PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN LOW-VOLUME MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: CHARACTERISTICS AND INFLUENCING FACTORS
Year: 2015
Editor: Christian Weber, Stephan Husung, Marco Cantamessa, Gaetano Cascini, Dorian Marjanovic, Serena Graziosi
Author: Javadi, Siavash; Bruch, Jessica; Bellgran, Monica
Series: ICED
Institution: Maelardalen University, Sweden
Section: Design for X, Design to X
Page(s): 145-154
ISBN: 978-1-904670-67-4
ISSN: 2220-4334
Abstract
Product development process has a considerable effect on factors such as time to market and quality of product which are vital for manufacturing companies to remain competitive. Therefore, study of the factors which influence the product development process such as characteristics of products and production systems is necessary to support and improve the product development process. Since most of the studies have been conducted in the context of high-volume manufacturing industries, the influences of characteristics of low-volume products and production systems on the product development process in such industries have not been considered sufficiently. In this paper, characteristics of low-volume products and production systems, their inter-relations and their influences on the product development process have been studied through a multiple case study. A general map of characteristics of low-volume products and production systems and their inter-relations was presented in this paper. Moreover, the influences of these characteristics on product development process including the reduced complexity of the process and lack of opportunities for test and refinement were discussed.
Keywords: New Product Development, Product Introduction, Low-Volume, Production Preparation