The Business Book

(Joyce) #1

327


See also: Creativity and invention 72–73 ■ Profit versus cash flow 152–53 ■ Leading the market 166–69 ■ The value
chain 216–17 ■ Lean production 290–93 ■ Simplify processes 296–99 ■ Critical path analysis 328–29


DELIVERING THE GOODS


strategy involves working on all the
design processes required to launch
a new product at the same time,
rather than in a linear sequence, and
can reduce new product development
time by months or even years.


Comparing approaches
Traditionally, companies have
pushed new products through a
linear sequence of development,
where each department involved
in the design works in isolation,
completing their task before
passing the product to the next
department. In this way, the part-
made product might move between
design, engineering, and
production departments.
However, this approach can lead
to time-consuming mistakes. For
example, when new cars are being
designed, different departments
might work on various parts in
isolation and in a certain sequence.
When the various subassemblies
are finally put together at the
prototype stage, the result is often
unsatisfactory. And in order to
correct one thing—such as a


beautiful seat creating visibility
problems once in position—parts
may have to bounce back through
several departments.
The alternative approach, chosen
by time-based manufacturers, is to
use a team of people from different
departments, all working together
on a new product from the

Design

Engineering

Production

Approval

Design

Engineering

Production

New product
development

Agile software development (ASD)


Within the software industry,
changes in components and
customer demands happen
rapidly and repeatedly. This
means that developers have had
to find ever-faster and better
ways of managing projects.
In 2001, a group of software
developers met in Utah, to
discuss how this might be done,
and their conclusions form the
basis of the agile software
development approach. This
recognizes the customer as the
highest priority, and embraces

changing requirements (even at
late stages of development) in
order to give the customer the
greatest competitive advantage.
However, the founders note that
this can only be achieved when
“business people” take a flexible
and trusting approach, hold daily
face-to-face conversations with
developers, and provide all the
support they need. Coupled
with regular reflection on team
practice, these conditions will
allow self-organizing teams to
produce fast, brilliant designs.

beginning. Project managers play a
key role, since they must ensure
that the multidisciplinary team
members agree to the necessary
design trade-offs at a very early
stage in the development process.
Design integrity is achieved the first
time around without any reworking,
slashing the amount of time taken
to launch the new product.
Time-based management only
works effectively in companies that
employ flexible, multiskilled staff,
who, in turn, respects each another’s
skills and value each other’s input.
A nonlinear process means that
managers must be willing to work
with a less rigid structure, and
encourage a culture of trust.
This management approach
forms the basis of many technology
companies today, since it allows
them to respond more quickly to
changes in the market and customer
needs, while providing employees
with a more autonomous, creative,
and productive work environment. ■

In a simultaneous engineering
approach, all departments are
represented in one multidisciplinary
team, working together to solve new
problems, and saving time and money.

In a linear process of new product
development, the evolving prototype
or individual parts move separately,
back and forth, between departments.
This is time-consuming and costly.

Approval
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