A customer-oriented enterprise must satisfy various customer needs if it is to stay competitive. Unexpected needs often demand rapid development of a product or solution, which may pose various challenges, one of which is the management of supplier involvement in such projects. In a case company environment, this study reviews and analyses the effect of supplier involvement in both a new product and a rapid development project on the three fundamental metrics of product development success: costs, quality and development time. The results indicate that the challenges relate mainly to lack of communication and coordination and to increased product development speed, which can lead to rising costs, quality defects and late component deliveries. Against this, suppliers often possess valuable expertise that may prove beneficial in terms of product quality and product development time.