Concurrent Engineering in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Project Design Center

In June of 1994, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) opened the Project Design Center (PDC) to develop and implement new tools and processes for engineering of space systems. This paper reports the status of two concurrent engineering teams resident in the PDC (team-X for space mission design and team-I for space instrument design). It discusses the nature of the process changes needed to implement real time concurrent engineering of systems and the resulting improvements in cost, schedule and quality. The PDC has demonstrated that real time concurrent design, enabled by new information technology, promotes very efficient production and exchange of information within design teams.