New Product Development Cycle Research Articles

A knowledge-based method for tool path planning of large-sized parts

Proper tool paths ensure the high-efficiency and high-quality machining of workpiece. The current tool path planning method is inadequate to meet the complex process requirements for the complex workpiece of abundant local features. Due to the lack of ability of independent process decision-making, the planning effect is still heavily dependent on human experience and the planning is time-consuming and laborious, which is not conducive to shortening development cycle of new products. Therefore, a novel knowledge-based method for tool path planning is proposed in this paper. The proposed method can automatically plan the tool path that meets the requirements of the machining process by the adaptive process decision-making according to the perceived features of complex workpiece. The knowledge extraction method based on the syntactic dependency analysis is used to extract named entities in the process document. And the correctly classified entities are filled in the nodes of knowledge model represented by the form of frame to finish the establishment of process knowledge base. Then, with the help of feature extraction module based on the hybrid clustering method, the semantic segmentation of the point cloud of the workpiece is completed, and the Feature Matrix (FM) is formed. This matrix is used to provide feature information required for process decision, including Feature Vector (FV) and Structure Description Matrix (SDM). Finally, the tool path is generated in the Path Generator. At last, an automatic path planning system is developed for the painting process of automotive exterior. The planned paths are tested for 20 types of bumpers, where the chromatic aberration ΔE of each product is less than 1.4; both the average thickness of each paint and the requirement of production rate are satisfactory. These test results verify the effectiveness of the proposed tool path planning method.

The Effectiveness of The Body of Knowledge Process in The Startup Analysis of Efficiency by Applying Startup Management Body of Knowledge (SUBOK) Guide

Entrepreneurs who create new businesses using innovative products and services that leverage the basic technologies of the 4th industrial revolution such as AI, IoT, Big Data and others technologies led by Germany and the United States have also emerged in Asia. Due to the diversification of consumer needs in recent years and the need for customer experience management to increase royalties, etc., the development cycle of new products and unique services tends to be shortened and how quickly they can be provided, which is a major problem. success factor. Meanwhile, in order to grow a business sustainably, it is also important to develop the right business strategy, build a governance structure, create value, and raise funds. In this thesis, we consider a startup as a project and describe the usefulness of implementing the Startup Body of Knowledge (SUBOK) Guide which systematizes the process to realize a startup quickly and reliably. In particular, we hypothesize that it is important to balance economic value and social value for startups, and consider the results of the implementation and analysis of the questionnaire.

The Development of a Modified Design Chain Operations Reference Model in New Product Development of the Printed Circuit Board: A Case Study

New product development (NPD) is a process of interactions among multiple parties. With stronger competition in the electronic product market, reducing NPD cycle time has become a common important subject in the information technology (IT) industry. The main topic of this research is process improvements in the research and development (R&D) department of the case company by studying how product competitiveness can be enhanced in the current rapid proceeding technology industry. The process-oriented and hierarchical structure is used to analyze the processes of a new printed circuit board (PCB) design and test, and then a modified design chain operations reference (DCOR) model is introduced to explore problems and suggest corresponding solutions. This research also specifies a clear design chain structure for the case firm and improves its R&D process by brainstorming. The goal is to increase the case firm’s PCB design chain efficiency by shortening the delivery time and reducing the problems of risks arising during the NPD. Finally, this research reviews the essence of the design chain management, draws conclusions, and points out directions for future research.

Exploring the need for (extreme) speed: motivations for and outcomes of discontinuous NPD acceleration

ABSTRACT New product development (NPD) speed is an important concern for firms in today’s fast-paced economy. While existing literature has focused on continuous NPD speed improvements, this paper explores discontinuous NPD acceleration, or dramatic reductions in development time relative to firms’ normal NPD cycles. Across two studies, the authors interview managers to develop a typology of strategic motivations for discontinuous NPD acceleration, followed by a survey of 218 NPD managers to validate the typology and identify important differences across firm types, including those in new product performance, innovation levels, and configurations of organisational characteristics. The results suggest that discontinuous NPD acceleration is most profitable when firms are proactive and have specific configurations of culture, capabilities, and structure. The authors also discuss implications for theory, practice, and future research.

