Sequential Innovation involves the serial commercialization of improving products based on technologies that improve over time. In many industries such as semiconductors, electronics and computers, fundamental advances have presented firms with opportunities to substantially improve their product's capabilities in very short periods of time. Customers who invest in these products may, however, react adversely to rapid improvements that obsolete their previously purchased products. In the case of breakthrough products that create categories of their own, potential consumers might even be unaware of their own valuation for new products. In this dissertation, I identify and analyze some means by which a firm can engage in sequential innovation in the face of such apprehensions. In particular, I focus on three aspects of product development that have important implications for its eventual success in the market: product design, sourcing of components and distribution channels. In the first essay, motivated by an emerging trend in industrial markets, I analyze the role of modular upgradable designs in managing the introduction of rapidly improving products. I show that modular upgradability can reduce the need for slowing the pace of innovation or foregoing upgrade pricing. In the second essay, I study a dual set of challenges that arise for the modular innovator in the presence of strategic consumers and suppliers. The firm's ability to credibly signal its future design strategy could be adversely affected under various sourcing arrangements for peripheral components of the modular product. Even when consumers strategically plan their purchases while taking into account the firm's incentives, they often have limited understanding of their own valuation of a product before they buy it. In the third essay, I consider the role played by channels of distribution that play an educational role when selling sequentially improving products to such consumers who are uncertain about their preferences. The contribution of this dissertation is to formalize the sequential innovation problem and propose solutions that can help firms in synchronizing product development decisions with customers and other value-chain partners. / text

M.Com. (Business Management) / Any successful new product development team must have some differences in perspectives and orientations. However, conflict and disharmony between R&D and marketing can severely hinder the successful development and launching of new products. It is therefore of the utmost importance to avoid any disharmonies and to work towards a better integration and meaningful co-ordination between these two departments. The avoidance of any disharmonies that may occur through various management methods is generally less costly and more effective that attempting to overcome long-standing disharmonies.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / The ability to bring products to market which comply with quality, cost and development time goals is vital to the survival of firms in a competitive environment. New product development comprises knowledge creation and search and can be organised in different ways. New product development requires the close collaboration of virtually all functions within a company. The existence of an effective cross-functional team, with clearly-defined objectives, is thus critical to the successful development of any new product. Furthermore, the success of new products depends mainly on the new product development process. The purpose of this research study is to review literature on new product development processes and the effect it has on organisational performance and also to take a critical look at the new product development and implementation (NPD & I) process applied in Telecom Namibia (TN). This study also provides insights to various TN stakeholders, particularly senior management and relevant individuals involved in product development, enabling individuals to recognise the role product development plays towards sustainability of the company. The study also provides a working guide for managers to identify opportunities for improving the new product development (NPD) process. The primary research objective is to critically audit the effect of new product development processes on TN’s performance. The secondary research objective is to develop frameworks and methodologies for guiding the development of effective strategies that have been tested in numerous businesses. A major finding of this study is that the success of new products depends mainly on the new product development process and that it has a major impact on organisational performance.

