For increasing their product development and production efficiency, large-scale enterprises, mainly the automotive industry and their suppliers, more and more often make use of methodological instruments. A few of these methods have already made their way to the small and medium sized enterprises (SME), mainly of the mechanical engineering branch. The most important among these instruments are: Concurrent Engineering, Design for X, Failure mode and effect analysis, Quality Function Deployment and Value Analysis. And even more recent methods like TRIZ Method or Scenario Management are already observed with great interest by some of the SME because of their need for shorter development times, cost minimisation, increase of product quality, and, in consequence, their efforts for restructuring product development processes.
