Innovative new product development: a case study

Abstract

Innovative new product development has increased high attraction by firms. New product development is an integral part of R&D research. Therefore, new product development process should be systematically performed to increase the impact of the new product on financial data of firms. In this study, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology is utilized for electric vehicle technology. The technology developed is a type of electric towing vehicle. A customer-driven new product development process is utilized thanks to the QFD methodology. At the beginning of the research, a QFD team is formed in the company. A survey study is performed to gather customer requirements. 87 customer requirements are identified based on the survey study. These requirements are classified into five clusters, namely performance, ergonomics, security, maintenance & after sales service, and functionality. Technical requirements to satisfy the customer requirements are determined by the engineers in the company. Relationships between the technical requirements and the customer requirements are found in this study. Subsequently, relationships between the technical requirements are examined to construct the roof of the house of quality for the QFD. Then, the relative importance of the technical requirements are calculated to reflect the customer requirements. Finally, a new product is designed through use of the QFD methodology. The new product developed is 100% electric vehicle and multi-functional product.