Collaborative product development drives innovation
Competing successfully in today's global marketplace requires the close collaboration of all stakeholders in the product development lifecycle—from research and development to engineering, and from suppliers and producers to sales and marketing. Microsoft-based solutions for collaborative product development (CPD) offer a robust, secure, and scalable collaboration infrastructure that helps manufacturers to reduce costs, shrink time-to-market, and deliver products that best meet customer demands.
With Microsoft's familiar technology platforms to support collaboration and a large variety of Microsoft partners building industry-tailored CPD solutions, manufacturers have the opportunity to:
| • | Share project and design data |
| • | Make faster, more informed decisions |
| • | Accelerate reviews and approvals |
| • | Communicate more accurately and effectively with designers, suppliers, and customers |
These strategies empower all stakeholders to participate knowledgably and appropriately in product decisions, whether down the hallway, across town, or on the opposite side of the globe.
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Benefits
Collaborative product development solutions built by Microsoft and its key partners enable manufacturers to reduce product development lifecycle time, control costs, and drive to market faster. Leveraging these technologies, manufacturers can:
| • | Improve efficiency in locating information by using the advanced search capabilities—for the desktop, the enterprise, and the Web—built into standard Microsoft technologies. |
| • | Empower business teams to collaborate across organizational and geographic boundaries without compromising standards or security. |
| • | Share product and process knowledge among all participants, beginning early in the design phase—when up to 80 percent of a product's development costs are determined. |
| • | Find and reuse previous work by easily cataloging and indexing designs, drawings, plans, and specifications. |
| • | Optimize information flow and reduce communication delays by managing workflow and clearly establishing tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines. |
| • | Reduce corporate travel, saving time and money, by connecting people and enabling them to share information and ideas in real time. |
Case studies
To learn how manufacturing companies have benefited from the collaborative product development strategies made possible by Microsoft technologies and Microsoft partner solutions, read these case studies:
Technologies
The following Microsoft technologies form the foundation for secure, collaborative solutions in manufacturing:
| • | .NET establishes an integrated infrastructure to quickly build, deploy, and manage connected, security-enhanced solutions with Web services |
| • | Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 extends the power of the world’s most popular desktop productivity suite to help people collaborate with others and work with information efficiently, regardless of location or network status |
| • | Microsoft Office Groove 2007, included as part of Office Enterprise 2007, enables teams to work together dynamically and effectively inside collaborative workspaces—anywhere, anytime |
| • | Microsoft Office Communications Server and Office Live Meeting are part of Microsoft's Unified Communications platform and deliver intuitive, consolidated communications solutions through the standard Office interface |
| • | Windows Rights Management Services helps safeguard digital information from unauthorized use |
| • | Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Office SharePoint Server 2007 comprise an integrated portfolio of collaboration and communication services to connect people, information, processes, and systems |
| • | Microsoft Exchange Server, the industry standard platform for e-mail based collaboration, delivers unequalled security, reliability, and availability |
| • | Microsoft SQL Server provides the database engine for highly scalable, cost-effective solutions |
Partners
Microsoft partners provide tailored solutions in collaborative product development for all sectors of the manufacturing industry. Some of our many excellent partners include:
Also read about collaborative product development using the Microsoft Office system.
Next steps
