Company's Product Development Process Research Articles

Analysis of the utilization of tools and sustainability approaches in the product development process in Brazilian industry

The transformation of companies into organizations that respect environmental limits while meeting social needs and desires has become a platform for innovation and strategy for product development. In this context the development of products has become a key process to increase the competitiveness of the company. However, there is still a lack of clarity in the way in which sustainability tools or approaches should be incorporated within this process, generating uncertainties in their adoption. To analyze this incorporation, this work uses methodological procedures such as a bibliographic review and the application of surveys of industry professionals working in product development and sustainability. The main objective is to analyze the degree of incorporation of tools and concepts of sustainability in the product development process of companies in different industrial sectors located in Brazil, with the intention of discovering what can be the approximation of the conceptual developments in the academic world and the practical applications in industry.

Customer care excellence in the new product development process: a case study

Excellence in product development can be achieved by integrating various stakeholders' requirements into a winning offering. After-market services have become increasingly important for companies, as digitalisation enables new business models and revenue streams. The integration of customer care must be performed in the product development (PD) process in the early concepting and development phases in order to ensure an excellent customer experience. The traditional elements of care - spare parts, service tools, and support - must be coupled with new services. Future cutting-edge products demand new self-support, repair, and upgrade capabilities that are enabled by the digitalisation of product-service assets and low-cost distribution platforms. This study aims to increase knowledge on how care capabilities can be created in the PD by analysing the critical care inputs and their effects in the product concepting phase. In addition, the critical care outputs in the case company's product development process in the main phases are presented.

<b>Principles and recommendations for implementation of design methods in the product development process of companies

This paper aims to present a study on the implantation of design methods in the Product Development Process (PDP) of companies, with the intention of generating a set of decision support principles and recommendations for deployment of these resources in the industry. This study was classified as applied research, as it aims to apply knowledge in industry’s product development. On the approach, it was classified as a qualitative research because it used interviews, document examinations and has a descriptive character. As for the goals, it was classified as exploratory and descriptive, having a practical application. The technical procedures used were literature review, field study and action research. The main result of this research is a group of systematic character propositions that are the foundation to guide the implementation of design methods in the industry, consisting of Selecting the Appropriate method to be implemented in accordance with PDP, Planning the Implantation of the method selected, Applying the Method and control and actions to improve the implementation. The research offers a synthesis of various experiences about the implantation of design methods in the industry, redeeming values of human wisdom that previously had not received great attention.

Seleção de um modelo de referência de PDP para uma empresa de autopeças através de um método de auxílio à decisão por múltiplos critérios

O processo de desenvolvimento de produtos (PDP) é um fator crítico de sucesso no lançamento de um novo produto para atender os requisitos dos clientes. A adoção de um modelo de referência serve como um guia detalhado para auxiliar as organizações na gestão e sistematização do PDP, através da sequência padronizada de etapas que são adaptadas de acordo com o tipo de produto que a empresa desenvolve. O objetivo deste artigo é selecionar um modelo de referência do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos para uma empresa do ramo de autopeças através de um método de auxílio à decisão por multicritério denominado Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). O método de pesquisa utilizado foi a modelagem, que diante de seis alternativas, três critérios e julgamento de cinco especialistas resultou na seleção do modelo de Rozenfeld et al. (2006) como o modelo mais indicado para realizar a análise do PDP da empresa objeto de estudo em pesquisas futuras.

Combining REACH, environmental and economic performance indicators for strategic sustainable product development

Abstract The objective of the work presented was to provide a paint production company with a tool for strategic decisions in product development that could combine environmental and economic indicators with REACH information. The tool was to be in a form that would provide visual representation of several factors that are important for the company's product development, in a form that could be incorporated into current product development processes. The paper describes the indicators used, shows visual results from the trial of the strategy matrix tool, and outlines and discusses potential limitations. The offshore coatings products analysed were within the VOC (volatile organic compounds) concentration proposed by the European Directive limiting the VOC content in products ( Okopol, 2009 ). The products that have the lowest VOC concentrations score the highest (worst) on Total REACH Score. The trial has led to the tool being incorporated at specific “gates” (or milestones) in the company's product development process. The paper shows that close collaborative effort yielded a practically useful tool for strategic decision-making.

