The aircraft and automotive industries are discovering the benefits of electronic design collaboration. Boeing and Lockheed Martin, for example, are each independently collaborating with the Department of Defense on the design of jet fighters, by conducting their individual design process online, in real time CAD. Using this process, an engineer at Boeing's Seattle plant designs the interior of the cockpit in CAD, designating the placement of instruments. A Department of Defense squadron leader on the East Coast observes the design process as it occurs and makes suggestions to the engineer. The engineer then brings a third expert online to green light the suggestions and the jet fighter takes shape entirely through electronic collaborative design. This solution eliminates the need for multiple physical prototypes and saves both the aircraft companies and the Department of Defense a great deal of money. Even though only one company will eventually secure the military's contract to build the fighters, both realize that developing the planes electronically readies them for electronic collaborative design with future partners.

"The Joint Strike Fighter program is the first time in history where cost has been the independent variable," says Randy Harrison, director of communications for Boeing's Joint Strike Fighter program. "Before it's been about performance. The whole premise of keeping costs down cannot succeed without collaboration. Electronic collaboration is the heart and mind of the program." Although Harrison does not give a dollar amount, he is straightforward regarding the cost benefits of electronic design collaboration. "Boeing is looking for a 25% reduction in the cost of designing and producing new commercial airplanes."

Another potential benefit of electronic design collaboration is the ability to purchase direct goods online. Currently, most companies limit their electronic purchasing to indirect procurement and spot purchases, transactions that make up only a small part of the procurement process. The purchasing of direct goods, however, is still considered by many companies to be too sensitive for the electronic arena. This is since it may reveal much about a product and its design and also because companies are vulnerable to turbulence in the supply chain. For example, if a supplier delivers low quality goods, the overall product is undermined. If the direct goods are delivered late, the entire production process is delayed. The relationship between a company and its direct material supplier is built on trust. As a result, the majority of direct procurement and electronic design takes place behind company firewalls.

The auto industry, in particular, has been quick to adopt electronic collaboration, not just to design parts and source new suppliers, but also in robotic assembly line production. Automotive engineers and their suppliers are now working together on a global basis, using virtual-designed prototypes to skip whole stages in product development. Rising to meet the growing need for an electronic marketplace, Ford, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler have banded together to create Covisint. As an online public forum open to thousands of suppliers, Covisint is positioned to be the automotive industry's key e-marketplace. Automakers have been utilizing the forum mainly for purposes of trading. Ford, in particular, doesn't plan on bringing its collaboration into a public forum anytime soon, preferring instead to keep their supplier relationships under wraps. Navi Radjou, of Forrester Research, explains: "Unfortunately, privacy and security concerns will keep user companies from openly collaborating with their design partners in public many-to-many environments. Can you imagine Ford and GM sharing CAD drawings in the same marketplaces?"

One thing is for certain, whether it moves to public e-marketplaces or remains in the realm of private networks, electronic design collaboration effectively compresses time and distance and eliminates the need for numerous prototypes, saving businesses and the government significant amounts of money.

Source: Next Gen B2B: Collaboration
Rob Spiegel
ECommerce Business, Nov. 20, 2000
http://www.ecommercebusinessdaily.com/archive/ECBFA112000-9225.asp