Research regarding reverse engineering for aircraft components

Reverse engineering is a useful technique used in manufacturing and design process of new components. In aerospace industry new components can be developed, based on existing components without technical Computer Aided Design (CAD) data, in order to reduce the development cycle of new products. This paper proposes a methodology wherein the CAD model of turbine blade can be build using computer aided reverse engineering technique utilising a 5 axis Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). The proposed methodology uses a scanning strategy by features, followed by a design methodology for 3D modelling of complex shapes.

Reversing the Design-Marketing Hierarchy: Mapping New Roles and Responsibilities in ‘Designer-Led’ New Product Development

This article seeks to discern and chart recent flux in the territory of practice of the design profession. Whereas in the past the voice of marketing was paramount in the new product development (NPD) process, today the designer’s role is evolving. New approaches to business, manufacture, and consumption are propagating an ascendancy of design and the design profession. The extended role, remit, and responsibilities of designers are here examined. Using a qualitative case study methodology in the context of NPD, the research uncovers a distinct shift towards ‘designer-led’ NPD. The transition is manifest in three key areas: (1) design involvement spanning the NPD cycle; (2) an increased breadth and complexity of design problems; (3) new value in managing the people dimension of the process. These changes are expanding the dimensions of the designer’s remit. In this paper the notion of ‘designer-led’ NPD is identified, defined, and described. A model is developed to assist designers navigating the paradoxes of this new era. Finally, methods to enable design professionals to reconcile conflicting design–business demands are suggested.

Fuzzy association rule mining for fashion product development

Purpose – The emergence of the fast fashion trend has exerted a great pressure on fashion designers who are urged to consider customers’ preferences in their designs and develop new products in an efficient manner. The purpose of this paper is to develop a fuzzy association rule mining (FARM) approach for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of new product development (NPD) in fast fashion. Design/methodology/approach – The FARM identifies the hidden relationships between product styles and customer preferences. The knowledge discovered help the fashion industry design new products which are not only fashionable, but are also saleable in the market. Findings – To evaluate the proposed approach, a case study is conducted in a Hong Kong-based fashion company in which a real-set of data are tested to generate fuzzy association rules. The results reveal that the FARM approach can provide knowledge support to the fashion industry during NPD, shorten the NPD cycle time, and increase customer satisfaction. Originality/value – Compared with traditional association rule mining, the proposed FARM approach takes the fuzziness of data into consideration and the knowledge represented in the fuzzy rules is in a more human-understandable structure. It captures the voice of the customer into fashion product development and provides a specific solution to deal with the challenges brought by fast fashion. In addition, it helps increase the innovation and technological capability of the fashion industry.

A Stage‐Wise Approach to Exploring Performance Effects of Cycle Time Reduction

Research on reducing new product development (NPD) cycle time has shown that firms tend to adopt different cycle time reduction mechanisms for different process stages. However, the vast majority of previous studies investigating the relationship between new product performance and NPD cycle time have adopted a monolithic process perspective rather than looking at cycle time for the distinct stages of the NPD process (i.e., fuzzy front end, development, and commercialization). As a result, little is known about the specific effect of the cycle times of the different stages on new product performance or how they interact to influence new product performance. This study uses a stage‐wise approach to NPD cycle time to test the main and interacting effects of fuzzy front end, development, and commercialization cycle times on new product performance using objective data for 399 NPD projects developed following a Stage‐Gate® type of process in one firm. The results reveal that at least in this firm, new product performance only increases if all three stages of the NPD process are consistently accelerated. This finding, combined with the previous research showing that firms use different mechanisms to accelerate different stages of the process, emphasizes the need to conduct performance effect studies of NPD cycle time at the stage level rather than at the monolithic process level.

Static Strength and Fatigue Analysis of the Automobile Sub-Frame by FEA Simulation Method and Fatigue Test

Applying the method of finite element analysis, the finite element model of sub-frame of an automobile was built. With the aid of MSC software, longitudinal force operating mode which was pre-verified to be the most critical mode, was chosen for the static strength analysis and fatigue life simulation analysis of the sub-frame. Then the stress and fatigue life nephograms of the sub-frame were gotten. Comparison between finite element analysis and experiment result indicated that the finite element model can practically and properly reflect the real stress distribution of the sub-frame. Finally, based on this finite element model, some structure optimizations were done. After structure optimizations, the stress level was obviously improved. This method of FEA simulation together with experimental verification, significantly reduces the development cycle of new products, and is of important value in product design and quality improvement.

