A concept that refers to the simultaneous participation of all the functional areas of the firm in the product design activity. Suppliers and customers are often also included. The intent is to enhance the design with the inputs of all the key stakeholders. Such a process should ensure that the final design meets all the needs of the stakeholders and should ensure a product that can be quickly brought to the marketplace while maximizing quality and minimizing costs. Syn: co-design, concurrent design, concurrent engineering, new product development team, parallel engineering, simultaneous design/engineering, simultaneous engineering, team design/engineering. See:early manufacturing involvement.