The concurrent engineering (CE) approach to product design and development has two major steps: establishing the product realization process, or taxonomy, and applying this methodology to design and develop the total product system. This first volume of the two volume set articulates CE philosophy by illustrating the differences between the best methodologies and what is currently being practiced. Examines the Japanese transformation from rigid, culture-driven companies to world leaders in quality; offers an understanding of the eight primary components of concurrency and simultaneity; describes modeling the concurrent engineering environment and its five essential components; covers the development of a cooperative work-group environment spanned by four concurrent teams.