CAD/CAE Technology and its Application on Nonferrous Alloy Casting

The nonferrous alloy castings will be much demanded with the development of aerospace, light-weight weapons and automotive industry. Casting CAD/CAE technology has played an increasingly important role in foundry. It can help technician to design casting process and simulate heat transferring and molten metal flowing before actual production. Firstly, the main contents and basic principles, mathematical models of casting CAD and CAE were introduced. Secondly, the casting CAD/CAE technology route was interpreted, and then several CAD/CAE applications of casting process design and simulating were carried out on nonferrous alloys, such as aluminum, magnesium and copper. The results indicate that CAD/CAE technology can be applied to casting process design and predict casting defects which usually occur during the casting mold filling and solidification process, it can provide references to optimize casting process, so as to improve casting quality, reduce the rejection rate and shorten the development cycle of new products.

A novel approach for multi-agent-based Intelligent Manufacturing System

In the recent years, the competition of shortening the development cycle of new products is more and more fierce. Given the shortcomings of traditional scheduling algorithm in Intelligent Manufacturing, the architecture of multi-agent-based Intelligent Manufacturing System is put forward, which represents the basic processing entity. The architecture is based on the methodology of multi-agent systems (MAS) in distributed artificial intelligence (DAI). The multi-agent system has some common characteristics, such as distribution, autonomy, interaction and openness, which are helpful to transform the traditional architecture into a distributed and cooperative architecture in an Intelligent Manufacturing System. To develop a multi-agent-based scheduling system for Intelligent Manufacturing, it is necessary to build various functional agents for all the resources and an agent manager to improve the scheduling agility. In this paper, the proposed architecture consists of various autonomous agents that are capable of communicating with each other and making decisions based on their knowledge. The architecture of Intelligent Manufacturing, the scheduling optimization algorithm, the negotiation processes and protocols among the agents are described in detail. A prototype system is built and validated in an illustrative example, which demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approach. The experiments prove that the implementation of multi-agent technology in Intelligent Manufacturing System makes the operations much more flexible, economical and energy-efficient.

Reconstruct QFD for integrated product and process development management

Purpose – This paper attempts to renew quality function deployment (QFD) in a comprehensive manner and develop a more process‐oriented approach to implement QFD, in order to effectively support the corporate new product development (NPD) cycle and achieve a more systemic innovation.Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts “action research” (AR) as its research methodology. The action research was conducted using a “research/consultant strategy” in a series of projects of collaboration with electronic contract manufacturing companies.Findings – This paper develops an enhanced QFD (EQFD) system and an implementation process for simultaneously executing QFD with NPD cycle.Research limitations/implications – This paper studies broadly defined QFD, and focuses on its comprehensive renewal on which there have been very few English‐language publications.Practical implications – This paper specifies how QFD can be implemented by using NPD approach, so as to effectively support the corporate NPD cycle and a...

Determinants of integrated product development diffusion

Integrated product development (IPD) is an approach for developing new products focused on the early and active involvement of design, manufacturing, marketing and other key new product development (NPD) stakeholders in order to achieve cross‐functional integration and concurrent execution of various NPD activities. The benefits of IPD are well known in both the academic literature and popular press, including significant reductions in NPD cycle time and costs. However, in spite of these benefits, for the majority of manufacturing organizations, IPD is not used on 100% of NPD projects. This research develops a model of the organizational contextual factors influencing the diffusion of IPD in organizations. Results of surveying 269 NPD managers indicate that the complexity of certain IPD practices and support for IPD directly influence IPD diffusion, while an innovative organizational climate and the complexity of the organization's NPD activities indirectly influence IPD diffusion through IPD support.

Cooperation and the Ability to Minimize the Time and Cost of New Product Development within the Spanish Automotive Supplier Industry

