Title: Redefining the new product introduction process

Authors: Donald Gerwin, Paul Guild

Addresses: Business School and Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada. ' Dept. of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada; Dept. of Communication, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V6B 5K3, Canada

Abstract: Time-to-market pressures and related factors are compelling firms to rethink the ways in which they manage new product introduction (NPI). This paper discusses attempts to reorganize the NPI process occurring in the information technology industries (telecommunications, computing and consumer electronics). The projects discussed involve changes in the roles of the design and manufacturing functions in both the upstream and downstream phases. They include the introduction of these two functions into the earliest stages of the NPI process, the transfer of certain detailed design activities from R&D to manufacturing, and the transformation of new product introduction into new product and service introduction. The implications for research of these undertakings, including the need for a better understanding of inter-functional coordination, are discussed.

Keywords: new product introduction; NPI; design; manufacturing; information technology; IT industries; inter-functional coordination; telecommunications; computing; consumer electronics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1994.025596

International Journal of Technology Management, 1994 Vol.9 No.5/6/7, pp.678 - 690

Published online: 23 May 2009 *

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