In today's marketplace firms have to become specialized in specific technological aspects in product development due to intensifying competition. Further, the increasing complexity of offerings make firms become more dependent on other value-chain contributors such as providers of complementary and component technologies. Therefore, in addition to the inherent market of appeal of product, a successful introduction may depend on the firm's interactions with suppliers and even "competitors". These interactions with other firms in the marketplace present a unique set of challenges to firms. In this dissertation, we explore how a firm's approach to interacting with supply chain partners and/or competitors may depend upon how its product provides value to customers. In the first essay, we look into how a firm should design the interdependence between a durable good and a consumable such as a printer and a cartridge and utilize the benefits of an industry of generic consumable suppliers. In the second essay, we analyze the different approaches that firms adopt while commercializing their technologies to competitors in a networked environment (such as telecommunications). We identify the impact of the competitor's development capabilities on the trade-off between the increased competition and network benefits. In the third essay, we explore situations in which firms collaborate to develop a component innovation that they later market individually; they codevelop and jointly market; and they choose to individually develop and market. We consider how competitive strategies between development partners should consider the influence of supplier formation on the investment incentives of an OEM. In summary, this dissertation examines how the management of interactions with supply chain partners and competitors can play an important role in technology development and deployment. Our results highlight key trade-offs and provide insights for managers who are involved in developing and deploying new products. / text

Thesis (MScEng)--University of Stellenbosch / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dynamic and highly competitive environment that most product development organisations find themselves in demands a method to constantly assess the maturity of the organisations' product development processes and systems. Many of these organisations are in the product development business and for this reason a need was identified for a method that can be used by managers to identify areas in need of improvement on a continual basis. . This thesis included a literature study of product development best practices and organisational measurement techniques, as well as the application and evaluation of a tool that enables the business managers to assess the state of these product development activities against the benchmark of these said best practices. The theoretical approach taken in this thesis, was to define the scope of the organisations and products to be included in the thesis, to investigate the current best practices within both the academic and industry arenas and identify the needs of product development organisations in terms of measuring their product development process maturity and then an evaluation of the tool that enables the identification of shortcomings in the organisations' development systems. Included in the literature study were a variety of Business and Quality Philosophies, existing standards and measurement tools, as well as a brief look at Organisational culture and how it affects Product Development Activities. The results of this literature were then used to substantiate the tool that was used for the actual evaluation and case study. The literature provided a good basis of evaluation, particularly in the way that the tool employs measurements and scoring techniques to assess an organisation's position in terms of product development best practices. The case study then took an existing tool that is currently used by DRM Associates (USA) in assessing the state of an organisation's Product Development Best Practices and used it to assess a Business Unit within a South African company. The results were analysed and the tool thus evaluated in terms of accuracy, user-friendliness and value for the South African market. It was found that the tool is very accurate in terms of identifying areas of weakness both with respect to the strategic performance of the organisation as well as the individual best practices. It is easy to understand, but the scoring system utilised is not that easily employed. It was felt that the scoring systems needed to be more generic as those of ISO 9004 and the South African Excellence Model The idea is that managers do the assessment once in conjunction with a group of consultants and then again as part of a continuous improvement drive, on their own. Managers with limited knowledge of product development best practices and philosophies would find the assessment difficult to do on their own due to the ambiguous scoring criteria. It was felt that a generic system would be easier to use by non-technical people. Once the assessment had been completed and the tool itself evaluated, the value of such a tool for South African product development organisations was also evaluated. In this evaluation it was found that the tool could be more valuable as a guide for future education (an educational roadmap) than as a benchmarking and assessment tool. