Success Factors for Integrating Suppliers Into New Product Development (original) (raw)

Supplier integration into new product development: coordinating product, process and supply chain design

Journal of Operations Management, 2005

In many industries, firms are seeking to cut concept to customer development time, improve quality, reduce the cost of new products and facilitate the smooth launch of new products. Prior research has indicated that the integration of material suppliers into the new product development (NPD) cycle can provide substantial benefits towards achieving these goals. This involvement may range from simple consultation with suppliers on design ideas to making suppliers fully responsible for the design of components or systems they will supply. Moreover, suppliers may be involved at different stages of the new product development process. Early supplier involvement is a key coordinating process in supply chain design, product design and process design.Several important questions regarding supplier involvement in new product development remain unanswered. Specifically, we look at the issue of what managerial practices affect new product development team effectiveness when suppliers are to be involved. We also consider whether these factors differ depending on when the supplier is to be involved and what level of responsibility is to be given to the supplier. Finally, we examine whether supplier involvement in new product development can produce significant improvements in financial returns and/or product design performance. We test these proposed relationships using survey data collected from a group of global organizations and find support for the relationships based on the results of a multiple regression analysis.

A Model of Supplier Integration into New Product Development*

Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2003

In many industries, firms are looking for ways to cut concept-to-customer development time, to improve quality, and to reduce the cost of new products. One approach shown to be successful in Japanese organizations involves the integration of material suppliers early in the new product development cycle. This involvement may range from simple consultation with suppliers on design ideas to making suppliers fully responsible for the design of components or systems they will supply.

Supplier Integration into New Product Development: the Effects of Component Innovativeness and Component Interfaces Complexity

In many industries, firms are seeking to cut concept to customer development time, improve quality, reduce the cost of new products and facilitate the smooth launch of new products. Prior research has indicated that the integration of material suppliers into the new product development (NPD) cycle can provide substantial benefits towards achieving these goals. This involvement may range from simple consultation with suppliers on design ideas to making suppliers fully responsible for the design of components or systems they will supply. Moreover, suppliers may be involved at different stages of the new product development process. Early supplier involvement is a key coordinating process in supply chain design, product design and process design.

Challenges with Supplier Involvement in Product Development: A Supplier’s Perspective

Proceedings of the Design Society: International Conference on Engineering Design, 2019

Studies of supplier involvement in product development have revealed potential benefits including faster time to market, reduced cost and increased quality. However, existing literature has mainly focused on the customer's perspective on advantages, disadvantages and factors to be considered when involving suppliers in product development. This paper addresses the supplier's perspective by answering following research question: How do challenges that originate from involvement in customer's product development affect a supplier? The question is answered through a single case study at a supplier that develops and manufacture products primary used in capital goods. Thirteen challenges are identified, classified as being internal or external, and categorised into five areas: (A) Customer requirements, (B) Information exchange between customer and supplier, (C) Product variety management, (D) Design- manufacturing integration and (E) Processes and work instructions. The find...

Managing supplier involvement in product development::: Three critical issues

European Management Journal, 2001

Despite some successes in involving suppliers early and intensively in product development within the automotive and electronics industries, many companies still experience substantial difficulties in managing this involvement. This article examines three related critical issues: (a) identifying specific processes and tasks for the broader area of purchasing involvement in product development; (b) forming an organisation that supports the execution of such tasks; and (c) staffing the organisation with people that have the right skills.

New Product Development and Early Supplier Involvement: A new Supplier Involvement Portfolio

This paper examines the involvement of suppliers in the New Product Development Process (NPDP). Existing literature has contributed to a better understanding of advantages of early supplier involvement (ESI) adoption. However, while it's clear that ESI has significant potential benefits, it's useful to determine the content of this involvement. The main objective of this ongoing research is to provide, from the buyer side, a typology of alternative supplier involvement across the NPDP. This paper begins by comparing various typologies proposed in the literature. Various criteria that affect the design outsourcing decision are analyzed. Two important dimensions of this involvement are then used to build a new supplier involvement portfolio (SIP): the development risk and the supplier autonomy. It concludes with suggestions of how the proposed SIP can be used as a decision tool for collaborative design.

The influence of supplier partnership in the new product development process : a literature review

1St International Conference on Quality Engineering and Management Proceedings Book, 2014

From the literature review of studies addressing issues related to the participation and influence of suppliers in the new product development process, several key themes which affect the issue under study are identified and detailed, highlighting the factors that contribute to the better or worse performance of these partnerships. The intention is to clarify the main problems and the main issues that have guided research concerning this specific and important form of collaboration. This study is, as such, a synthesis of the literature. The main research themes that were identified related to supplier involvement in NPD are the choice of the supplier, the quality of the partnership and the issue of integration. This study also presents the main proposals, extracted from the literature, for lines of future research.

Supplier involvement in product development: Challenges and mitigating mechanisms from a supplier perspective

Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 2021

This article explores challenges that suppliers experience when being involved in customers’ product development projects, and how these challenges can be mitigated. It presents a framework of supplier involvement in product development involving four dimensions: People-Process-Tools/Technology-Interaction. The framework consists of 24 challenges and associated mitigating mechanisms. The article concludes that suppliers must be aware of the challenges to ensure that proper internal capabilities are in place within their organizations. It also argues that customers should be aware of the challenges to provide best possible prerequisites for suppliers to ensure successful project outcomes.

Managing Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: A Multiple-Case Study

Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2008

Existing studies of supplier involvement in new product development have mainly focused on project-related short-term processes and success-factors. This study validates and extends an existing exploratory framework, which comprises both long-term strategic processes and shortterm operational processes that are related to supplier involvement. The empirical validation is based on a multiple-case study of supplier collaborations at a manufacturer in the copier and printer industry. The analysis of eight cases of supplier involvement reveals that the results of supplier-manufacturer collaborations and the associated issues and problems can best be explained by the patterns in the extent to which the manufacturer manages supplier involvement in the short-term ànd the long-term. We find that our initial framework is helpful in understanding why certain collaborations are not effectively managed, yet conclude that the existing analytical distinction between four different management areas does not sufficiently reflect empirical reality. This leads us to reconceptualize and further detail the framework. Instead of four managerial areas, we propose to distinguish between the Strategic Management arena and the Operational Management arena. The Strategic Management arena contains processes that together provide long-term, strategic direction and operational support for project teams adopting supplier involvement. These processes also contribute to building up a supplier base that can meet current and future technology and capability needs. The Operational Management arena contains processes that are aimed at planning, managing and evaluating the actual collaborations in a specific development project. The results of this study suggest that success of involving suppliers in product development is reflected by the firm's ability to capture both shortterm and long-term benefits. If companies spend most of their time on operational management in development projects, they will fail to use the 'leverage' effect of planning and preparing such involvement through strategic management activities. Also, they will not be sufficiently able to capture possible long-term technology and learning benefits that may spin off from individual projects. Long-term collaboration benefits can only be captured if a company can build long-term relationships with key suppliers, where it builds learning routines and ensures that the capability sets of both parties are aligned and remain useful for future joint projects.

Supplier Involvement in Product Development Process (PDP) for Automotive Industry

2009

In order to comply with the market demands and a complex product development cycle such as the automobile, the assembly companies are integrating the suppliers in the product development process (PDP). There are strong indications that this customer-supplier collaboration provides benefits such as cost reduction, development time reduction, reducing the chances for project delays, and facilitates the incorporation of new technologies. The objective of this article is a revision of the literature about the integration of the supplier in the product development process.