T.H Truong - Research Associate, School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
F Azadivar - Dean, College of Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

This paper discusses a broad concept of concurrent design in which part supply, production system, logistics and distribution network are taken into consideration as early as product design and Bill-of-Material are introduced. Conventionally, concurent design implies the combined product and process design. With the increase of outsourcing, most parts of a product are made outside by suppliers located at different regions of the world. The efficiency of supply chains, therefore, becomes more critical. In this paper we present a system that will enable a designer to consider trade-offs of different product configurations in terms of supply-chainwide cost.

Optimization, Simulation, Supply Chain, Concurrent Design