<p>Background: Knowledge of customer needs is a key factor in companies’ struggle to develop successful products. Several studies illustrate that the main reason for failure in product development is lack of customer understanding. Lately considerable changes have occurred. Large-scale mass production is continuously being replaced by customer orientation, especially in the high technological market. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is to analyze customer involvement in high technological product development projects. </p><p>Research method: The study was conducted by realizing seven qualitative interviews at three different companies related to telecommunication. </p><p>Result: Customers are involved in product development projects in different ways and to different extends. The involvement is carried out in two main ways; either by planned meetings, demanded direct involvement, or by market and sales departments, not demanded involvement. The characteristics of the customer involvement is primarily dependent on the sort of new product being developed, the character of the development process as well as the design of the project model in terms of duration and control.</p>

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to identify and analyze relevant dimensions of cooperation between design and production related to product development. The study also focuses on suggesting improvements of the co-operation dimensions between production departments and the product development departments in the Product Development Process (PDP) at Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB (SIT AB). SIT AB produces gas and steam turbines. Their increasing production pace and increasing number of product development projects have highlighted the importance of improved co-operations between departments within the company.</p><p>We have developed an analysis model including the dimensions of co-operation we found relevant for the study. These are Timing of Upstream – Downstream Activities; Richness & Quality of Information; Frequency of Information Transmission; Direction of Communication; Formalization of Communication; Organizational Support; Goal Optimization; Attitudes in Cross-functional Teams; and Understanding of Tasks.</p><p>For product development SIT AB follows an extensive process; the PDP. This is a sequential process where all activities are performed in sequence and therefore it obstructs the implementation of Concurrent Engineering. Concurrent Engineering aims to shorten development time and to consider the total job as a whole by performing independent activities in parallel. Hence, we argue that SIT AB should work toward a more integrated process with more parallel activities.</p><p>The performance in all the dimensions of co-operation differ between large and small projects since the co-operation in large projects work much better than in small projects due to better followed process description; more face-to-face discussions; a better balance between informal and formal communication; and more focus on project goals and team building.</p><p>The improvement proposals are presented in a separate chapter as actions classified according to the potential impact on the organization and the estimated difficulty to implement them. The proposals include for example: training more project managers; initiate work shop practice for design engineers; and give more and better explanations of decisions and actions.</p> / <p>Syftet med det här examensarbetet är att identifiera och analysera relevanta dimensioner av samarbete mellan produktion och konstruktion i samband med produktutveckling. Syftet är också att föreslå förbättringar i samarbetet mellan produktions- och konstruktionsavdelningarna i produktutvecklingsprocessen (PDP) på Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB (SIT AB). SIT AB producerar ång- och gasturbiner. Betydelsen av ett gott samarbete mellan avdelningar i organisationen har belysts i samband med att produktionstaken de senaste åren har ökat och fler produktutvecklingsprojekt har initierat.</p><p>Vi har utvecklat en analysmodell som innehåller de dimensioner av samarbete som vi anser är relevanta för området. Dessa är: timing av uppströms – nedströms aktiviteter, rikhet & kvalitet på information, frekvens av informationsöverföring, riktning på kommunikation, formalisering av kommunikation, organisatoriskt support, måloptimering, attityder i tvärfunktionella team samt förståelse för uppgifter.</p><p>Vid produktutveckling följer SIT AB den omfattande processen PDP. PDP är en sekventiell process där alla aktiviteter utförs i en sekvens vilket motverkar implementeringen av Concurrent Engineering. Concurrent Engineering syftar till att korta utvecklingstiden för produkter och beakta arbetet ur ett helhetsperspektiv bland annat genom utförande av oberoende aktiviteter parallellt. Därför anser vi att SIT AB ska arbeta mot en mer integrerad process med fler parallella aktiviteter.</p><p>Det är stor skillnad på prestationen i samarbetsdimensionerna mellan stora och små projekt. Stora projekt fungerar mycket bättre än små vilket kan relateras till att stora projekt följer processbeskrivningarna bättre, har en bättre balans mellan informell och formell kommunikation, och fokuserar mer på projektmål och sammansvetsade projektgrupper. Förbättringsförslagen är presenterade som konkreta åtgärder i ett separat kapitel och är klassificerade med hänsyn till varje förslags potentiella effekt på organisationen och dess uppskattade svårighetsgrad att implementera. Förslagen är bland annat att utbilda fler projektledare, inrätta verkstadspraktik för konstruktörer och ge fler och bättre förklaringar till beslut och handlingar.</p>

