Revolutionizing Product Development: Quantum Leaps in Speed, Efficiency and Quality

Today, a company's capability to conceive and design quality prototypes and bring a variety of superior products to market quicker than its competitors is increasingly the focal point of competition, contend leading product development experts Steven Wheelwright and Kim Clark. Drawing on six years of in-depth, systematic, worldwide research, they present proven principles for developing the critical capabilities for speed, efficiency, and quality that have worked again and again in scores of successful Japanese, American, and European fast-cycle firms. The authors argue that to survive, let alone succeed, today's companies must construct a new "platform" -- with new methodologies -- on which they can compete. Using their model for development strategies, Wheelwright and Clark show that firms can create a solid architecture for the integration of marketing, manufacturing, and design functions for problem solving and fast action -- particularly during the critical design-build-test cycles of prototype creation. They demonstrate further how successful firms such as Honda in automobiles, Compaq in personal computers, Applied Materials in semi-conductors, Sony in audio equipment, The Limited in apparel, and Hill-Rom in hospital beds have employed recent methodologies to bring new products to market at break-neck speed. Such innovations include design for manufacturability, quality function deployment, computer-aided design, and computer-aided engineering. Finally, Wheelwright and Clark emphasize the importance of learning in the organization. Companies that consistently "design it right the first time" and follow a path of continuous improvement in product and process development have a formidable edge in the crucial race to market.

Table of Contents:
Contents PREFACE CHAPTER 1 Competing Through Development Capability The New Industrial Competition: Driving Forces and Development Realities Assessing the Promise and Reality: The A14 Stereo Project The Characteristics of Effective Development The Fast-Cycle Competitor The Plan for the Book CHAPTER 2 The Concept of a Development Strategy A Framework for Development Strategy Technology Planning and Strategy Product/Market Planning and Strategy Development Goals and Objectives The Aggregate Project Plan Project Management Post-Project Learning Honda: An Example of Development Strategy in Action CHAPTER 3 Maps and Mapping: Functional Strategies in Pre-Project Planning The Concept of Functional Maps The Mapping Process Apple Computer: The Need and Opportunity for Maps CHAPTER 4 The Aggregate Project Plan Aggregate Project Plans: Promise and Reality Types of Development Projects Using Project Types: The Benefits Developing an Aggregate Project Plan CHAPTER 5 Structuring the Development Funnel Basic Concepts and Their Application Creating the Development Funnel: Alternative Models Diagnosing and Correcting Critical Issues in the Development Funnel CHAPTER 6 A Framework for Development Basic Elements of the Framework The Framework for Development at Medical Electronics Incorporated Applying the Development Framework: Comparing Four Approaches Creating an Effective Development Process: Common Themes and Basic Principles CHAPTER 7 Cross-Functional Integration The MEI Experience A Framework for Cross-Functional Integration Achieving Cross-Functional Integration CHAPTER 8 Organizing and Leading Project Teams Project Organization and Leadership The Heavyweight Team Structure Building Capability for Multiple Approaches CHAPTER 9 Tools and Methods A Framework: The Design-Build-Test Cycle Structured Methodologies for Effective Problem Solving Computer-Based Systems Appendix to Chapter 9 CHAPTER 10 Prototype/Test Cycles The Traditional Approach to Prototyping Prototyping: A Managerial Perspective Matching Prototyping and Development Project Requirements CHAPTER 11 Learning from Development Projects A Framework for Learning Capturing Insight and Learning to Change the Development Process The Project Audit: A Framework for Learning Conclusions and Implications CHAPTER 12 Building Development Capability Four Approaches to Building Capability Building Capability: A Comparison of Alternatives Creating New Development Capability: General Observations Changing Behavior and Overcoming Obstacles Building Capability: Management Leadership NOTES INDEX

About the Author :
Steven C. Wheelwright is the Class of 1949 Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Wheelwright and Clark are co-authors with Robert H. Hayes of the best-selling Dynamic Manufacturing (Free Press, 1988).

Review :
H. Kent Bowen Ford Professor of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Brings together the elements of best practice but also creates a complete conceptual model for the product development process valid for years to come. The numerous product examples, methods, exhibits, and tables will facilitate the book's use by educators, practitioners, and managers who will welcome the combination of broad concepts with specifics and how-to's. Jack W. Shilling Vice President, Technical Center, Allegheny Ludlum Corporation A must for managers dealing with new product and process development. I recommend it highly. James A. Elsner Vice President, Engineering Systems & Capital Improvements, Campbell Soup Company Powerful! Wheelwright and Clark provide tools and solutions for the critical task of product/process/package development. I will provide copies to all my key people. John Sculley Chairman and CEO, Apple Computer, Inc. A truly seminal work leaving no stone unturned. The magic is in the details and insights of creating systemic business advantage and superior new products when time to market, quality, and flexibility really count. Warren L. Batts Chairman and CEO, Premark International, Inc. Captures and clarifies the nuances of the product development process. Their abundant use of real world examples, with ample charts and tables of realistic data, provides an all encompassing perspective. Whether we're seeking incrementals, platforms, or breakthroughs, we can reshape our approaches to be far more effective in our diverse businesses by using the insights provided by their work.