Marko Starbek

How to reduce new product development time

Abstract When entering the global market the companies encounter several difficulties, the most important one being excessive time for new product development. This problem can be solved by transition from sequential engineering to concurrent engineering, (Concurrent Engineering Fundamentals, Integrated Product and Process Organization, Vol. I, Prentice Hall PTR, New Jersey, 1996; Concurr. Eng. Res. Appl. 9 (2001) 191). The article presents the principle of concurrent product development process. The market forces small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to a transition from sequential to concurrent engineering and as team work is the basic element of the concurrent engineering, special attention is being paid to team and workgroup forming in the loops of concurrent product development process in an SME. The article does not deal with communication issues within a team and among teams. A survey of published works in the field of designing teams in big companies has revealed that in big companies a three-level team structure is recommended, as well as a workgroup, consisting of four basic teams. Analysis of the three-level team structure has led us to the conclusion that in SMEs a two-level team structure and a workgroup consisting of two basic teams should be preferred. The results of designing a two-level team structure and the project of transition to concurrent development of mini-loader are presented. Time and cost analysis results prove the justification of transition from sequential to concurrent product development.

Concurrent engineering in small companies

Abstract In 1991, attainment of independence in Slovenia caused a drastic decrease in the domestic market for Slovenian companies. The companies which did not adapt to the new market conditions were destined for ruin. In this time several smaller companies were established which could adapt to new market conditions more easily. When these companies entered the world market they encountered several difficulties such as excessive flow times for development of new products. After a survey of available literature had been made it was found that those problems could be solved by transforming sequential engineering to concurrent engineering. The article presents the principles of sequential and concurrent product development processes. The market forces small Slovenian companies to a transition from sequential to concurrent engineering and as team work is the basic element of the concurrent engineering, special attention has been paid to workgroups forming in the loops of concurrent product development process in small companies. A survey of published works in the field of planning teams in big companies has revealed that a three-level team structure is recommended in big companies. Analysis of the three-level structure has led us to the conclusion that a two-level team structure and matrix organisation should be preferred in small companies. Presented are the results of planning a two-level team structure and matrix organisation of a small Slovenian company which produces mini-loaders.

Development of New Products in Small Companies

Problems in the development of new products in small and mid-sized companies are analyzed in the following paper. Concurrent engineering methods known to date for the development of new products are tested within the framework of human and organizational capacities. The methodologies of 3-T looping and three-level team structure were especially tested. It was established that a two-level organization is more suitable for small companies. Due to requirements for product complexity, it was found that n-T looping methodology should be implemented. In the case of complex products (the methodology was tested on a mini-loader), it turns out that n is in the range of 7 to 9 members. Such a large team is still manageable and acts in an integrative manner to achieve the goal, product development. In the matrix analysis of activities, the use of a supplemented methodology was justified and proven for each phase of product development.

Development Process with Regard to Customer Requirements

Today, it can be maintained that the customer is a ‘king’ as he will buy only the products that satisfy his needs and wants. The companies of today are facing new challenges: global business and local operation, standardization, and individualization of products, demanding customers and fierce competition. The company wants to achieve shorter product development time, lower costs, high quality of the product, and finally, customer satisfaction. In order to achieve the set goals, the company has to take into account the customers wants and needs during the new-product-development process. This article presents the mode of description of processes that allow recognition of suitable natural systems and their transformation into technical systems and a model for management of development process. The phases of quality functions deployment (QFD) during the new product development process along with the location for collecting customer needs and wants are presented. A detailed description is given on information resources for obtaining data on customer needs; the methods for obtaining, structuring, and evaluation of the data obtained. The results of testing the proposed methodology of taking into account the voice of the customer in the process of developing a new Vario Flow product in a company that produces and sells medical equipment in domestic and foreign markets are also included.

