Koteshwar Chirumalla

EXPERIENCE FEEDBACK LOOPS IN THE NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION PROCESS

Prior research has identified the reuse of past experiences as a remarkable driver for achieving high levels of maturity for both product and production systems. Many companies put effort into capitalizing their own experiences through nurturing feedback loops and learning mechanisms at different phases in the new product introduction process. Although literature highlights the impact of feedback loops on the performance of new product development, there is limited research about how firms utilize the concept of feedback loops in the new product introduction process. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore the current available practices of feedback loops at different phases in the new product introduction process. This study was performed in close collaboration with a global manufacturing company that is responsible for the introduction of new products. The paper presents the identified feedback loops and mechanisms that are working well and not working well in the new introduction process. Further, based on the empirical data, this paper points out the significant feedback loops that are important for the case company to work with in the future.

Lessons Learned Practice in a Complex Production Environment

Lessons learned practice is a well-known method embraced by many companies to enhance continuous learning in their organizational routines and day-to-day work. The extant literature presents a mix of several lessons learned approaches from different disciplines. However, the approaches fail to address the distinct, complex settings that arise in production and operation phases. Thus, there is a need for rethinking of lessons learned practice in a complex production environments. Based on case studies in the aerospace industry, this chapter presents a new method for lessons learned practice, which includes a standard, seven-step representation format, together with guidelines, using videos as an enabling media. The seven-steps are: lesson learned statement, working context, task description, what went wrong or what went well, lesson learned, lesson learned measures, and applicability and delimitations. The method intends to capture a single learning point with specific recommendations, promoting process-based rather than a project-based learning. The chapter presents results from the validation of this new method in industrial setting. The validation shows that the method is beneficial in capturing lessons from skill-oriented activities in narrative form by visually showing and telling defects, problems, or improvements in complex products and associated actions in production or product support phases. The method supports exploration processes at the individual level with the creation of new knowledge with a richer context and so support exploitation processes and activities at the organizational level.