A multi-criteria decision making approach to the new product development process in industry

Abstract

New product development is the process of taking a new idea and turning that idea into an actual product, available on the market. This process includes a number of stages, starting with the product concept and increasingly refining that concept until it becomes the final product and is ready for marketing. The primary function of a Multi-Criteria Decision Making approach is to take the values of a set of criteria and determine an optimal course of action. This research aims to evaluate the significance of using such the PROMETHEE approach to formulate the new product development process within an organization. In order to use that approach to assess the level of improvement that the organization has seen in its performance in new product development, and to estimate the possible level of improvement that might take place if the organization implements suggested recommendations. A research case is studied in order to make this assessment. Results of the case study are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of using a Multi-Criteria Decision Making approach for improving the new product development process within a real-world industrial setting.