Kulwant S. Pawar

The PSO triangle: designing product, service and organisation to create value

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of product‐service systems (PSS). It uses a multiple method approach to analyse literature and cases and synthesise a framework for the understanding and investigation of PSS. It demonstrates the need to consider the “organisation” or network, of firms involved in defining, designing and delivering value through the PSS. This is conceptualised as a product‐service‐organisation (PSO).Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses three complementary methodologies: a road‐mapping analysis, investigating industrial challenges for collaborating enterprises, a multidisciplinary literature review of PSS concepts and analysis of two cases.Findings – The paper finds that value can be most effectively delivered by networks of collaborating firms, integrating the products and services they offer to create the value which customers seek. In short, creating value requires the simultaneous design of product, service and organisation – the PSO triangle.R...

Time to Market

Over the last two decades, Japanese products have challenged Western ones, not only in terms of cost but also on quality, reliability and delivery. This has meant that meeting customer needs on time has now entered the competitive equation. Hence, in the 1990s, time to market (TTM) has become a focal point in achieving competitive advantage in the marketplace. Presents an overview of TTM and of how to do it. Considers the costs and benefits of TTM, and uses two case studies to compare and contrast the effect of adopting TTM and ignoring it. Looks at the key factors of: tools and techniques; technology; team management and logistics, with practical examples of the main points in achieving TTM successfully.

Measuring product development performance in manufacturing organisations

Abstract Effectively managing and measuring the product development process is widely seen as a means of ensuring business survival through reduced time to market, increased quality and reduced costs. Research carried out at the University of Nottingham over the last three years has led to the development of the performance measurement for product development (PMPD) methodology to guide managers in the use of performance measures to improve decision-making during the product development process. This paper focuses on the results from two international surveys of academics and industrialists that indicate current practice and future intentions in this area. Follow up cases and a longitudinal case study are also described.

Physical or virtual team collocation: Does it matter?

Abstract The aim of this paper is to examine aspects of team collocation within the context of Concurrent Engineering (CE). The paper considers the product design as an incremental innovation process. It argues that design activities have implications for people and structures of the organization. One key aspect of these activities is the adoption of a teaming approach and therefore formation and building of teams. Notions of teaming and team building have been around for many decades and can be traced back to the classic “Hawthorne experiments” and the development of “human relations” ideas. However, the current and future trends favour the increasing use of communication technology and “virtual teaming”. In this paper we evaluate the role of “teaming” in the product design process and its impact on the implementation of CE principles. The empirical work presented in this paper includes a case example based on an on-going observation of a product design process in a large multi-national manufacturing firm in the UK and an observation of the workings of a pan-European research project, namely PACE.

Electronic trading in the supply chain: a holistic implementation framework

Discusses the effect of electronic commerce on the management of the supply chain. Particular emphasis is placed on electronic data interchange (EDI). EDI has in the past been confined to larger companies. However, as more companies are becoming switched on to the benefits, so it is becoming a prerequisite for all businesses. The benefits and costs associated with electronic commerce are highlighted using results from a survey and follow‐up cases. Analysis showed that the main benefit is faster transactions. Additionally, better co‐operation between trading partners, reduced administration costs and improved accuracy resulted. The impact of the Internet on electronic commerce, including possible future directions, is then discussed. The paper closes by proposing a framework to assist companies with the change towards introducing electronic commerce into the supply chain.

Virtually co-located product design teams: sharing teaming experiences after the event?

The adoption of a team approach in new product design, particularly in recent years, has shaped the nature and context of design activities. Concepts of teaming and team building have been around for many decades and are seen as the means for enhancing organizational and individual performance. It is assumed that through teaming, that is, more social interactions, shared focus and physical proximity, the design process and its outcome will be improved. Virtual teaming, a relatively recent phenomenon, is becoming increasingly attractive to organizations due to developments in communication technologies. The implications of a remote distributed working environment, though, are not illustrated or experienced extensively. This paper explores the evolution of virtual co‐location of product design teams within the context of concurrent engineering. It, thus, attempts to highlight paradoxes and dilemmas in setting up physically and virtually co‐located teams. These issues are illustrated in case studies from ongoing pan‐European projects that depict product design and development activities in certain manufacturing organizations. A survey of some manufacturing firms highlights these dilemmas as perceived by participating firms. The paper closes by examining the extent that teaming, as a performance enhancer, can be diffused to other activities than design, and thus the extent that experiences can be shared within the organization.

Performance evaluation of new product development from a company perspective

The importance of performance measurement is generally recognized in the literature and by industry. However, the adequacy of metrics applicable to different aspects of the organization does not appear to have been addressed. Provides fresh insight to fill some of the knowledge gaps in this area with particular focus on evaluating product development performance from a company perspective. Also presents insights gained from ten company‐based longitudinal case studies, which formed one essential part of a much larger research project with details of the other aspects of the project in Driva.

Analysing organisational issues in concurrent new product development

Abstract Organisation analysis and improvement techniques have been a field of study for many years with the result that there are a number of different methodologies ranging from purely mathematical models of analysis to heuristic models using simulation. This paper presents an overview of research carried out towards the development of a methodology and tool aimed at assisting in the reengineering of the processes and organisation deployed in Concurrent New Product Development (CNPD) (NPD within a Concurrent Engineering (CE) environment). The focus is on the analysis of the operation of multifunctional project teams throughout the NPD process lifecycle, using process modelling and analysis techniques. The methodology and tools developed identify low value adding tasks and poor value adding ability of the performers, using both quantitative as well as qualitative information. This enables the company managers to reduce lead times, remove weak functions or links, move towards a more flatter organisation, and improve performance of the process and consequently organisation. The methodology and tool were originally developed within the European BRITE-EURAM (No. BE-8037-93) project PACE – a Practical Approach to Concurrent Engineering

Measuring international NPD projects: An evaluation process

Purpose – New product development (NPD) has become critical to the growth and future prosperity of organisations. This research therefore sought to determine the need for performance measurement during the NPD process and reveal measures currently used, where future requirements lie and where improvements can be made.Design/methodology/approach – First, a theoretical model was developed that sought to capture the major factors for measuring NPD performance. This meant reviewing the existing body of work and using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect information from practitioners. Questionnaires were sent to manufacturing organisations, and ten participants were selected for further investigation. The resulting model describes steps that a company should follow when introducing and managing a performance measurement system for NPD. Five years later, a follow‐up questionnaire was carried out with a similar group of companies, which allowed the authors to test and then refine the...

Knowledge based requirement engineering for one-of-a-kind complex systems

The success of requirement specification in new design projects largely depends on an accurate match between customer requirements and company product and process knowledge. Despite the recent developments in the domain there is still a lack of transparency and consistent definition and integration of the activities in requirement engineering (RE). There is also a lack of structured methods for capturing relevant enterprise knowledge and deploying it in support of decision making for requirement specification. This paper reports on the knowledge acquisition and sharing for requirement engineering (KARE) approach for requirement specification of one-of-a-kind complex systems. The approach provides a generic view of key RE processes clustered into three groups of activities: requirement elicitation, analysis and negotiation. The process is supported by a set of knowledge functions aimed at facilitating the requirement engineers in matching customer requirements to product characteristics. The reported research has been developed as part of the ESPRIT collaborative project KARE funded by the European Commission.