The manufacturing process has itself changed significantly so that many activities that were earlier concentrated in one location in one plant are now often outsourced to many different locations within an urban concentration and even across borders. Often product design is now increasingly information technology dependent and typically locationally divorced from the core manufacturing plant.
Moreover, product development and design is now increasingly being outsourced on a global basis. The availability of competent engineering skills at a lower cost in India is contributing significantly to the relocation of product development and design from developed countries to India (Marsh, 2006, a,b,c). Conversely, Indian manufacturers are also outsourcing their product development and design in the reverse direction.