A aplicação da tecnologia da informação no desenvolvimento de produtos em projetos automotivos.

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the importance of the Information Technology (IT) in the product development process in an automobile industry, glimpsing the quality improvement, the cost reduction and the optimization of the development time in new projects, which these factors are considered of extreme importance for an automobile industry to compete in the market nowadays. The work starts with a theoretical description of models that analyzes the paper of IT, explaining the process of evaluation of their benefits. Also it tries to approach the question of how the IT can influence the strategy of the company, as well as it shows how the information can provide competitive advantage face to this current market. The work is complemented with a brief description dedicated to the New Product Development (NPD) process, focusing in the responsibility of providing the products development that assist to the market expectations and that are economically viable for the company. One of the most important points of this work is the presentation, through case study format, of the theory application related to the IT in the vehicles development process at General Motors of Brazil, exposing their relevant and critical points under the strategic point of view. In sequence, it fits the description of the case study analysis with the purpose of evaluating GMB classification under some prisms of the IT theory in order to verify the efficiency and effectiveness reached. Finally, the conclusions end this work with important statements under the author's point of view about the whole development of this work.