Engineering design and product development and its relationship to manufacturing: A programme of case study research in British companies

Abstract

This paper describes a programme of research into product development and design in engineering and its interface with manufacturing, an area which is currently of considerable interest for companies under increasing pressure to reduce lead time whilst retaining product range and variety. The objective of this research is to develop procedures to enable companies to evaluate the organisation of the design function within the product development process and to identify best practice principles for defined company types. The research to date has concentrated on the mechanical engineering sector, with a variety of companies ranging from engineer/make-to-order to make-to-stock activities. The research has been undertaken by an interdisciplinary team involving engineers and social scientists. The project involves detailed case studies of companies through structured interviews with key participants in the product design and development process. The relationship between this group and other company functions such as marketing, business strategy and manufacturing is also being explored. These detailed studies in the participating companies are being compared to identify both generic and specific features which may then be related to company characteristics. The paper describes the nature of these investigations and presents some preliminary findings and key issues that are arising.