Product Innovation: An Empirical Study into the Impact of Simultaneous Engineering on new Product Quality

Abstract

The importance of new product development in remaining competitive, as well as of their quality as a source of competitive advantage is unquestioned. What is in doubt, however, is the traditio- nal practice of organizing and implementing the development process because experience shows that satisfactory levels of quality are not always reached in new products. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of a practical alternative, simultaneous engineering (through its fundamental principles), on the increase in quality of new products. The results appear to indicate that simultaneous engineering can account for the rise in new pro- duct quality. Early involvement is the basic principle of simultaneous engineering which has no effect on new product quality, and the use of multifunctional teams has the greatest effect on this variable representing the success of a new product.