Towards life–cycle measures and metrics for concurrent product development

Concurrent engineering needs both a series of measurement criteria that are distinct to each process, and a set of metrics to check (and validate) the outcomes when two or more of the processes overlap or are required to be executed in parallel. Since product realisation involves concurrent processes that occur across multiple disciplines and organisations, appropriate measures and the methods of qualifying them (called metrics) are essential. The paper describes these life–cycle measures and metrics and how those could be used for gaining operational excellence.