This paper presents an overview of new approaches in rapid product development in production networks from design points of view. The manufacturing industries are changing their focus to global sourcing as a means to improve performance and enhance competitiveness. Some partnerships created with this strategy improve product development through collaborative design. With the advent of e- Commerce, a new set of collaborative applications integrated to the firms’ IT infrastructure allow a direct interaction between the firm and its suppliers, having an impact of negotiations. The globalization of the market necessitates the reduction of time-to-market, mainly due to shorter product life cycle. The computing and communication have become indispensable in every aspect of product development and design. The paper describes the network that directly links designer capabilities and with customers and manufacturing division. The networks focuses the three major forces that will affect the design community, namely, speed of decision, expansion of scope and degree of concurrency. Due to evolution of production networks, it has become possible to obtain the mass production within a key short time, using emerging technology that affect the speed and efficiency of product development using a pool of efficient designers and product managers.
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