Design and implementation of a collaborative engineering information system for allied concurrent engineering

Allied concurrent engineering is defined by unifying the concepts of virtual enterprise and concurrent engineering in the engineering processes. It aims to integrate the engineering activities and resources from different enterprises through enterprise alliances to respond to customer expectations quickly. The integration, management and sharing of engineering information is the basis for allied concurrent engineering. This paper presents a systematic approach, from domain investigation and functional requirement analysis, through system design and modelling to implementation of an engineering information system that makes use of various modelling techniques. The system aims at quickly providing the right information to the right place at the right time in the right formats throughout the inter-enterprise concurrent engineering processes to facilitate communication, coordination, control and integration of multi-enterprise concurrent product and process development. The result of this research will enable the practice of allied concurrent engineering and consequently help increase product development capability and quality, reduce development cycle time and cost, and hence increase product marketability.