Manufacturing and supplier roles in product development

The increasingly competitive markets of the 1990s are generally perceived t o be demanding higher-quality and higher-performing products, in shorter an d more predictable development cycle-times, and at lower cost. Product deve lopment must therefore increasingly be managed as a concurrent, multi-disci plinary process. In terms of the manufacturing function and suppliers this is reflected in recommendations for the formal representation and active in volvement of both manufacturing and suppliers on project teams, and a strat egic approach to suppliers based on partnership sourcing arrangements and s upplier development programmes. However, findings of a recent research stud y of the UK electrical and mechanical engineering sector, involving compara tive analysis and benchmarking against a model of best practice of 12 in-de pth case studies, followed by an interview survey of 46 companies, has show n that the diversity in the competitive environment and the characteristics of companies, their strategic policies, and their development projects, gi ve rise to different requirements vis-a-vis the roles of manufacturing and suppliers in product innovation. Also, the study has shown that some featur es of 'best-practice' are inappropriate to some companies operating in the low-volume industries. It is concluded that, rather than adopt a prescripti ve model of 'best-practice', companies need to develop procedures which mor e adequately reflect their inherent needs and the types of project they und ertake. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.