Concurrent New Product Development Research Articles

The use of a GERT based method to model concurrent product development processes

This paper proposes a time-computing model using the Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT) to analyse concurrent New Product Development (NPD) processes. The research presented here differs from previous work carried out on concurrent engineering. First, we conceptualise a concurrent NPD process using the GERT scheduling technique and derive a method of modelling the information and communication complexities within the process. Second, we extend previous research carried out on concurrent engineering and incorporate it within our model. Finally, we present an alternative method of analysing concurrent NPD process for both researchers and project managers alike. The GERT model developed in this paper was successfully employed at two NPD firms located in Ireland and Iran.

The effect of cost goal specificity and new product development process on cost reduction performance

Many firms that compete based on the development of new and innovative products have begun to adopt concurrent new product development (NPD) processes in which product design phases occur in a non-linear and iterative manner. While concurrent NPD processes increase flexibility and reduce time-to-market as compared to traditional sequential processes, concurrency increases task uncertainty since the product design process begins before all important product features and specifications have been established. Such changes can result in costly redesign and rework. Prior research suggests target costing, where product design teams are assigned specific cost goals, is an effective method of controlling costs in sequential NPD. Even so, it is unclear whether target costing will improve cost reduction performance when combined with a concurrent NPD process due to increased task uncertainty. We examine experimentally the ability of product design groups to achieve specific or general cost reduction goals under simulated sequential or concurrent NPD. We predict and find that the nature of the NPD process moderates the effect of specific cost reduction goals on actual cost reduction performance. While specific cost goals result in higher reductions in product cost than general cost goals under a sequential NPD process, specific goals are no better than general goals in motivating design groups to reduce product cost under a concurrent NPD process; thus, we demonstrate boundary conditions on the usefulness of target costing as a cost control method.

New Product Development: Impact of Project Characteristics and Development Practices on Performance

Concurrent product development process and integrated product development teams have emerged as the two dominant new product development (NPD) “best practices” in the literature. Yet empirical evidence of their impact on product development success remains inconclusive. This paper draws upon organizational information processing theory (OIPT) to explore how these two dominant NPD best practices and two key aspects of NPD project characteristics (i.e., project uncertainty and project complexity) directly and jointly affect the NPD performance. Contrary to the “best practice” literature, the analysis, based on 266 NPD projects from three industries (i.e., automotive, electronics, and machinery) across nine countries (i.e., Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United States), found no evidence of any direct impact of process concurrency or team integration on overall NPD performance. Instead, there is evidence of negative impact of the interaction between project uncertainty and concurrent NPD process and positive impact of the interaction between project complexity and team integration on overall NPD performance. Moreover, the study found no evidence of any direct negative impact of project uncertainty or complexity on overall NPD performance as suggested in the literature, but found evidence of a direct positive relationship between project complexity and overall NPD performance.The practical implications of these results are significant. First, neither process concurrency nor team integration should be embraced universally as best practice. Second, process concurrency should be avoided in projects with high uncertainty (i.e., when working with unfamiliar product, market, or technology). Finally, team integration should be encouraged for complex product development projects. For a simple product a loosely integrated team or a more centralized decision process may work well. However, as project complexity increases, team integration becomes essential for improved product development. There is no one‐size‐fits‐all solution for managing NPD projects. The choice of a product development practice should be determined by the project characteristics.

A process-oriented multi-agent system development approach to support the cooperation-activities of concurrent new product development

