Subject category:
Production and Operations Management
Published by:
INSEAD
Length: 8 pages
Data source: Generalised experience
Abstract
The case describes a car development project falling behind schedule because of engineering changes in the design of the body stamping dies. The engineering changes can be traced to the parallel execution of several engineering activities. The project manager is faced with the question of whether the amount of parallelity, or concurrency, was too high and too risky, or whether engineering changes can be avoided by other means. The case describes the difficulty of working with preliminary information in a concurrent development process where engineering activities are overlapped. It is shown how overlap increases project uncertainty and causes rework delays in spite of having a co-located cross-functional team in place. The case demonstrates fundamental trade-offs of concurrent engineering in addition to organisational communication.
Industry:
Other setting(s):
1995-1996
About
Abstract
The case describes a car development project falling behind schedule because of engineering changes in the design of the body stamping dies. The engineering changes can be traced to the parallel execution of several engineering activities. The project manager is faced with the question of whether the amount of parallelity, or concurrency, was too high and too risky, or whether engineering changes can be avoided by other means. The case describes the difficulty of working with preliminary information in a concurrent development process where engineering activities are overlapped. It is shown how overlap increases project uncertainty and causes rework delays in spite of having a co-located cross-functional team in place. The case demonstrates fundamental trade-offs of concurrent engineering in addition to organisational communication.
Settings
Industry:
Other setting(s):
1995-1996