Title: Co-design – from an automaker perspective

Authors: Dalicio Guiguer Filho, Paulo Carlos Kaminski

Addresses: Escola Politecnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 2231, 05508-970 – Sao Paulo, Brazil. ' Escola Politecnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 2231, 05508-970 – Sao Paulo, Brazil

Abstract: The main objective of a partnership to develop a product (co-design) is to take advantage of suppliers| engineering capability (know-how), bringing new technologies to the vehicle and reducing development costs. Discussions regarding supplier integration levels, suitable project phase to get suppliers involved, suitable level of details for technical specifications, definitions of roles and responsibilities for each partner and the process to perform a product development in a partnership relation are common in the auto industry. In this paper, we explored how these issues are addressed in a Brazilian automaker subsidiary, through the study of its processes and tools and the comparison with the characteristics studied academically.

Keywords: automotive product development; vehicle development; co-design; supplier integration; supplier partnerships; product design; automobile industry; vehicle design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2009.024204

International Journal of Product Development, 2009 Vol.8 No.3, pp.333 - 353

Published online: 29 Mar 2009 *

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