In order to benefit from the possible advantages of a Early Supplier Involvement (cost savings, reduction of time to market), many companies have outsourced activities and sought to build long-term collaborations with their suppliers. During the last decade more and more responsibility in designing and engineering components was transferred to supplier. The aim of this paper is to focus on the need of information management tools within co design activities. This research is one of purpose of ISOCELE Rhône Alpes research project. In this paper, we present two models to help to define a suitable collaborative ICT (Information and Communication Technology) system. The first one is to analyse the different situations of Early Supplier Involvement) in New Product development (NPD). These situations are characterised through two axes: risk of the product development and supplier autonomy. Each situation needs a specific approach of coordination between design team of supplier and customer. The second model proposes a four levels framework that allows sharing preliminary information within a collaborative design process. This framework illustrated by a tool PIQUANT is presented. In a case of a "critical" co-design situation with a supplier, we argue that this framework can support the design activities information and project management