Industrial Metallurgists, LLC Newsletter

September 28, 2006

Topics:

• Product Development Decisions
• Upcoming Local Events

Product Development Decisions

According to the journal article written by Krishnan and Ulrich [1], the scores of decisions made during product development are common for all design and manufacturing companies.  These decisions fall into the following categories:

• Concept development
• Supply chain design
• Product design
• Performance testing and verification
• Production ramp-up and launch

Krishnan and Ulrich note that “while how products are developed differs not only across firms, but within the same firm over time, what is being decided seems to remain fairly consistent at a certain level of abstraction.”  Furthermore, they indicate that not all “product development decisions are made in a deliberate fashion, merely, that most of these decisions are eventually made, even if through inaction.”

For most companies, the difference between success and struggling is the skill with which the product development decisions are made.  This skill depends on the ability of the decision makers to identify different options, identify the information requried to select the optimum option, and get the required information.  

The April 2005 Materials Matters newsletter [2] reviewed another journal article that discusses the mental traps that people fall into when making decisions.  One of these traps is related to how a situation or problem is framed.  A poorly framed problem can undermine even the best considered decision.  Proper framing requires having different perspectives represented when determining what needs to be decided. For example, there are many product development decisions which directly affect the materials used in the product, however, many decision makers do not consult with a materials engineer.

For more information on product development situations where a materials engineering perspective can be of value go to www.imetllc.com.

[1] V. Krishnan and K.T. Ulrich, Product Development Decisions: A Review of the Literature, Management Science 47 (2001) pp. 1-21.

[2] www.imetllc.com/newsletters/april_2005.html

Upcoming Events

Go to www.imetllc.com/upcoming_events for a list of upcoming technical meetings of possible interest in the Chicago area.