Project-driven Concurrent Product Development:

When entering the global market, companies encounter several difficulties, the most severe being long product development times and too high costs of sequential product and process development. In order to overcome this problem, the companies will have to make a shift from sequential product development (which is wasteful regarding time and costs) to a project-driven concurrent product development as soon as possible. The article presents a procedure for project-driven concurrent product development by taking into account three strategic management methods: parallelness, standardization, and integration of product development processes. Also presented are the changes in organizational concept of the company, organization of processes, organization of work and organization of IT, which are required for a transition from sequential to concurrent product development. Finally, an analysis is presented on concurrent product development teams in a company; this analysis is a prerequisite for a transition to a new method of product development.

Development of innovative products in a small and medium size enterprise

Problems in the development of new products in small and mid-sized companies (SMEs) are analysed. Concurrent engineering methods known to date for the development of new products are tested within the framework of human and organisational capacities. The methodologies of 3-T looping and three-level team structure were especially tested. It was established that a two-level organisation is more suitable for small companies. Due to requirements for product complexity, it was found that n-T looping methodology should be implemented. In the case of complex products (the methodology was tested on a mini-loader), it turns out that n is in the range of seven to nine members. Such a large team is still manageable and acts in an integrative manner to achieve the goal, i.e. new product development. In the matrix analysis of activities, the use of supplemented methodology was justified and proven for each phase of product development.

Teamwork as a Precondition for Simultaneous Product Realization

This article presents the savings in time and costs achieved by a transition from sequential to simultaneous product realization. Such a transition is not possible without prior well-organized teamwork or virtual teamwork. The article demonstrates the team structure in simultaneous product realization. A two-level team structure is suitable for small companies, with a core team on the first level and several project teams in simultaneous product realization loops on the second level. In order to ensure successful work of the core team and several project teams, appropriate communication tools are suggested and a communication matrix has been developed, defining information exchange during the execution of activities in simultaneous product realization. The communication matrix is used for identifying information system connections. The results of organizing teamwork and virtual teamwork are shown on a case study of simultaneous realization of a pedal assembly.

The optimization of material flow in production

Market demands are different: they tend to require individual, customized products of high reliability and high quality and also produced in right time. Material flow optimization is an indispensable step to be taken. The proposed optimization method is material flow analysis, which is giving an insight of the production organization of a company and its evaluation at different organizational levels. The analysis is based on a technological database and on the organization of individual departments of a company. It enables a material and information flow analysis as well as an analysis of the department and machines layout respectively. The result of the analysis is material flow rationalization, thus minimizing production costs.

Self-organizing neural network-based clustering and organization of production cells

Organizing and optimizing production in small and medium enterprises with small batch production and many different products can be very difficult. This paper presents an approach to organize the production cells by means of clustering-manufactured products into groups with similar product properties. Several clustering methods are compared, including the hierarchical clustering, k-means and self-organizing map (SOM) clustering. Clustering methods are applied to production data describing 252 products from a Slovenian company KGL. The best clustering result, evaluated by an average silhouette width for a total data set, is obtained by SOM clustering. In order to make clustering results applicable to the industrial production cell planning, an interpretation method is proposed. The method is based on percentile margins that reflect the requirements of each production cell and is further improved by incorporating the economic values of each product and consequently the economic impact of each production cell. Obtained results can be considered as a recommendation to the production floor planning that will optimize the production resources and minimize the work and material flow transfer between the production cells.

A method of production fine layout planning based on self-organising neural network clustering

Organising and optimising production in small and medium enterprises with batch production and many different products can be very difficult due to high complexity of possible solutions. The paper presents a method of fine layout planning that rearranges production resources and minimises work and material flow transfer between production cells. The method is based on self-organising map clustering which organises the production cells into groups sharing similar product properties. The proposed method improves the internal layout of each cell with respect to a material flow diagram and a from-to matrix, and fine workspace positioning also considers various restrictions on placement, specifications and types of transportation. The method is particularly suitable for improving the existing layouts. The method was applied in the Slovenian company KGL d.o.o. and promising results were achieved. A reduction by more than 40% in the total transport length with respect to the current production layout was observed.