Co-development: The COGENT initiative

Most vehicle manufacturers (VMs) and suppliers are achieving standards of manufacturing cost, quality and delivery unthinkable 15 years ago. However, there is still room for significant improvement in the area of design - it is here that ultimate cost, quality and delivery are configured. With some 70% of cost coming from supplied parts the need for the effective alignment of the design process between VMs and suppliers is obvious; less obvious is what such a design process should look like and how it can be achieved. This paper describes supplier answers to these questions, proposes an initial model and outlines the COGENT initiative - a tool for successful implementation.