Activities and problems in new product development process in the networking industry - A case of different business models

Abstract

Facing intensive changes in the external environment in a globally competitive market, as well as rapid technological changes and varied consumer demands, enterprise survival has become an important topic. Firms should focus on developing products that are higher quality and more reasonably priced than those of competitors, to increase their profits and establish a competitive advantage to satisfy and fulfill customer needs, making new product development an important topic for discussion. This study classified business models into two types, OBM and ODM, and classified four stages of new product development, Proposal and Planning stage, Product Development stage, Trial Run Planning stage, and Mass Production stage. This study examines networking firms in Taiwan using six case studies, to identify the representative activities during each NPD stage, such as product feasibility evaluation and product proposal establishment, as well as project team member determination/project milestone establishment and development budget estimation during the proposal and planning and product development stages, EVT proceeding in the product development stage, DVT proceeding and PVT proceeding in the trial run planning stage, and customer PO acceptance, shipment delivery and project final result survey in the mass production stage, and each activity will undoubtedly encounter different marketing, product development and process development problems.