SUPPLIER AND NPD

Supplier and NPD

Supplier involvement in the product development process

Introduction

Product development process performed by several companies has become a common practice in many areas dominated by technology. Telecommunications, information technology and even the entertainment industry, for example, are characterized by their rapid technological advances and the need to develop products to meet the demands of increasingly sophisticated customers (local and international). It is obvious that in such an environment, product development can be ensured in its entirety by one company, on one site. It implies by nature the participation of several services, websites and companies.

Supplier Involvement in the Product Development Process

The information technology and communication play a fundamental role in the development of dispersed products. It is indeed an activity primarily related to documents (which are generally produced today in digital form) and management (which is to find, retrieve, manipulate, store and carry data). As products are becoming more complex from a technological point of view, the amount of necessary technical documentation to describe also increases. E-mail, intranets, systems or data management products engineering and other applications of knowledge management are there which reflects that it is technically possible to share information between departments, sites and companies, quickly and efficiently.

Over the past decade, there has been a significant change in the process of product development, including a growing involvement of upstream suppliers. Increasingly, they are involved in the early stages of development, a practice initiated by Japanese automakers, which was then emulated by their Western competitors. Today, there is a clear trend in most industries, inviting suppliers of major components to enroll in engineering processes for a specific product. This requires, of course, a close collaboration between the buyer and the supplier.

As experience has shown, the best way to tackle successfully the difficult task of developing a new product is through an "integrated way", where those involved in the work process come together from the beginning. That is the representation of team building and multi-functioning in which the various functions of the company involved (design engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, finance, marketing, etc.) and various external agents which are directly related to the development of product (suppliers, customers, etc.) coordinate their efforts. This reduces uncertainty and improves the capabilities and innovation.

Focusing on one of those external agents, the involvement of the suppliers in the new product development process is justified by many benefits it brings. On one hand, the addition of information, experience and knowledge about new ideas and technologies is a significant factor. At the same time, it ensures the acquisition of a greater range of skills and competencies, all of which will help improving the product, improving process efficiency and help identifying potential problems much earlier.

Cost Savings from the Partnership

The emergence of potential outsourcing, thereby reducing the complexity of the projects, the staff is dedicated to shorten the critical path thereof. This means that each party engages the tasks of the process in which they can take advantage of their skills and key competencies in ...