<p><strong><em>Title</em></strong> SpotBox: The Concept Development of a Digital Jukebox</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Authors</em></strong> Guilherme Gomes & Pauline Droz</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Supervisor</em></strong> Jean-Charles Languilaire</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Level</em></strong> Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, Marketing</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Key words</em></strong> Marketing, Concept Development, New-Product Development, NPD, Jukebox, Music, Spotify, Customer-Oriented business,Live streaming, mp3, Customer-Oriented Music System.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Purpose</em></strong> To Turn the new-product idea of the digital jukebox called SpotBox into a product concept.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Method</em></strong> In the method we explain the process to develop our concept. Based in three phases, we started by combining secondary data and primary data through a focus group in order to understand better the potential consumers of our product, then personal interviews are made with our customers and the technical requirements are measured in the end through an interview.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Theoretical framework</em></strong> Kotler´s and Cooper´s approach about New-Product Development are first introduced. Then the Concept Development theories of both authors are explained which allow us in a last paragraph to build and present our own approach of the process of concept development.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Conclusions</em></strong> The SpotBox concept developed through this work is presented and explained in detail: A digital jukebox in a futuristic shape which allows users to share, listen and program songs in a new, convenient and exciting way, giving to the music market a new customer-oriented dimension.</p>

<p>The business environment is changing rapidly, becoming very competitive and challenging for all firms, and particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As innovation and new product development represent valuable sources for SMEs’ future sustainability and development, making these processes more effective is essential. Previous literature, with the focus on large firms, underlined the importance of efficiently managing the early period of new product development (NPD), as this can reduce the product’s time to market and increase its performance. For this reason, contributing to a developed understanding of the challenges of medium-sized firms in managing this phase, the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of NPD, is the aim of this study.</p><p>The theoretical framework of this study combines prior theories that relate to the difficulties, shortcomings, challenges that SMEs meet during the whole NPD process, including FFE, and theories that resulted from research on FFE in large firms. The structure is based on four elements referring to managing the idea generation process, new product development team, evaluation of product concept feasibility, and the organization of FFE.</p><p>A qualitative strategy and a research design with two case studies on high-tech, medium-sized manufacturing firms were used in reaching the purpose of this study. This methodology choice reflects the explorative purpose of this research. The empirical data are mainly primary data, collected during three interviews with development managers and a product developer, completed as well with secondary data like general company information, collected from companies’ websites.</p><p>The analysis of empirical findings revealed some relevant conclusions, which can bring value to the research area, and also to the practice. Our findings show that lack of communication with customers during the whole FFE phase, collecting limited or inaccurate information to be processed during this phase, finding the right formalization degree of FFE activities, determining the complexity of the product concept, and assessing external technology and expertise, represent the main challenges faced by medium-sized firms in the FFE of NPD.</p><p>The study’s practical relevance consists in the advices and solutions suggested to managers for overcoming the challenges of the FFE phase and improving their results in the development projects. The theoretical implications reflect the importance of organizational size variable in association with the challenges of FFE.</p><p>The sample of only two cases and the quality of the empirical data collected from two high-tech Swedish manufacturing firms which have a large focus on innovation are the main limitations of this study, as these medium-sized firms have gained some experience to face the specific challenges of FFE of NPD and the data they provide may be influenced by this aspect.</p>

<p>Detta projekt är ett examensarbete på 15 poäng inom Innovations och Designingenjörsprogrammet på Karlstads Universitet, utfört under våren 2006.</p><p>Målsättningen med projektet var att hitta en form på insulinpumpen som tilltalar unga användare och dessutom minskar känslan av medicinskt hjälpmedel. Vi bestämde oss för att ge den ett utseende som mer liknar annan teknisk utrustning som finns på markanden idag. Detta som en väg att försöka höja ungdomars motivering till att övervaka och behandla sin diabetes.</p><p>Vid intervjuerna framkom det att många unga hade problem med bärandet av pumpen. Dagens pump upplevs för stor och klumpig eftersom de ofta vill gömma den i/under kläderna. Som ett resultat av denna information så valde vi att dela pumpen i två mindre enheter. Pumpenheten, som är kopplad till kroppen, kan liknas vid en MP3-spelare, och fjärrkontrollen, som innehåller den mesta intelligensen, både ser ut som och fungerar som en armbandsklocka.</p><p>Klockan har också inbyggd kontinuerlig övervakning av blodsockervärdet utan stick. Vilket var ett av de vikigaste önskemålen från användarna.</p><p>Med detta koncept kan ungdomarna välja om de vill dölja pumpen, eftersom den är så pass liten, eller om de vill ha den synlig, eftersom den ser ut som annan teknisk utrustning som bärs på kroppen.</p> / <p>This project is an examination project for 15 points at the Innovation and design engineering program, carried out at Karlstad University during spring 2006.</p><p>The purpose of this project is to find a shape that addresses young people and to minimize the medical aid stamp of the pump. We decided to give the pump an appearance more similar to other electronic devices on the market today in order to increase the motivation of treating and monitoring your diabetes.</p><p>During the interviews we found out that, youngsters hade problems related to the pump carrying. The pump of today is a bit too big and clumsy for young people who often want to hide it. As a result of this information we divided the pump into two smaller units. The pump unit that is connected to the body looks a bit like an MP3 player, and the remote control, where the intelligence lies, both looks and works like a watch.</p><p>The remote also has integrated glucose monitoring that is non-invasive. This was one of the top priorities on the wish list of the users.</p><p>With this concept the youngsters can choose whether they want to hide it, since it is small enough to hide in the pocket, or to show it off for their friends, as it could pass for a portable device.</p>

