Concurrent Engineering in Ship Design

Concurrent engineering is a systematic approach for integration and concurrent design of products. The systematic approach intends to consider all elements influencing the products and their related processes during the product life-cycle, such as manufacturing, support, costs, quality, user requirements etc. Especially the engineering design phase should be considered for improvements. This paper presents some of the major and most acknowledged concepts, ideas and principles of concurrent engineering. They are among others:trends and demands to product development time and product life-timeintroduction of a concurrent engineering environment, including the forces, dimensions, mechanisms and targets of concurrent engineeringthe design process, including considerations regarding to the quality and extent of iteration loops and construction of improved design processesquality function deployment, a method for identifying and managing requirements which is based on interfunctionality and interdisciplinary project-teams. The paper also discusses concurrent engineering in proportion to traditional design theories. The human and organization aspects in concurrent engineering are treated superficially. Finally, some applied concepts, principles and methods are briefly presented. This paper gives an overview and introduction to concurrent engineering.