Until recently, manufacturers generally assumed that design should precede manufacturing in priority and prestige as well as in time. Today, however, there is growing recognition that design and manufacturing really are interdependent activities that work best when they maintain a continuous exchange of knowledge and insight. Companies in a wide array of industries are discovering that when manufacturing managers, engineers, and workers collaborate actively with designers, they can greatly improve the quality and reliability of products, reduce time to market, and provide greater customer satisfaction.