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

Steven C. Wheelwright Steven C. Wheelwright was the Class of 1949 Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is coauthor of Revolutionizing Product Development (Free Press, 1992) and Dynamic Manufacturing with Robert H. Hayes (Free Press, 1988).

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.

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