Virtual Product Development in University-Enterprise Partnership

Introduction

Under the concept of a global economy, enterprises are assigning design and production environments around the world in different areas. The optimization of product benefit must be the focus of all network activities (Niemann, Tickkiewitch, & WestKamper, 2009). A serious issue of information exchange emerges as companies use traditional hardware and very distinct software appropriate to their field of expertise. To overcome the problem of low productivity due to the interruption of information, the concept of simultaneous engineering and concurrent design becomes very significant. Currently, the biggest problem for virtual networks is that the companies which need them the most are not becoming members. If one monitors the activities of companies involved in international trade on the Internet, one would notice rather quickly that many of the most active companies are very small. We would never speak badly of very small companies, being one ourselves. However, it is probably these companies more than any other who has the most to gain by joining virtual networks. Unfortunately, many of these companies either can not afford or are unwilling to pay for a World Wide Web presence, which is usually a prerequisite for joining an active virtual network. There is also usually a membership fee and in some cases the fees are slightly expensive when one considers that the organizations are very new and have no proven record of success.