Collaborative Engineering definition: Distinguishing it from Concurrent Engineering through the complexity and semiotics lenses

Abstract A contribution to the definition of Collaborative Engineering (ColE), together with the definition itself, are presented. The need for a more rigorous definition is due to the fact that the Collaborative Engineering (ColE) definitions in literature within the so-called "classical" discourse in fact could be reduced to the Concurrent Engineering (CE), making synonymy between the two terms. However, the need for distinguishing the semantic contents of the two terms and concepts, Collaborative Engineering and Concurrent Engineering, could be understood to be driven mainly by new, emergent, organizational and management concepts that refer to new features required for the engineering design organizational and management approaches. The two new, emerging theories and paradigms, that inform design and practice of new, emerging engineering design theories, approaches and practices, and based on which the definition of the Collaborative Engineering is proposed are the complexity theory and semiotics, in particular the complexity management in organizations and organizational semiotics.