Willcock, J and Evans, S (2003) Co-development: A case study linking work from the automotive sector with the construction industry. In: Greenwood, D J (ed.) Proceedings of 19th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2003, Brighton, UK.
Abstract
Construction and automotive occupy premier positions in the UK economy and much work has been carried out seeking areas where best practice could be transferred. The Cogent Co-Development programme was £3M tri-partite initiative between Cranfield University, Nissan European Technology Centre-Europe and its suppliers. The programme focused upon supplier-in-the-loop design that engaged with over 130 supplier companies and 1000 personnel working on the design/development process for a new vehicle. Three researchers spent three years working with Nissan Technical Design Centre Europe and their key suppliers across Europe in design activity-led workshops that resulted in a reduction of 30% in design time, 40% in design cost, and in excess of 30% in the cost of manufactured parts. Following this programme, a pilot programme with two main construction companies tested the use of the Cogent learning from automotive and established that there were common factors across the sectors. The need for consistency within an organization before engaging in collaborative design activity with suppliers was found to be a key requirement, with the outputs from both programmes providing indicators on the different ways that the two sectors manage the design involvement/cost/reward equation and their supplier relationship management processes.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | collaboration; design; measurement; partnering; relationship |
| Index terms: | best practice, relationship management, collaboration, construction industry, collaborative design, partnering, personnel, case study, Europe, workshop, design cost, construction company, programme |
| Subjects: | economics, physical geography and landforms, management, project controls, partnership management, industry analysis, organization, business, construction type, data collection methods, design methods |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Human Resources, Organizational Design, Time Control, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here