Concurrent Manufacturing

Concurrent Manufacturing is where planning, development, and implementation are done in parallel, rather than sequentially. This reduces time-to-market, encourages innovation, and improves quality.

Decisions must also be made concurrently – such that decisions around product support [delivery, servicing, and end-of-life disposal] must be made during the design and production phases.

Concurrency requires core competencies and knowledge to be available throughout the extended enterprise; dynamically combined to meet specific, narrowly defined market opportunities.

Business Intelligence

By networking all aspects of manufacturing, informed decisions concerning one activity can be made based on knowledge and experience from all aspects of the enterprise, as well as continuous feedback during the lifetime of the product or service.

Success will depend not only expertise and experience, but also the ability to use knowledge quickly and effectively.

New Cultures

Concurrent manufacturing changes the ways people interact at all levels of an organization. Interactive computer networks link workers across the globally distributed enterprise, requiring new cultures, relationships and communication skills.

Rapid Time to Market

Concurrency will drastically shorten the time between the conception of a product and its realization, with consumer products that previously took six to nine months to reach the market being delivered to customers within weeks of conceptualization.

Mechanical and electronic products that currently take years, will be available in months.

Impact of BI and Concurrent Production

Concurrent Manufacturing means that planning, development, and implementation are done in parallel, rather than sequentially. This reduces time-to-market, encourages innovation, and improves quality. Decisions must also be made concurrently – such that decisions around product support [delivery, servicing, and end-of-life disposal] must be made during the design and production phases.

Concurrency is where core competencies and knowledge throughout the extended enterprise are dynamically combined to meet specific, narrowly defined market opportunities.

By networking all aspects of manufacturing, informed decisions concerning one activity can be made based on knowledge and experience from all aspects of the enterprise, as well as continuous feedback during the lifetime of the product or service.

Concurrent manufacturing changes the ways people interact at all levels of an organization. Interactive computer networks link workers across the globally distributed enterprise, requiring new cultures, relationships and communication skills.
Success will depend not only expertise and experience, but also the ability to use knowledge quickly and effectively.

The impact of business intelligence and concurrent networked production has wider impacts:

• Materials Impact - Materials manufacturing will also contribute to product manufacturing. Microprocessor design, composite and synthetic materials will be available almost immediately following specifications are confirmed for new products
• Market Demand and Competition - Competitive pressures are also forcing reduction in time-to-market; market opportunities often arise and disappear quickly and customization demands mean batch sizes are decreasing.
• Technology - Rapid changes in available technologies drives rapid changes in products and reduction in production costs.
• Risk Management - Accurate estimates, optimization, and tracking of product costs and revenues will greatly reduce financial risks.

Concurrent manufacturing is a bold challenge that requires advanced technologies in communication and processes by which products are conceived and produced, and new social and cultural environments within manufacturing organizations. The result will be global, multidisciplinary, multicultural, and highly transient organizations.

Next: BI Manufacturing Solutions

Back To Top