Given the severe global competition and the manufacturing challenges, retaining competitiveness in the textile and apparel (T&A) industries has become crucial for manufacturers. To achieve this, although historically manufacturers have been regarded as mainly production orientated, a number of them have occupied a primary intermediary position by applying the mechanisms of industrial upgrading and instituting new product development (NPD) in their businesses together with the synergy of alliances and networks. This has enabled the manufacturers to provide various products and services to international buyers. The Taiwanese T&A manufacturers can serve as a good example. They have managed to retain their competitiveness in the global industry for the last half century by continuously evolving their businesses and acquiring extensive capabilities. To achieve competitiveness in the T&A sectors, strategic planning that can lead to competitive advantages is required. NPD has emerged as a source of business competitiveness and its success determinants can lead to competitive advantages. Supply management, particularly partnering relationships, is crucial to manufacturers’ competitive advantage, since no single firm can possess all the necessary resources and capabilities. Against this background, this study has constructed a research framework, in line with the resource-based view (RBV) and transaction cost theory (TCT), in order to explore how competitive advantages can be achieved, which can lead to manufacturers’ competitiveness. An in-depth case study of a representative Taiwanese manufacturer has been employed and examined. The selected Taiwanese T&A manufacturer has acquired resources, various (dynamic) capabilities and knowledge through its NPD process, resulting in core competences and sources for competitive advantages. It has become a lead firm in its supply chain/network, deploying a variety of partnering relationships in order to conduct NPD activities strategically, and has vertically integrated T&A NPD. This has allowed it to provide an increasing variety of new products and services, in order to serve a wider range of customers, thus continuously acquiring business opportunities in dynamic markets. This study has found that the manufacturers in the T&A industries can adopt more proactive strategic modes in NPD activities, to enhance NPD outcomes and their relationships with buyers. It is important for manufacturers to acquire crucial and complementary resources/capabilities through strategic networks, developing alliances to strategically plan and implement NPD. Operational relationships need not only to be viewed in relation to their immediate cost reduction benefits, but also to be extended to longer-term collaborations, in order to achieve competitive advantage deriving from evolving products and cost benefits based on a holistic and strategic view of the business.

Cost-focused innovation is perceived as the primary approach that Western companies should adopt when entering emerging markets, as their standard approaches are usually unsuitable for these environments. Although many of the principles of cost-focused innovation are relevant to these markets, companies should be weary of blindly copying previous entrants with regard to how they develop products for these markets. Each industry and product set will need to deal with a different set of factors, especially in developing environments that are constantly evolving. The aim of this research study is to gage the prevalence of a cost-focused innovation approach in developing products for emerging markets. A quantitative approach was used in order to determine if there is statistical evidence that confirms that a cost-focused innovation methodology is prevalent in designing products for low income markets. The mobile phone industry was selected for investigation as handset manufacturers have successfully created mobile phones for both developed and developing markets. The major findings were that cost-focused innovation is not significantly prevalent in developing mobile phones for low income markets. Furthermore, there is evidence that suggests that a combination of innovation approaches may be used to counter the traditional trade-offs between price and functionality in order to create low cost, high value products for both developing and developed markets. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Abstract: This thesis work was a part of Halmstad University’s Mechanical Masterprogramme curriculum done in favour of ABB Alingsås. Our industrial partnerproduces and manufactures low voltage electrical distribution cabinets, connectorsand switch gears. This project is focused on specific electrical connector used inABB’s trademark cabinets. These electrical connectors serve as both the input and output points for thedistribution cabinets. The product under scope is an extension connector calledADI3M which is used in conjunction with the large sized cable connectors(AD300). This is a sequential design optimization activity performed after theredesigning of the AD300 to ensure interface compatibility and also aimed atopportunistic cost reduction. The ADI3M should provide design compatibility withboth old and new AD300 connector designs along with the comfortable interfacinginside the CDC and SDC cabinets. With the design process and concepting knowledge gained from the course work inHalmstad university along with the ABB’s industrial exposure towards the powersupply networks we proposed four different design concepts. These design conceptswere then evaluated against interface compatibility, cost aspects, manufacturingreadiness, mechanical strength, heat generation and electricity conductionproperties. Among the product development techniques, we applied QFD processto generate the concepts, waterfall method to frame the engineering design processflow and morphological matrix to select the generated concepts. We then changedthe raw material from brass to aluminium and extrusion process due to its beneficialproperties compared to brass and copper with various other reasons explainedclearly in the thesis content. For the plastic cover we preferred poly-carbonate dueto requirements such as transparency, stiffness, etc. Two of the best feasibleconcepts were selected and the design proposals were prototyped using 3D printingtechnology. The 3D printing method used was fused deposition modelling (FDM).Later machined aluminium prototypes were then produced for the metalsubcomponents to do real time strength analysis and interface checks. Weperformed a theoretical product strength analysis using ANSYS19.2. Then resultswere then evaluated, and the final concept was chosen according to the factors suchas cost impact, easy installation and comfortable inter-component clearance.Finally, the prototypes were tested for IP rating fulfilment and compatible interfaceswith adjacent components. The consecutive activities to be done out of thesis scope is to conduct mechanicaland tests and record the performance. The future scope of this project is to developa hybrid design combining the AD300 and ADI3M connectors which would enableeasy product handling, simplified functionality and further reduce cost.

