CAD) have a very important function as design information transformation media in new product development (Ueno et al., 2007). Over the years, design tools have evolved from hand drawing, to 2D (second dimension) CAD, and then to 3D CAD. In Japan, 2D CAD was widely available in the 1980s. By the middle of the 1990s, most large equipment manufacturers adopted it, and during the same time period more ¨rms also accelerated their adoption of 3D CAD (Nobeoka, 2006).
