A time based approach to reduce product development time in new product development in machinery industry

Abstract

In this current scenario of highly competitive market, the product development time plays a key role in determination of existence and excellence of an organization in a business. Organizations involved in new product development try to reduce product development time by employing different methods such as concurrent engineering, value stream mapping, efficient-scheduling, accelerated testing, etc…. Despite various techniques available, the reduction of bottlenecks in product development remains a challenge in many organizations. In Machinery Industry, the product consists of combination of make and buys. In most cases, the major source of lead time is from bought out components where the scope of control is limited. Proper scheduling and modifications in design processes and review methodologies to adapt these kinds of situations can accelerate the product development process significantly. This paper elucidates various challenges in product development, factors affecting lead time and a time based approach for design that reduces product development lead time at design stage itself. The approach uses concurrent engineering that enables and guides through the process to create an optimized design by itself in such situations involving make and buy components. This method has been implemented in development of a product which has helped to reduce the design time by more than 40%.