Multiobjective concurrent engineering: A goal programming approach

Concurrent engineering (CE) is a commonly used engineering/management technique for product development. Multiple and sometimes conflicting objectives can be experienced when using CE as an aid in new product development. One management science technique that commonly used to analyze multiple objectives in a decision making environment is goal programming (GP). In this paper we demonstrate how goal programming can be used to enhance CE and improve decision making by considering conflicting objective criteria of cost and time. The procedure by which CE problems can be modeled using GP is presented along with an illustrative example from the literature. Results from a real-world ongoing study are also reported.