Kai Hänninen

Rapid productisation: challenges and preconditions

The purpose this study is to provide tangible examples of the rapid productisation (RP) challenges in high-tech companies in a sales situation. The need to respond quickly to customer preferences in a changing business environment poses new challenges for companies. RP, a new concept originating from practical challenges, seeks to add customer value in the sales negotiation. When an existing product and service portfolio does not satisfy the customer, RP provides a faster alternative to a new product development process. This study supports managers considering RP as an option to better serve customers and to increase agility within the organisation. It explores RP and presents challenges and preconditions for RP in a sales situation.

Rapid productisation as a strategic choice in small- and medium-sized companies

The objective of this study was to describe how rapid productisation (RP) can be used as a strategic choice for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). This study attempts to offer insight regarding how a given strategy and competitive situation forces companies to make decisions to abandon formal predetermined procedures. This case study examines the RP concept through the clarification of business case objectives set to start RP. It scrutinises the use of RP as a strategic decision in the case of SMEs. The study presents enablers for RP, the objectives for RP and RP as a strategic choice. In addition, it provides support for the managers of SMEs in considering RP as a revenue making option. Planned and intentional RP allows a company to react on customer expectations without unnecessarily expanding the company offerings. RP is a new concept originating from practical challenges in sales situations.

Sales and R&D cooperation and integration in the rapid productisation process

Integration and cooperation between sales and research and development (RD it simply aims to form a conception of the requested gap product in a rational time frame to provide the customer with an answer. Four central phases were identified in the RPP: initiation, analysis, rapid offering and responsibility transfer. Sales-R&D cooperation (SRC) is the critical facilitator of the RPP since companies need to use RP in sales situations. Results also indicate that a company’s performance is positively associated with the use of RP.

Business case analysis in rapid productisation

Companies are pushed to satisfy varying customer needs and getting new orders closed quickly, while simultaneously evaluating the business value of the case in hand. The objective of this study is to explore the procedure for business case analysis in rapid productisation. The research is realised by studying relevant literature, designing and conducting semi-structured interviews and analysing the interview data. The explored systematic procedure includes estimating and calculating revenue and costs, and checking fit with the product portfolio. The main tasks include estimating the potential revenue from a specific sales case, analysing the project and engineering cost of productisation, estimating market potential, total revenue, unit cost and the total costs. Finally, all the gathered information is synthesised into a business case document. The study contributes to the research of rapid manufacturing by integrating relevant parts of order delivery process and product development to justify rapid produ...