New product development (NPD) cycle time has become a strategic competitive weapon for corporations and a focus for research on product development management. Reducing NPD cycle time may create relative advantages in market share, profit, and long‐term competitiveness. This article follows recent research that already has moved beyond anecdotes and case studies to test factors empirically and variables that are associated with the company's NPD time and cost minimization abilities. One emerging research area is the impact of comprehensive lists or sets of firm variables (not project variables) on the ability to speed up NPD.At the same time, several authors' findings suggest a contingency approach to speeding up innovation. Contingency theory argues that there is not one “best answer” to a particular problem: Instead, the appropriateness of managerial interventions is dependent on the prevailing conditions that surround that problem. On the issue of NPD, several scholars point out that cooperation accelerates learning and product development: Firms that combine resources can gain a competitive advantage over firms that are unable to do so, and this is viewed as one of the key benefits of interfirm cooperation. A firm's network of cooperations represent a valuable resource that can yield differential returns in the same way as other tangible and intangible assets such as product brands or R&D capabilities. Combining both lines of research, this study seeks to add to the growing literature and further to inform practicing managers in speeding up NPD by analyzing the relationship between cooperation and the use of some NPD firm practices.This article shows the results of a survey of 63 Spanish automotive suppliers to test the moderation effect of cooperation in the relationship between the use of NPD firm practices and the company's NPD time and cost minimization abilities. Factor and regression analyses were used to test the article's hypotheses. It was found that high‐cooperation companies used more intensively sets of firm practices than low‐cooperation companies. It also was found that two out of four identified factors of NPD firm practices—Design‐Manufacturing Interface and Cross‐Functional Design—were related positively to the company's NPD time and cost minimization abilities in the subsample of high‐cooperation companies but not in the low‐cooperation companies. These results support late research in the area of speeding up NPD. The article discusses some implications for managers.

Environmental uncertainty, organizational integration, and new product development effectiveness: a test of contingency theory

R&D/marketing integration clearly improves new-product development (NPD) effectiveness. However, achieving this integration increases the costs of NPD efforts. If technical and market uncertainty moderate the effects of integration on NPD effectiveness, perhaps a firm can achieve NPD success in a more cost-effective manner by seeking the appropriate level of integration, based on the perceived level of uncertainty. In a study of 101 NPD projects at high-tech firms in the U.S. and the U.K., William E. Souder, J. Daniel Sherman, and Rachel Davies-Cooper explore the interplay between technical and market uncertainty, integration, and NPD effectiveness. Their study examines two types of integration: R&D/marketing integration and direct R&D/customer integration. The study measures NPD effectiveness in terms of such indicators as NPD cycle time, prototype development proficiency, design change frequency (a negative performance indicator), and product launch proficiency. The responses from both the U.S. and the U.K. firms provide balanced samples of high and low uncertainty projects, as well as successful and unsuccessful projects. The results of this study support previous research regarding the positive effects of both R&D/marketing integration and direct R&D/customer integration on NPD effectiveness. However, only one measure of NPD effectiveness—R&D comercialization effectiveness—was affected by both R&D/marketing integration and direct R&D/customer integration. This result suggests that the two types of integration are distinct from one another and that managers need to emphasize different types of integration, depending on which aspects of NPD effectiveness their firms need to improve. The results also suggest that technical and market uncertainty influence some aspects of NPD effectiveness. For example, the perceived level of technical uncertainty was found to influence prototype development proficiency and to moderate design change frequency. In other words, these results support the idea that a high level of technical uncertainty warrants paying extra attention to increasing prototype development proficiency in the interest of reducing design change frequency. However, the results also reinforce the idea that NPD activities generally involve high levels of technical and market uncertainty, which means that the high cost of integration may be a requirement for NPD success.

Environmental Uncertainty, Organizational Integration, and New Product Development Effectiveness: A Test of Contingency Theory

R&D/marketing integration clearly improves new‐product development (NPD) effectiveness. However, achieving this integration increases the costs of NPD efforts. If technical and market uncertainty moderate the effects of integration on NPD effectiveness, perhaps a firm can achieve NPD success in a more cost‐effective manner by seeking the appropriate level of integration, based on the perceived level of uncertainty.In a study of 101 NPD projects at high‐tech firms in the U.S. and the U.K., William E. Souder, J. Daniel Sherman, and Rachel Davies‐Cooper explore the interplay between technical and market uncertainty, integration, and NPD effectiveness. Their study examines two types of integration: R&D/marketing integration and direct R&D/customer integration. The study measures NPD effectiveness in terms of such indicators as NPD cycle time, prototype development proficiency, design change frequency (a negative performance indicator), and product launch proficiency. The responses from both the U.S. and the U.K. firms provide balanced samples of high and low uncertainty projects, as well as successful and unsuccessful projects.The results of this study support previous research regarding the positive effects of both R&D/marketing integration and direct R&D/customer integration on NPD effectiveness. However, only one measure of NPD effectiveness—R&D comercialization effectiveness—was affected by both R&D/marketing integration and direct R&D/customer integration. This result suggests that the two types of integration are distinct from one another and that managers need to emphasize different types of integration, depending on which aspects of NPD effectiveness their firms need to improve.The results also suggest that technical and market uncertainty influence some aspects of NPD effectiveness. For example, the perceived level of technical uncertainty was found to influence prototype development proficiency and to moderate design change frequency. In other words, these results support the idea that a high level of technical uncertainty warrants paying extra attention to increasing prototype development proficiency in the interest of reducing design change frequency. However, the results also reinforce the idea that NPD activities generally involve high levels of technical and market uncertainty, which means that the high cost of integration may be a requirement for NPD success.

