Generating the system requirements for the 1B processor, the new “brain” of the 4ESS™ switch, was a critical step in the front-end process. The set of requirements, prepared by cross-functional teams, was used both to specify hardware and software development and to guide verification. To shorten the overall cycle time, the production of these specifications also overlapped the hardware and software development processes. This paper describes the customer-supplier interaction model used, the approach chosen to facilitate productivity during requirements production, a high-level perspective of the requirements, the process used to generate these requirements, the challenges encountered, and the teamwork solutions via process optimization that helped make this project a success.