Um modelo de referência para o processo de desenvolvimento de produtos de empresas do setor moageiro de trigo

Este artigo apresenta um modelo de referência para o processo de desenvolvimento de produtos (PDP) no setor moageiro de trigo. O modelo objetiva facilitar os projetos de novos produtos, avaliando necessidades, requisitos e limitações. Ele pode contribuir para a integração e comunicação entre as áreas funcionais, reduzindo o tempo de desenvolvimento. A estrutura operacional do modelo é composta por três macrofases e oito fases. No término de cada fase, as informações são compiladas em forma de um documento, que deve passar pela avaliação da direção (gate). A aplicação do modelo foi realizada a partir de um plano para sistematizar o PDP de uma empresa. A intervenção para ajustar o modelo à empresa contemplou: análise da situação atual do PDP, proposição de melhorias e aplicação do modelo. Entre os resultados, destaca-se a facilidade de enquadrar as soluções propostas para melhorar o PDP ao modelo referencial, mostrando a exequibilidade do mesmo.

Improving Product Development Processes to Manage Development Risk

To create new products, firms employ a product development process (PDP) to generate new product concepts, to translate the best of these concepts into quality products, and to manage the risks inherent in bringing such new products to the market. A well-designed PDP is necessary to reduce development time, create better products, increase market share, and generate profit. This paper investigates the relationship between product development risk and PDP management and seeks to help companies improve their processes. We begin by discussing product development risks and describing a spectrum of different PDPs. We compare the traditional, rigid, staged PDP with the alternative, flexible, spiral PDP and other variants. We then propose several iteration- and review-based metrics by which PDPs can be effectively identified and compared. Data from ten company case studies exemplify a wide variety of actual PDPs, demonstrate the utility of iteration and review metrics in distinguishing PDPs, and illustrate how different processes manage different risks. Case study findings indicate that software companies face rapidly changing markets, generally perform quick iterations and tests, and are likely to employ flexible PDPs. In contrast, manufacturing companies that face greater integration difficulties and technical risks are likely to employ more rigid PDPs. We find that a company's risk profile is instrumental in determining the applicability of different PDPs. We employ the case study lessons to propose a method for improved PDP design based on risk management. To demonstrate the method, it is applied to redesign one company's PDP. We conclude that PDPs vary more than previously documented; that the proposed metrics are useful in distinguishing PDPs; and that companies facing different risk scenarios can effectively tailor their PDP designs to suit their own unique circumstances.

Life Cycle Design: from general methods to product type specific guidelines and checklists: a method adopted to develop a set of guidelines/checklist handbook for the eco-efficient design of NECTA vending machines

This paper underlines and debates the importance of developing specific guidelines and checklist per product typology, as tools to make eco-efficient design become a reality. The argumentation is accompanied by the description of a project commissioned by the NECTA Vending Solutions (the European leader of drinks & food vending machines) to the DIS research unit (Design and Innovation for environmental Sustainability, Politecnico di Milano University – The DIS research unit of Politecnico di Milano University is offering, since 10 years, applied researches and company consulting on Life Cycle Design and eco-efficiency improvement. Typical consulting activities are: Life Cycle Assessment; handbook for LCD and eco-efficient product, service and product-service system development; procedure and tools to integrate environmental requirements into company existing product, service and product-service system development process; courses on LCD), resulting in such tools, currently integrated into the company product development process. The considerations are based upon on primary data and experiences. The final results of this project are two handbooks of guidelines and checklists for the eco-efficient development of two types of vending machines: one for Snack & Food (spirals model), the other for Hot & Cold drinks. In order to achieve these results an LCA has been developed and a system to prioritize guidelines has been adopted; this system has led to a procedure which moves from general to specific guidelines and checklist. Finally these tools have been integrated within the company procedure. The method adopted by DIS in this applied research is described, highlighting the observed key success factors in a project between a University research unit and a company. Final considerations expand upon the matured experiences to demonstrate the importance and efficacy to go from general methods and tools to more specific ones (e.g. specific guidelines and checklist), in order to implement Life Cycle Design principles, in the real company practices and culture.

An activity model of the product development process

The inclusion of certain activities in the product development process (PDP) and their efficient execution have been identified as important factors for new product success. It is therefore important to be able to identify both what activities are present in a particular PDP and what activities should be present. The work reported in the present paper arose from the need to identify these activities as part of a method to evaluate the effectiveness of a company's PDP. Successful application of co-ordination processes, such as scheduling, resource allocation and concurrent engineering, also depends on having a complete representation of the PDP activities. The requirements that a model of the PDP activities should satisfy are identified in the paper. Existing models are reviewed, but none fully meets these requirements. A new generic model of PDP activities has been developed using the IDEF0 structure to derive a set of 18 generic elements against which companies can map their own PDP activities. This model is presented in detail, the results of tests in a number of manufacturing companies are described, and comparisons are made with a number of existing models. The 18 generic elements are found to be sufficient to represent all the test cases.