In the recent decade, concurrent new product development (CNPD) has been recognized as an effective approach for eliminating the long and costly product development cycle. CNPD needs multi-disciplinary workgroups to communicate and cooperate in a computer network environment, particularly a multi-agent system (MAS) environment. Recently, several MAS development approaches for CNPD cooperation have been proposed. These approaches constitute on a goal basis and this will confine the application of developed MAS to the pre-defined goals. However, in a complete CNPD process, different cooperation requirements take place at different stages and need different workgroups to be involved. Consequently, the goal-driven MAS development approaches can only provide a partial solution to the overall cooperation requirements of a CNPD process. This research has proposed a process-oriented approach to develop MAS for all CNPD cooperation requirements. This approach is acting on two phases: the process-oriented cooperation requirements analysis phase and the MAS specification design phase. The process-oriented cooperation requirements analysis phase first defines the desired CNPD process and cooperation workflow based on the company-specific organizational structure and practice. Next, the MAS specification design phase derives the MAS specification, including the agent classes, their conversations and system configuration, from the defined CNPD process and cooperation workflow. Besides, an empirical case is used to explain the proposed approach and to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach on the Java Agent Development Framework (JADE).

Determining the Value of Sequential and Concurrent NPD Processes

The value of using sequential (SE) and concurrent engineering (CE) processes for new product development (NPD) is quantitatively determined by means of the maximum expected payoff method. This method models a process into a sequence of intervals and calculates the value of the maximum benefit as a result of optimum decisions during each interval. SE and CE processes are evaluated in terms of the parameters: simultaneity and intensity of interaction. The maximum expected payoff method shows under what conditions SE or CE is best, and the effect of incomplete information and resultant rework. Results are compared to actual NPD processes with good agreement.

Problems in concurrent new product development: an in‐depth comparative study of three companies

Concurrent engineering or concurrent new product development (CNPD) is gradually becoming the norm for developing and introducing new products to the market place. Through the use of three in‐depth case studies looks at the seldom discussed problems in CNPD implementation and day‐to‐day management, and tries to provide a clear picture of the current state of its development, at three companies in three different countries across Europe. Identifies a number of issues emerging from the study, in particular the lack of process understanding for a concurrent or integrated product development effort and the abundance of “organisational” factors as the main barrier to its success. The results identified both differences and commonalties in CNPD experiences between each of the three case study companies. The case studies highlight the importance of process management, with a focus on process modelling and analysis of organisational factors, to improve the existing implementations of CNPD.

Improving the management of concurrent new product development using process modelling and analysis

This paper focuses on how process modelling and analysis using ‘light weight’ technology1 supported by focused group discussions and workshops can improve the ‘concurrence’ and integration within the New Product Development process. This enables managers to improve the management of product design and development through a better understanding of the issues. The paper argues that the traditional changes in human resource management via introduction of multifunctional/collocated teams required by Concurrent New Product Development (CNPD) can be complemented by the introduction of process management, focused on the modelling and analysis of the ‘softer’ organisational issues. A case study of a domestic appliance manufacturer, developing a new product using a collocated product development team, is described to verify the research. The paper concludes by discussing the issues that emerge from this type of approach to performance improvement in NPD management, such as involvement of all team functions, senior management commitment, standardisation of processes, and training in the process management concept including modelling and analysis techniques. The approach proposed allows one to make both tangible benefits, in terms of cost, delivery (lead times) and quality, and intangible benefits, in terms of communication, people empowerment, motivation, and collaboration.

Analysing organisational issues in concurrent new product development

Organisation analysis and improvement techniques have been a field of study for many years with the result that there are a number of different methodologies ranging from purely mathematical models of analysis to heuristic models using simulation. This paper presents an overview of research carried out towards the development of a methodology and tool aimed at assisting in the reengineering of the processes and organisation deployed in Concurrent New Product Development (CNPD) (NPD within a Concurrent Engineering (CE) environment). The focus is on the analysis of the operation of multifunctional project teams throughout the NPD process lifecycle, using process modelling and analysis techniques. The methodology and tools developed identify low value adding tasks and poor value adding ability of the performers, using both quantitative as well as qualitative information. This enables the company managers to reduce lead times, remove weak functions or links, move towards a more flatter organisation, and improve performance of the process and consequently organisation. The methodology and tool were originally developed within the European BRITE-EURAM (No. BE-8037-93) project PACE – a Practical Approach to Concurrent Engineering