Models for Collaborative Design and Manufacturing

There is one important caveat. Nearly every firm thinks it has the ultimate secret to bringing the best and most accepted products to market, so sharing their design and development process with any outsiders is not a natural part of business life. But the results, showing as much as 10 to 30% or more shortened cycle times and 2 to 5% new revenue, have made believers of some of the most obstinate critics. When lower costs are also documented, the concept tends to be more easily accepted. Advocates must be wary, however, of the intrinsic discomfort with which most firms approach the subject, and realize any pitfall could quickly throw the company back to an internal-only development process. 

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Collaborative software currently on the market is largely based on the project management model, and merely provides tools for management of information generate in the process of development, design and manufacture. It is not only unable to guide designers, but its ability to shorten product development time is quite limited. 

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