This book provides a broad overview of a number of game-changing paradigms that are anticipated to reshape 21st century product development. Topics including cloud computing-based design, cloud manufacturing, crowd-sourcing and mass collaboration, open source and social product development will be discussed in the context of advanced distributed and collaborative product creation. The purpose of the book is threefold: (1) to provide decision makers in industry with a solid base for strategic design and manufacturing-related process re-organization; (2) to provide researchers and scientist with the state-of-the-art from an academic perspective as well as a research agenda aimed at advancing the theoretical foundations of the field and (3) to serve as supplementary reading in design and manufacturing-related courses at universities and technical colleges.

Professor Schaefer has more than twenty years experience in computer-aided design, engineering and manufacturing, both in industry and academia. He has been an active member of the design communities in the US, the UK and Germany. Over the past ten years, Prof. Schaefer has conducted research on product modeling, variant design, product life-cycle management, design-with-manufacture integration, standardized product data exchange and digital and virtual engineering. His current research focus concerns the highly topical areas of cross-disciplinary integrated design of complex engineered systems, research at the forefront of cloud computing-based design and manufacture (CBDM), a key element of the advanced manufacturing movement, as well as the impact of social networking platforms and the Internet of things on next generation product development.