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ... punte toekenning sisteem meer generies moes wees, soortgelyk aan die van ISO 9004 en die 'South African Excellence Model'. Die idee is dat bestuurders die evaluering een keer saam. met 'n groep konsultante moet doen en dan weer op hulle eie as deel van 'n deurlopende verbeterings-program. Bestuurders met 'n beperke kennis in beste praktyke en filoso:fië van produk ontwikkeling sou die evaluering moeilik gevind het as hulle dit op hulle eie gedoen het weens die dubbelsinnige punte toekenningskriteria. 'n Meer generiese sisteem sal makliker wees vir mense wat nie tegnies aangelê is nie. Toe die gevallestudie voltooi was en die model self evalueer was, was die waarde van so 'n model vir Suid Afrikaanse produkontwikkelings-ondememings terselfdetyd evalueer. Dit was gevind dat die model meer waardevol kon wees as 'n opleidingshulpmiddel vir ondernemings, in plaas van 'n evalueringsinstrument teenoor opgestelde grondslae.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The globalisation is increasing the complexity of product development in terms of product variants and the range of technologies implemented. It emphasises the requirement for developing various design information support systems for the world market. However, small and medium enterprises that employ a wide range of design procedures may not be able to afford customised information support systems, with the result that there is a need for flexible, i.e. easily adaptable, design support tools. Four case studies were carried out to investigate the requirements for an information support system aimed at the design process and design documents. They indicated that a design information support system aimed at supporting design teams in the pre-detail mechanical design phases should be able to adapt various design methods and handle design information in a flexible way. Flexible here means being applicable over a wide range of contexts and extendable without affecting data already captured. Ontology based approaches are widely applied where diverse information has to be handled. The development of the Internet today also makes a distributed design approach more and more popular for mechanical design. An internet-based design support system called DiDeas II (Distributed Design assistant) was developed here with an ontologybased approach implemented to provide distributed and flexible assistance during concept generation in small companies. The DiDeas II has separate server side and client side programs, which communicate through a TCP/IP connection. DiDeas II allows design teams to manage their design information according to various design methods, to decrease time-delays and to improve communication between team members. These benefits were confirmed in two case studies carried out to evaluate DiDeas II. Keywords: Distributed design; ontology; concept design, web-based system. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Globalisering verhoog die kompleksiteit van produkontwikkeling, in terme van produk variante en die bereik van tegnologieë wat geïmplementeer word. Dit beklemtoon die behoefte om verskeie ontwerp-inligting-ondersteuningstelsels vir die wêreldmark te ontwikkel. Klein en medium ondernemings wat 'n wye spektrum ontwerpsprosedures gebruik, kan egter nie doelgemaakte inligting-ondersteuningstelsels bekostig nie, met die gevolg dat daar 'n behoefte vir maklik-aanpasbare ontwerp ondersteuningstelsels is. Vier gevallestudies is uitgevoer om die vereistes vir 'n inligting-ondersteuningstelsel gemik op die ontwerpproses en ontwerp dokumente, te ondersoek. Dit het aangetoon dat 'n ontwerp-inligting-ondersteuningstelsel, wat ontwerpspanne in die voor-detail meganiese ontwerp fases moet ondersteun, by verskeie ontwerpmetodes moet kan aanpas en ontwerpsinligting op 'n aanpasbare manier kan hanteer. Aanpasbaarheid in hierdie konteks beteken toepaslik oor 'n wye spektrum kontekste en uitbreibaar sonder om data wat alreeds ingevoer is, te beïnvloed. Ontologie-gebaseerde benaderings word wyd toegepas waar diverse inligting hanteer moet word. Die ontwikkeling van die Internet maak 'n verspreide-ontwerpbenadering meer en meer gewild vir meganiese ontwerp. 'n Internet-gebaseerde ontwerpondersteuningstelstel genaamd DiDeas II (Distributed Design assistant) is hier ontwikkel met 'n ontologie-gebaseerde benadering wat daarop gemik is om verspreide, aanpasbare hulp te verleen aan klein maatskappye gedurende konsep- ontwikkeling. Die DiDeas II stelsel het afsonderlike bediener en kliënt programme wat deur 'n TCP/IP verbinding kommunikeer. DiDeas II laat ontwerpspanne toe om hulle ontwerp inligting volgens verskeie ontwerpmetodes te bestuur, tydvertragings te verminder en om kommunikasie tussen spanlede te verbeter. Hierdie voordele is bevestig in twee gevallestudies wat uitgevoer is om DiDeas II te evalueer. Sleutelwoorde: Verspreide ontwerp; ontologie; konsepontwerp; web-gebaseerde stelsel.