The main purpose of the sun visor is to prevent the driver and passengers to get blinded by the sunlight. It is essential that the sun visor is not blocking the view and that the driver has a clear line of sight so that collisions can be prevented. However, the solution of today is limited as it only covers superior parts of the light and its functionality depends on the head position of the driver and passengers. Therefore, ÅF has initiated this thesis project to develop and improve the product with the goal to further prevent the driver and passengers from being blinded by the sunlight. The scope of the project is to generate new concepts for the sun visor using product development methods. The product development process involves various phases. Collecting and identifying customer needs and wishes resulted in a detailed requirement specification. Competitor analysis, or benchmarking, was conducted to create awareness of what already exists on the market. New concepts were created by two separate brainstorming sessions. These new concepts were evaluated by concept screening and concept scoring matrices and a final concept was chosen for further development. The final concept was modeled and developed with all necessary components in CAD with help of the software Catia V5. A material selection was performed on the new components with help of CES Edupack and a final material suggestion for each component was presented. The new sun visor consists of a sun curtain that is connected to profiles in the WEM cover and the a-pillar. An electric motor in combination with a spring regulates the upward and downward motion of the sun visor to a precise position. The driver or passenger can regulate the height of the sun curtain by pushing a button. An advantage with the new design is that it eliminates the leakage between the sun visor and the WEM cover and to the a-pillar. The designed sun visor does not fit in the current interior of the driver compartment but has been created as close as possible to fit the current space with only small adjustments to the interior. In addition, the components of the new sun visor needs to be redesigned, mainly the WEM cover, to allow the new sun visor to reach down to the lowest allowed point. The new concept has the potential to increase the visibility more efficient than the standard sun visor. / Solskyddets huvuduppgift är att förhindra att föraren och passagerarna blir bländade av solljus. Det är viktigt att solskyddet inte blockerar sikten samt att föraren har fri sikt så att kollisioner kan förebyggas. Dock är dagens lösning begränsad eftersom den endast täcker en viss del av det inkommande ljuset och dess funktion är beroende av huvudets position. Därför vill ÅF utveckla och förbättra dagens produkt till ett nytt koncept med hjälp av produktutvecklingsmetoder som förhindrar att föraren och passagerarna blir bländade. Produktutvecklingsprocessen omfattar olika faser. Genom att samla och identifiera kundernas behov och önskemål kunde en detaljerad kravspecifikation erhållas. Konkurrensanalys genomfördes för att skapa medvetenhet om vad som redan finns på marknaden idag. Nya koncept skapades genom brainstormning. Dessa nya koncept utvärderades genom konceptscreening och konceptscoring och ett slutgiltigt koncept valdes för vidareutveckling. Det slutgiltiga konceptet designades och utvecklades med alla ingående komponenter i CAD med hjälp av programvaran Catia V5. Ett materialval utfördes på de nya komponenterna med hjälp av CES Edupack och ett slutgiltigt materialvalsförslag för varje komponent presenterades. Det nya solskyddet består av en gardin som är kopplad till profiler i WEM covern och a-stolpen. En elektrisk motor i kombination med en fjäder kontrollerar solskyddets uppåtgående och nedåtgående rörelse till en exakt position. Föraren eller passageraren kan reglera höjden på solskyddet genom att trycka på en knapp. En fördel med det nya solskyddet är att läckage har eliminerats mellan solskyddet och WEM cover samt a-stolpen. Det nya solskyddet får dock inte plats i den nuvarande interiören men har designats så nära som möjligt för att passa i det aktuella utrymmet med endast små ändringar av interiören. Dessutom måste vissa komponenter designas om, huvudsakligen WEM covern, på grund av att gardinen inte går hela vägen ner till den lägsta tillåtna punkten. Det nya konceptet har dock potential att blockera det inkommande ljuset effektivare än det nuvarande solskyddet.

