Method for assessing the maturity of product development management: A proposal

Abstract

Product development process (PDP) is a key procedure in manufacturing organizations. The optimization of its elements such as business strategies, resources, and phases, is challenging and closely related to the company’s PDP maturity level. This paper presents a novel approach for PDP maturity measurement, organized in two stages: (i) data collection and maturity analysis, and (ii) organization of PDP improvement opportunities in a prioritized portfolio. In stage (i), the study assesses the frequency in which PDP’s typical problems take place in the company, and then correlate problems with a list of PDP’s best practices. Outputs of stage (i) are a maturity score for the company’s PDP, and a list of improvement opportunities to be prioritized. In stage (ii), the study sets up a company’s profile in view of which improvement opportunities listed in the previous stage are prioritized and consolidated in a portfolio. Such portfolio is the main output of stage (ii). The propositions are illustrated through a case study from the software development industry. Key words: Product development process (PDP) management, PDP improvement, maturity model.