Thesis (DBA)--Macquarie University, Graduate School of Management, 2008. / Bibliography: p. 267-292. / The telecommunications industry ('Telco'), a service provider business, is undergoing significant changes such as deregulations, technology changes and increasing competition. Managers face increased pressure to bring new products with the latest technology into the market faster. Few previous studies have analysed New Product Development (NPD) projects in this hypercompetitive industry. This research addresses this gap by investigating Telco NPD projects and the associated skill sets needed by successful project managers.--The study evaluated how project managers' various skills contribute to project management success. Incorporating clear definitions grounded in the recent literature on NPD, management and leadership, the research proposed a new organising framework of four groups of skill sets: technical, leadership, managerial and administrative. Technical skills are the knowledge of technologies on which the project work is based. Leadership skills involve influencing project stakeholders to deliver a quality product within time and budget. Managerial skills are needed to develop and execute project plans and to get project work done. Administrative skills include understanding an organisation's structure, culture, policies, processes, methods and tools.--Previous classifications for Telco NPD projects have over-emphasised product innovation and undervalued the process aspects. While small projects provide fewer management challenges, this study found that project managers of large and complex projects require all four skill sets. Managerial skills are mandatory. Technical and administrative skills enhance understanding of the technology and business processes. Leadership skills are limited at an operational level. Managerial and administrative skills are essential for developing and implementing project plans; technical skills are important in the initial project stages; leadership skills are needed from the beginning until delivering a new product.--The research outcomes can be used when hiring and developing NPD project manager professionals in the Telco industry to complement current project manager competency standards, which do not cover all the skill sets. Findings may be applicable to Telco companies in other countries new to such market conditions. Furthermore, other industries may adapt the skill set framework to suit their own particular requirements. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / xvi, 336 p. ill

A modelagem do processo de negócio é uma abordagem da década de 1990 para melhoria do desempenho das organizações, que volta atualmente como forte contribuinte para a melhoria de desempenho das organizações. É com essa abordagem que esta pesquisa realiza a modelagem de um Processo Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) de uma empresa de fabricação mecânica, que manufatura máquinas e equipamentos para apoiar a produção em frigoríficos, na região oeste Catarinense. A modelagem do PDP utiliza o padrão Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) apoiada pelo aplicativo Intalio BPMS. O objetivo da pesquisa é avaliar a modelagem com BPMN para a formalização do Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos e como tratar as complexidades e interações intrínsecas deste processo, em pequenas empresas de fabricação mecânica. A modelagem com BPMN é estruturada na avalição do PDP de uma empresa selecionada e de observações in loco da execução do processo. A metodologia adotada para desenvolvimento da modelagem do PDP da empresa considerou os seguintes aspectos: i) estudo de uma empresa; ii) modelagem informacional; iii) automação do modelo e execução; iv) implementação do modelo do PDP na empresa. Também são apresentadas as características do Modelo Unificado de Rozenfeld et al. (2006), usado como referência para sistematizar a modelagem do Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos da empresa, através de avaliação do processo da empresa. Uma breve descrição é feita para apresentar as características dos principais padrões usados na Modelagem de Processos de Negócios, incluindo os principais aplicativos computacionais usados para apoiar os padrões de modelagem. Os resultados foram divididos em duas partes, em modelos abstratos estáticos e dinâmicos. O modelo abstrato estático tem caráter informacional, apresentando riqueza de detalhes, na forma de um mapa detalhado do processo. Para automação, esse modelo estático foi desdobrado em outros dois modelos abstratos, que são configurados para se tornarem dinâmicos, visando a implementação e execução de forma a atender satisfatoriamente a realidade da execução do processo na empresa. O primeiro modelo abstrato dinâmico implementado e executado define o produto e finaliza com a decisão do cliente sobre o orçamento solicitado ao setor de vendas da empresa. O segundo modelo abstrato dinâmico inicia com a aprovação do orçamento pelo cliente, dado início a atividades de projeto informacional e finaliza com a liberação para produção. Essa abordagem visa minimizar as complexidades de modelagem do processo e das particularidades especificas da empresa. A modelagem do PDP com o modelo de referência e a aplicação do padrão BPMN apoiado pelo Intalio BPMS permitiu relatar boas práticas, lições aprendidas, dificuldades e facilidades encontradas. Além disso, o PDP formalizado pela modelagem com BPMN e Intalio BPMS proporcionou mudanças significativas na execução atual do processo, contribuindo para maior integração entre os participantes. / Modeling the business process and an approach of the 1990s to improve the performance of organizations, this currently returns as a strong contributor to the improvement of performance of organizations Packing Company, in the region west of Santa Catarina State. Modeling the PDP uses the standard Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) supported by the application