Jonathan D. Owens

Why do some UK SMEs still find the implementation of a new product development process problematical?: An exploratory investigation

Purpose – The long‐term survival of a business often hinges on its ability to successfully introduce new products into the marketplace. These new products and their successful development can be the lifeblood of a company. This paper aims to examine why product development delays occur in SMEs, the nature of these delays, and what can be done in order to avoid them.Design/methodology/approach – This research is exploratory in nature and provides empirical support to several propositions found in the innovation management literature on the development of new products.Findings – Various reasons for delays in new product development are found, including poor definition of product requirements, technological uncertainties, senior management support, lack of resources, and poor project management. Major concerns raised included management and organisational style, lack of attention to detail, limited support for innovation, lack of strategic thinking, and poor manufacturing capabilities.Originality/value – The...

Critical Success Factors in the Chartering Phase: A Case Study of an ERP Implementation

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are pervasive information systems that have been fundamental in organizations for the past two decades. ERP systems may well count as the most important development in technology in the 1990s. There are many ERP success stories; equally there are as many failure stories. This article reviews current literature of the critical success factors (CSF) of ERP implementations. This review will be used in conjunction with the case of a UK furniture manufacturer’s (Company X) implementation of an ERP system. This artcile considers the factors that resulted in the failure of the ERP at Company X in the chartering phase of the implementation.

A run-length based connected component algorithm for FPGA implementation

This paper introduces a real-time connected component labelling algorithm designed for field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation. The algorithm run-length encodes the image, and performs connected component analysis on this representation. The run-length encoding, together with other parts of the algorithm, is performed in parallel; sequential operations are minimized as the number of runs are typically less than the number of pixels. The architecture is designed mainly on Block RAM (i.e. internal RAM) of the FPGA. A comparison with the multi-pass algorithm in hardware and software is presented to show the advantages of the algorithm. The algorithm runs comfortably in real-time with reasonably low resource utilization, making integration with other real-time algorithms feasible.

Autonomous real-time surveillance system with distributed IP cameras

An autonomous Internet Protocol (IP) camera based object tracking and behaviour identification system, capable of running in real-time on an embedded system with limited memory and processing power is presented in this paper. The main contribution of this work is the integration of processor intensive image processing algorithms on an embedded platform capable of running at real-time for monitoring the behaviour of pedestrians. The Algorithm Based Object Recognition and Tracking (ABORAT) system architecture presented here was developed on an Intel PXA270-based development board clocked at 520 MHz. The platform was connected to a commercial stationary IP-based camera in a remote monitoring station for intelligent image processing. The system is capable of detecting moving objects and their shadows in a complex environment with varying lighting intensity and moving foliage. Objects moving close to each other are also detected to extract their trajectories which are then fed into an unsupervised neural network for autonomous classification. The novel intelligent video system presented is also capable of performing simple analytic functions such as tracking and generating alerts when objects enter/leave regions or cross tripwires superimposed on live video by the operator.

A conceptual analysis on the different approaches to new product development and the variables associated with modelling the process

Design and Optimization of Mechanical Engineering Products is an essential research source that explores the structure and processes used in creating goods and the methods by which these goods are improved in order to continue competitiveness in the consumer market. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics including modeling and simulation, new product development, and multicriteria decision making, this publication is targeted toward students, practitioners, researchers, engineers, and academicians.