<p>Utvecklingen av motorstyrsystem på Scania CV AB är en komplicerad process där hård- och mjukvara kombineras i en färdig enhet för användning i de lastbilar som företaget producerar. Styrsystemet består bland annat av en datasats med en mängd parametrar som styr olika typer av funktionalitet. Parametrarna måste vid utvecklingen av en ny motor först kalibreras med korrekta värden och därefter måste dessa värden granskas för att kvaliteten på produkten ska kunna säkerställas. I dagsläget saknas ett standardiserat arbetssätt för hur kalibrering och granskning ska gå till på de grupper som är inblandade.</p><p>Studien syftade till att kartlägga hur arbetet med kalibrering och granskning går till samt att om möjligt utveckla denna arbetsprocess för att uppnå en högre grad av kvalitetssäkring. Vad gäller processkartläggningen förekommer både skillnader och likheter mellan de, i processen, inblandade grupperna. Ett antal positiva rutiner och arbetsmetoder kunde urskiljas och dessa föreslås i den mån det är möjligt spridas i hela processflödet. Bland dessa finns exempelvis användandet av en sektionsövergripande roll med ansvar för granskningsarbetet, återkommande gruppgranskningar och noggrann dokumentation.</p><p>Ett antal, i kalibrerings- och granskningsprocessen, inneboende problem har också identifierats. Med utgångspunkt i teori kring lean produktutveckling har förslag på förändringar i verksamheten som kan hantera dessa problem tagits fram. Sammanfattningsvis kan det konstateras att kalibrerings- och granskningsprocessen i många avseenden redan bedrivs utifrån LPS principerna. Det finns emellertid en del ändringar som ytterligare skulle kunna förbättra processerna och göra dessa mer lean, vilket också skulle bidra till kvalitetssäkring av slutprodukten.</p> / <p>Engine management system development at Scania CV AB is a complicated process where hardware and software components are combined to create a complete unit to be used in the vehicles produced by the company. The management system contains, among other things, a dataset with a number of parameters which controls different types of vehicle functionality. These parameters must first be calibrated and then reviewed during the development of a new engine to guarantee the quality of the product. Today there is no standardized process for how the calibration and validation of the parameters is supposed to be performed at the concerned groups.</p><p>The purpose of the study was to map the process of calibration and validation and if possible improve it to achieve a higher degree of quality within the process. Both differences and similarities between the studied groups were identified along with a number of useful routines and methods that can be spread within the process. Among others this included the utilization of a calibration and validation supervisor within each of the group sections, reoccurring group validations and meticulous documentation.</p><p>A number of problems within the calibration and validation process were also identified. Lean product development theory was used to develop suggestions of how to change the process in order to cope with these problems. It was concluded that many of the principles presented by the LPDS theory already were in use within the process. Nonetheless a number of improvements could be implemented to improve the process and make it more lean. This would also lead to increased quality of the finished product.</p>

Despite documented benefits, the processes described in the new product development literature often prove difficult to follow in practice. A principal source of such difficulties is the phenomenon of fire fighting the unplanned allocation of resources to fix problems discovered late in a product's development cycle. While it has been widely criticized, fire fighting is a common occurrence in many product development organizations. To understand both its existence and persistence, in this article I develop a formal model of fire fighting in a multi-project development environment. The major contributions of this analysis are to suggest that: (1) fire fighting can be a self-reinforcing phenomenon; and (2) multi-project development systems are far more susceptible to this dynamic than is currently appreciated. These insights suggest that many of the current methods for aggregate resource and product portfolio planning, while necessary, are not sufficient to prevent fire fighting and the consequent low performance. / MIT Center for Innovation in Product Development under NSF Cooperative Agreement Number EEC-9529140, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company and the Ford Motor Company

