By using concurrent engineering (CE) practitioners expect that design alternatives and their related process and technology alternatives are dealt with simultaneously and interactively at the early stages of product development. The focus is on both product and process by involving all related internal and external stakeholders. This study is intended to investigate the process of implementing concurrent engineering, tools used, level of implementation, and its impact on users' performance. Related literature was reviewed including major elements, activities, tools and techniques, benefits and barriers to success, best practices, and latest trends. Based on that, a survey was conducted, that included a representative sample of industrial firms, to study the level of awareness of concurrent engineering, practices and implementation levels, and its impact on different performance levels. A sample of 80 organizations (manufacturing and services) in UAE was taken. Major findings include that there is a relatively good awareness of concurrent engineering practices, the working culture supports early involvement of all stakeholders but lack the needed team building and training, and most CE practices are based on the experience and the initiatives of related employees and not based on a disciplined process. Moreover, they use integrated information technology tools without paying the same attention to supporting tools and software, and top management role in settling disputes and conflict resolution got the highest score, whereas empowering teams got the lowest. Finally, the study concluded that concurrent engineering has a clear impact on improving performance. Specifically, communication, cooperation, integration, and information sharing between different functions at the company-wide level, improving customer satisfaction, reducing after-design engineering changes, improving the overall quality, improving competitiveness/market share, improving productivity, reducing development time and time to market, and increasing return on investment. People-related practices had the highest correlation with performance followed by those related to used tools.