Flying Prototypes: Production Departments′ Direct Interaction with External Customers

Abstract

Reports on research in the Danish food industry which has developed a pattern of product development interaction where rich information passes directly between the production department and the external customer. The transformation from customer preferences into engineering characteristics and vice versa was not experienced as a major barrier to cross‐functional communication. To a great extent, food producers exchange information both intra‐firm and inter‐firm as embedded in flying prototypes, i.e. in a tangible medium used for the exclusive purpose of exchanging information, thus replacing the parties′ respective jargons with a third language. Suggests that implication may be that companies can attract lead customers by offering this kind of direct interaction with production departments.