A conceptual framework for impact of automotive engineering changes in new product development

Abstract

The automobile market is characterised by global competition, highly demanding consumers, complex business environment, and diverse advancements of technologies. To compete, auto firms are forced to develop new products and introduce into the market on time by looking into all the possible areas of new product development (NPD) process. One of the areas that both academicians and practitioners have overlooked in the past is automotive engineering changes (ECs) and its impact on NPD. Organisations need to realise the significance of ECs, its involvement in NPD and its impact on overall NPD project performance and material planning and logistics (MP&L) performance. In this paper an attempt is made to develop, a conceptual framework of the critical dimensions of ECs. The dimensions were identified using the mixed method of literature review and expert opinion interviews. The experts represented the original equipment manufacturers (OEM), Tier 1 suppliers and logistics service providers (LSP) from Asia Pacific automotive sector. This paper presents the research outcomes, implications and limitations of the study.