Design chains presents innovative new thinking in supply chain management. Springing from the work of the Integrated Collaborative Design (ICD) research project, a combined industry and academic initiative between Loughborough University and twelve construction companies, it presents a set of key principles and practices that provide a new approach to design management - the design chain.
Design Chains describes how design can be understood, managed and optimised to add value to clients. The practices developed through ICD and described in Design Chains provide a timely response to the need to manage design complexity to help collaborating organisations deliver projects that meet client needs.
The benefits of an Integrated Collaborative Design approach include:
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creating business level frameworks for organisations to collaborate for mutual benefit on projects
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aiding understanding of design information flows
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helping organisations align their business and project competencies and business cultures
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promoting value adding design solutions on projects
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providing a selection of tools to integrate processes across organisations at the levels of the business and project
This pioneering new book will be of value to a wide readership, from clients to specialised suppliers.