Intalio BPMS. The objective of the research and evaluate the modeling with BPMN for the formalization of the development process of products and how to deal with the complexities and intrinsic interactions of this process, in small companies of mechanical manufacturing. The modeling with BPMN and structured in evaluation of PDP a company selected and comments on the site of the work, the execution of the process. The methodology adopted for the development of modeling PDP the company considered the following aspects: (i) study of a company; (ii) informational modeling; (iii) the automation model and implementation; (iv) implementation of the model of the PDP in the company. Also presented are the characteristics of Unified Model of Rozenfeld et al. (2006), used as a reference to systematize the modeling of the Products Development Process of the company, through evaluation of the process of the company. A brief description and made to have the characteristics of the major standards used in the modeling of business processes, including the main computational applications used to support the standards of modeling. The results were divided into two parts, in abstract models static and dynamic. The abstract model has static informational character, presenting richness of detail, in the form of a detailed map of the process. For automation, this static model was unfolded in two other abstract models, which are configured to become dynamic, aiming at the implementation and execution in order to meet satisfactorily the reality of the implementation of the process in the company. The first abstract model dynamic implemented and executed defines the product and finishes with the customer's decision on the budget requested the sales of the company. The second abstract model dynamic starts with the approval of the budget by the customer, initiated the activities of project informational and ends with the release to production. This approach aims to minimize the complexities of modeling the process and the specific peculiarities of the company. Modeling the PDP with the reference model and the application of standard BPMN supported by Intalio BPMS allowed report best practices, lessons learned, difficulties and facilities found. In addition, the PDP formalized by modeling with BPMN and Intalio BPMS provided significant changes in the implementation of the current process, contributing to greater integration between the participants.

M.Tech (Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology / In the world of research and development, the ability to rapidly manufacture a prototype or part has become a significant part of the manufacturing process. This requirement has given rise to some unique manufacturing technologies. One of these technologies is Additive Manufacturing (AM), or also more commonly known as 3D printing. There are several AM technologies available and can be divided into three major AM categories namely: liquid, powder and solid sheet based. For this research study, the primary focus will be on powder-based technologies. Powder-based technologies make use of materials in powder form and use different fusion techniques to fuse the powder particles together. All the powder bed fusion technologies consist of the same basic components, namely a powder chamber, build chamber, re-coater and a powder fusion system. For each layer of the build, the re-coater applies a new layer of powder from the powder chamber to the build chamber, and then the specific type of powder fusion system will fuse the powder particles together. This process will then be repeated until the entire build has completed. Currently, powder bed fusion AM platforms do not have re-coating quality feedback into the printing system. Thus, when errors or defects occur on the powder bed surface during the re-coating process, they can affect the structural integrity of the parts. Parts must then be reprinted, which becomes costly due to wasted raw materials, electricity and time. Raw material and sundry wastage was some of the key factors that reduces the overall efficiency of the identified AM technology. Due to the increased problem with wasted materials, the need arose to develop a re-coater monitoring system, which could be used to increase the overall efficiency of a powder-based system. For the development of a re-coater monitoring system, a review of three different types of monitoring technologies such as computer vision, laser scanning and a time-offlight camera was conducted. Based upon the relatively low cost, low computer resource requirements and high accuracy, computer vision was considered as the best suited technology for development of the monitoring system. To select the correct camera to capture images of the powder bed, the required specifications for the camera, lens and mounting position were determined mathematically. A software program was then developed to autonomously detect re-coating errors on the captured image after each re-coating cycle using image processing techniques. Each of the captured powder bed images were divided into 16 equal sized quadrants, where each quadrant was processed individually. Each of the quadrants was examined using an edge detection algorithm to detect any changes in contrast that would indicate a defect or re-coating error. The probability of a possible re-coating error or defect was calculated for each quadrant and displayed as a percentage value. The active re-coater monitoring system was also integrated into the Voxeljet VX500 to validate the system’s operation. The system was used to monitor a total of seven build jobs on the Voxeljet VX500. However, the first three build jobs could not be successfully monitored as some parameters of the system had to be re-adjusted to ensure proper operation. The last four build jobs were monitored successfully and recorded results that proved that the active re-coater monitoring system could indeed detect defects and re-coating errors when they occurred.