Abstract:To manage suppliers who are involved in product collaborative design and innovation, on the basis of collating and analyzing 35 literatures related to codesign process and supplier management activities, a threetier model of supplier management in collaborative product development is put forward, which includes tiers of longterm strategic management, product development project and codesign task. In terms of collaborative product development process, an overall management activities model about suppliers is built. Methods of supplier selection and performance evaluation are studied. A case study related to supplier management in equipment codesign from a steel company is provided to verify the theory and methods.