1. Extended enterprise and design exchanges

1.1 Extended enterprise

Generally speaking, the extended enterprise stems from a decision by the initiating company to outsource, on a cooperative basis, activities that it has no interest in, or the possibility of, carrying out itself. It was the major prime contractors in the automotive industry who were the first to set up the extended enterprise, in order to concentrate their activities on their core business and entrust the production of sub-assemblies or functions to the companies that supply these components: the tier 1 suppliers. This initiative then spread to the aeronautics sector, and then to other sectors where large companies are principals. It has also been extended to Tier 2 and lower-ranking companies.

An extended enterprise usually comprises...