The aims of this research are to investigate the development of complex products (eg cars,
satellites, aeroplanes), to identify areas for improvement and to make a contribution to those
areas. The premise is that the shortcomings of a component design focused concurrent
engineering (CE) and of a product focused systems engineering (SE) can be addressed by
seeking a'total view framework'that encompasses both, CE and SE. A broader scope of
product development becomes necessary for coping with the complexity of the current very …