New product “time to market” in the information technology (IT) industry is increasingly critical to a company′s competitiveness. Early product release into the marketplace will ensure higher profit margins, quicker returns on investment and therefore greater opportunity for a company to retain its market leadership in that product area. ICL Manufacturing Division is in the process of implementing information systems which support concurrent engineering concepts and facilitate automated processing of information from design to manufacturing. These integrated systems are based on distributed relational database technologies and open system standards. Provides an overview of the facilities and topology of the implemented environments within the engineering planning areas.