Systems for Controlling Design and Manufacture

So far we have concentrated mainly on the detailed aspects of design and manufacture, and the ways in which these are interrelated. By now the reader should, when considering a concept or a component, have some insight into the decisions that have to be made as the concepts or components are progressed through the development to the production phase. A single component requiring a once-off design input, then produced using a set procedure, so that regular batch quantities could be supplied at the end of each week to a single supplier, would seem to be fairly straightforward. Would that life were so simple! Unfortunately, most organisations involved with design and manufacture produce a variety of products that have to be delivered to a variety of customers in varying quantities and at varying times.