5. Conclusion and outlook

Mechanical products are becoming increasingly complex systems, requiring the involvement of different trades and, consequently, several companies to design them. Information technologies also provide the technical means to overcome the constraints of time and place. As a result, the competitiveness of a product depends not just on the lead company, the project's master builder, but on a cluster of companies that contribute to the final product.

It's clear that, in this context, the means offered by technology are ahead of other fields, particularly economic and legal models. The leader may be tempted to reserve the margin generated, or even the intellectual property. But he risks weakening or losing his suppliers, and ultimately losing out in the long term.

We need to be aware that collaborative design and, more generally, the extended enterprise,...