Product design significantly influences product cost and quality, as well as market share and profitability of a firm. Design projects often involve many people belonging to different functional areas and in many organizations several design projects may be under way at the same time. Due to this complexity, management of design has given rise to a rich set of research problems in management and engineering.
In this volume, design is considered as the planning and specification activity prior to fabrication. Design determines what products will be produced, how they will be produced,...