Agilität und Konvergenz bei der Entwicklung physischer Produkte zu verbinden, stellt eine große Herausforderung dar. Basierend auf einem Design Thinking-Ansatz versucht das an der Stanford Universität entwickelte ME310-Produktentwicklungsprozessmodell den Widerspruch in den Zielsetzungen dieser beiden Entwicklungsprinzipien aufzulösen. Über einen qualitativen Fallstudienansatz haben wir die Praktikabilität des ME310-Prozessmodelles für die Entwicklung diskreter physischer Produkte untersucht. Der Beitrag beginnt mit der Beschreibung der grundlegenden entwicklungsmethodischen Prinzipien dieses hybriden Prozessmodelles. Anschließend werden die Ergebnisse unserer empirischen Untersuchung vorgestellt, in der wir die Koevolution von Problem- und Lösungsraum in zehn studentischen Projekten, in denen physische Produkte nach diesem Prozessmodell entwickelt wurden, detailliert nachvollzogen haben. Unsere explorative Studie zeigte, dass die Konvergenz der Lösungsfindung in den Entwicklungsprojekten nicht den theoretischen Vorgaben des Prozessmodelles entsprach, sondern dass es auch in den späten Phasen des Entwicklungsprozesses noch häufig zu Konzeptänderungen bzw. Änderungen des zugrundeliegenden Problemverständnisses kam. Abschließend werden mögliche Ansatzpunkte für die weitergehende Forschung formuliert, welche die Integration von Methoden aus der Konzeptphase des Systems Engineering in das ME310-Prozessmodell beinhalten.

Successful concept decisions are crucial for product development organisations. Failure in theconcept decision-making process means costly rework, requiring resources that could havebeen spent on innovative work with new products instead. This licentiate thesis tackles theconcept decision-making process and how to improve it. The research presented here is thefirst part of a research project, with an action research approach, that will develop newsupporting working procedures for concept decision making and thereby contribute to moresuccessful products.Empirical studies were conducted in Swedish industrial practice, particularly focusing oneorganisation, and it was found that concept decisions are not made at a certain point in time.Instead, many decisions and activities, on several organisational levels, were adding up to theconcept decisions in the investigated organisations. The concept decision-making process wasfound to be a web of interconnected activities, with many decisions integrated and embedded in the process. Itwas also found that both formal and informal factors influence the concept decision-makingprocess and main factors were identified as: Project and product request, Supporting structures androutines, Individual competence and driving forces, Teamwork and company culture and Contextualcircumstances. These factors represent different perspectives, meaning on what level theyinfluence concept decision making: individual, team, project, organisation, and context, and in orderto create improvements in the concept decision-making process all levels have to beconsidered. The knowledge of the different perspectives has implications for howimprovements should be designed.Larger product developing companies do often have internally defined formal workingprocedures that prescribe how to develop products within the company. The thesis discusseshow the internal working procedures relate to academic theory and to practice. It wasconcluded that internal formal working procedures has not been discussed in a sufficient wayin earlier engineering design research. Furthermore, means for improving the concept decisionmakingprocess are discussed, and it was concluded, based on interviews with practitioners,that the strongest pragmatic means for improvement were developing mindset and applyingmethods. Mindset addresses the awareness, attitude and approach needed for management (andco-workers) working in early product development phases. Methods mainly addresses the needfor having relevant supporting working procedures in general and templates for evaluationalternative solutions in particular. Finally, recommendations for future design of a template forevaluation alternative solutions are presented. / QC 20111122

