Performing Supply Chain Design in Three-Dimensional Concurrent Engineering: Requirements and Challenges

Abstract

Designing the supply chain at the same time as developing new innovative products and efficient production processes holds the potential of being a source of competitiveness for a pressured manufacturing industry. This paper studies actors that influence the practices of three dimensional concurrent engineering (3DCE). Developing product, process and supply chain in parallel requires considerable cross-functional coordination and strong supplier involvement. A single case study of a large manufacturer of security products and systems was applied to explore current practices in an ongoing new product development (NPD) project. Five key challenges were found as barriers to performing supply chain design within this complex collaborative effort. Also, five requirements are suggested as enablers to organizations that aim for reaping the benefits of integrating supply chain design in their development process. By understanding the retirements and challenges of this process, the potential of 3DCE can be released and create value for practitioners in industry.

Supply chains under resource pressure

“…Buffering strategies act as safeguards outside the current buyer-supplier relationship by minimising the importance of the resource through product and process (re-) design (Su et al , 2014; Tang, 2006a). The literature supports that the (re-) design of new product, and process should be done simultaneously with supply chain (re-) design such as large quantities of inventories and closed-loop supply chain (Bode et al , 2011; Su et al , 2014) as it improves the operating performance and it can be a source of competitive advantage (Bakås et al , 2015; Ellram et al , 2007). When companies do not explicitly acknowledge and manage supply chain (re-) design as a concurrent activity to product and process (re-) design, they face problems such as delayed product launches, and increased production costs (Ismail and Sharifi, 2006).…”

Design for Manufacture and Assembly in Off-Site Construction: Advanced Production of Modular Façade Systems

“…Some initiatives can minimise errors in assembly and installation such as designing paired parts instead of left/right hand parts [25]. Furthermore, pairedpart designs support economy of scale in the supply chain by doubling purchasing volume when compared to mirror image parts [26,27].…”