What are some ways that supply chain partners can collaborate on product designs? How do these ways differ?

What will be an ideal response?

An approach that many firms are using in their design collaboration process is called early supplier involvement, which is a program that includes suppliers in the design phase of a service or product. Suppliers provide suggestions for design changes and materials choices that will result in more efficient operations and higher quality. In the automotive industry, an even higher level of early supplier involvement is known as presourcing, whereby suppliers are selected early in a product's concept development stage and are given significant, if not total, responsibility for the design of certain components or systems of the product. Presourced suppliers also take responsibility for the cost, quality, and on-time delivery of the items they produce. Firms can also improve performance by engaging in value analysis, which is a systematic effort to reduce the cost or improve the performance of services or products, either purchased or produced. It is an intensive examination of the services, materials, processes, information systems, and flows of material involved in the production of a service or an item. Benefits include reduced production, materials, and distribution costs; improved profit margins; and increased customer satisfaction.