A company producing mostly asphalt rollers has a hard time quality assuring their bolted connections. There is an assembly line at the company where the different parts are put together using screwdrivers. These screwdrivers therefore need to be properly calibrated, to meet the high standards on the bolted connections.   The purpose of this research has been to come up with a cost-effective solution for the manufacturing company, so that they can digitally keep track of their screwdrivers and determine the need for calibration. The aim is to achieve full control over the quality of the connected screw-joints.   A lot of the research was focused around Industry 4.0 and IoT (Internet of Things) which are two of the most recognized buzzwords in production industries today. A product development process was used to develop the proposed solution that would help solve the identified problems.   The result of the research and the product development process is an Excel based database where information about screwdrivers are held. The database can determine when there is a need for a screwdriver to be calibrated based on the total amount of performed tightenings for each screwdriver. The total amount of performed tightenings are determined by the total amount of produced asphalt rollers which is retrieved from a production software within the company. The database also stores timestamps for calibration and service intervals, for each screwdriver.   The initial research was focused on new screwdrivers, however, inventorying of the screwdrivers made it clear that most of the screwdrivers in the manufacturing line only had the basic functions. With this information, the focus shifted to include both new and old screwdrivers. The final solution uses existing information from the company to determine when calibration is needed. Most manufacturing companies today still uses old tools, this solution can help them transition into a more digitalized industry. This solution doesn’t require tools to be compatible with a software while still offering the modern functions of newer screwdrivers.

This project is a master’s thesis in collaboration with Nomor, a company that offers pest control services. They had the need for the development of an automated mechanical rat trap for sewage systems. Brown rats populate the sewage systems in many cities, as it offers shelter and abundant food resources. Rats have been observed carrying various zoonotic diseases which are a health risk to people and animals, as rats may enter households via the sewage system. This report details the design and development process for a prototype for a striking mechanism, which will act as the foundation for a future trap. The process follows the theory described by Ulrich and Eppinger. The project resulted in the generation of 8 different concepts, which were screened down to a final pneumatic concept. The selected concept was then developed into a physical prototype, able to detect heat sources. A Simulink model was developed to support the detail design. The model calculates resulting impact energy from various input parameters, such as working pressure and moving mass. The prototype functions up to 3 bar with an impact energy of approximately 6 Joules.

After over 25 years of decline, the global poverty rate has started to increase driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, taking millions back into poverty, most of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Low-income consumers are underserved and do not have the means to pay for or access to goods or services which are required for a minimum standard of living. These consumers struggle to find essential goods, the products do not always meet their needs or are too expensive for them to afford and the products' benefits are not easily understood. Yet the spending power and demand from consumers at the bottom of the economic pyramid in emerging markets and developing countries are motivating for global consumer goods companies. Not only does the opportunity presents financial benefit but is a social obligation to democratise new product innovations across markets. The 4As Framework (Affordability, Acceptability, Availability and Awareness) encompass factors which help manufacturers to better reach and serve low-income consumers. This framework is applied in this research to understand products meet their needs of low-income consumer across these four factors; and how designers employ human centred design to design products for low-income consumers against these factors. Human Centred Design has been employed to develop solutions to complex problems with great empathy to users and stakeholders for many years but has been gaining popularity with business and social ventures since the early 2000s. By interviewing consumers and designers, this study delved into understanding (1) the motivations and challenges of designing products for low income consumers, (2) how human centred design was being employed in the design of consumer goods for this group against the 4As framework and (3) how products currently meet the needs of low-income consumers, against the 4As framework. It was found that designers were consistently motivated by designing products for this consumer group which they believed served them. However, the constant evolution of needs, and needing to design for an affordable price were challenges. It was also found that some human centred design practices were prominent but there was more consistency needed in application, particularly when dealing with acceptability, affordability and awareness.

While many literary sources outline the product development process, few make mention of the prototyping and testing stage. This thesis suggests that because of its importance in the product development process, "Testing" should be documented as a major step and not just listed as a side note. As part of the testing step, it is suggested that standardized, in-use, and market tests be used to properly evaluate a product. While many rely solely on standardized tests to validate their products, effective in-use tests can be another vital tool that can prove the performance of the product in more specific and relevant applications. In-use tests are a major focus in this thesis and the process of developing and using these in-use tests is explored. A case study is used to prove that effective product development will follow the outlined testing procedure. Also, it shows that in-use testing, combined with other types of testing, can be a vital tool to ensuring the successful launch of a newly developed product. As a result of the case study, the traditional new product development process is amended and a set of guidelines are proposed for use in constructing a successful testing methodology for the new product development process.