New Product Activities and Performance: The Moderating Role of Environmental Hostility

In the race to bring new products to market, a company may be tempted to cut corners in the new product development (NPD) process. And a hostile environment—that is, one marked by intense competition and rapid technological change—only heightens the pressure to reduce NPD cycle time. However, hasty completion of the NPD process may actually jeopardize a product's chances for success.In a study of Fortune 500 manufacturers of industrial products, Roger J. Calantone, Jeffrey B. Schmidt, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto explore the relationships among new product success rates, proficiency in the execution of NPD activities, and the perceived level of hostility in the competitve environment. Their study examines how proficiency in NPD activities affects the odds of success for industrial new products. Adding environmental hostility to the mix, they also investigate whether the perceived level of hostility in the competitive environment affects the relationship between NPD proficiency and success. In this way, they provide insight into the factors managers must consider when attempting to accelerate cycle time in a hostile competitive environment.The respondents to their survey—142 senior managers involved in NPD or product innovation rated environmental hostility in terms of the extent to which the firm perceives its industry as safe, rich in investment opportunity, and controllable. To assess NPD proficiency, respondents were asked about their firms' performance in predevelopment marketing and technical activities, development marketing and technical activities, and financial analysis. Respondents assessed new product performance in terms of product profitability.As expected, the responses indicate that proficiency in the performance of NPD activities increases the likelihood of new product success. Proficiency in development marketing activities produced the largest increase in likelihood of success—nearly 25 percent over that of projects in which respondents rated performance of these activities at any level below “most proficient.” More importantly, the responses indicate that a hostile competitive environment increases the impact of NPD proficiency. In other words, by improving performance of key NPD activities under hostile environmental conditions, a firm can greatly increase the likelihood of success for a new industrial product. Rather than simply cut corners in the NPD process, a firm faced with a hostile environment must strike a balance between speed and quality of execution.

New product activities and performance: The moderating role of environmental hostility

In the race to bring new products to market, a company may be tempted to cut corners in the new product development (NPD) process. And a hostile environment—that is, one marked by intense competition and rapid technological change—only heightens the pressure to reduce NPD cycle time. However, hasty completion of the NPD process may actually jeopardize a product's chances for success. In a study of Fortune 500 manufacturers of industrial products, Roger J. Calantone, Jeffrey B. Schmidt, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto explore the relationships among new product success rates, proficiency in the execution of NPD activities, and the perceived level of hostility in the competive environment. Their study examines how proficiency in NPD activities affects the odds of success for industrial new products. Adding environmental hostility to the mix, they also investigate whether the perceived level of hostility in the competitive environment affects the relationship between NPD proficiency and success. In this way, they provide insight into the factors managers must consider when attempting to accelerate cycle time in a hostile competitive environment. The respondents to their survey—142 senior managers involved in NPD or product innovation rated environmental hostility in terms of the extent to which the firm perceives its industry as safe, rich in investment opportunity, and controllable. To assess NPD proficiency, respondents were asked about their firms' performance in predevelopment marketing and technical activities, development marketing and technical activities, and financial analysis. Respondents assessed new product performance in terms of product profitability. As expected, the responses indicate that proficiency in the performance of NPD activities increases the likelihood of new product success. Proficiency in development marketing activities produced the largest increase in likelihood of success—nearly 25 percent over that of projects in which respondents rated performance of these activities at any level below “most proficient.” More importantly, the responses indicate that a hostile competitive environment increases the impact of NPD proficiency. In other words, by improving performance of key NPD activities under hostile environmental conditions, a firm can greatly increase the likelihood of success for a new industrial product. Rather than simply cut corners in the NPD process, a firm faced with a hostile environment must strike a balance between speed and quality of execution.