The focus of environmental work in manufacturing companies has increasingly shifted from end-of-pipe solutions to the environmental performance of products and services. The product development process is central to creating value for customers. This thesis argues that companies can simultaneously create value for consumers and be profitable while taking environmental considerations into account. Modernising ecodesign means taking advantage of environmental benefits and the innovation potential when developing solutions rather than using ecodesign simply to ensure that legal requirements or customer demands are met. Ecodesign is a strategic issue and should be included in early product development activities, such as for project selection and when setting product targets. There is also need to perform ecodesign according to the characteristics of specific development processes as for radical product development or when developing integrated solutions, using a combination of services and products. This thesis reports on the findings from five different research studies, all of which adopted a qualitative approach in which the emphasis falls on exploring and creating understanding and meaning. The studies focused on three areas of ecodesign: A) rethinking approaches for manufacturing companies, B) setting environmental project targets and project selection and C) redesign of products. Recommendations on how to modernise ecodesign have been developed and can be summarised in six points: • Perform ecodesign both vertically and horizontally in a company. • Increase interaction between organisational units. • Take advantage of innovation potential in products, services, user behaviour and the delivery and take-back systems. • Take environmental considerations into account in the project selection process. • Set environmental targets for ensuring that environmental considerations are taken when developing innovative solutions. • Develop ecodesign procedures that fit the characteristics of the development process

Environmental awareness has increased during the past 2-3 decades, and companies have gone from simply following legislation to adding environmental considerations into their business plans. The ongoing developments make it interesting to study how leading companies integrate environmental considerations into their product development processes. The aim of this thesis is to study how environmental considerations can be integrated into the product development process. It is based on studies made in the Swedish manufacturing industry. The research has used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The foundation for the conclusion was derived from the four different studies building this thesis. The aggregated conclusion from the studies suggests a conceptual model consisting of four cornerstones that should be addressed in order to ease the integration of environmental concerns: the management, product development process, DfE Mindset, and DfE Tools. The development of this model has its foundation in industrial case studies that show how leading companies have integrated environmental considerations in an innovative way. Combined with the conceptual model is a discussion concerning the usage of existing tools and how sub-activities carried out within the development process are less formal than before. This non-rigid structure is in line with what is suggested in current innovation research for radical innovation, since it enables creativity to flourish and does not limit designers. This freedom of action for the creativity of the personnel in the projects has raised the environmental work to a new level. The thesis also suggests how to use analytical and dialogue-based tools in a development project. It is beneficial to have a dialogue tool in the beginning of a project and in a radical innovation project, while it is beneficial to have an analytical tool later on in a project if more that one tool is used or in an incremental innovation project. / QC 20100820.

Developing Product Development – that’s what it’s about, developing our capability to do what we need to do. Ericsson Executive Product development in times of brutal change requires capabilities beyond normal product development capabilities. In order to meet the challenges of brutal change, an ability to change and improve how products are developed, and how product development is organized and managed is required. This thesis looks inside an industrial firm subjected to brutal market changes, forcing it to respond promptly and strongly, to reduce cost yet retain and improve the ability to develop, market, sell, deliver and support its products and services. The firm uses externalization of product development to cut fixed costs and reduce headcount quickly. To cut operating costs, it uses offshoring. Transformational structural changes destroy both capabilities and rigidities. The increasingly competitive situation calls for even higher efficiency. Product development capabilities have to be recreated to support even higher efficiency while retaining and improving innovativeness. Participative organizational development is performed to rebuild and improve product development capabilities at the workgroup level. Software developers use self-assessment and group reflection to augment their conceptions of efficiency and concurrently improve their efficiency. This thesis provides a typology of modes of organizing, and of transitions between different modes of organizing. It highlights the role of capabilities in supporting efficiency in the transfer of product development from one mode of organizing to another. In doing so, it aims to contribute to a dynamic perspective of product development organizing, and at the same time provide actionable advice to product development managers in times of brutal change. This thesis also illustrates the potential in group self-improvement, building on collective knowledge creation and use, with direct coupling to action. It argues that augmentation of conceptions through concept elaboration and reflection may be more efficient and effective than traditional training programs. Developing Product Development is both about improving the practice of product development and about improving the understanding of- and knowledge about product development. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2006