Structural factors of NPD (new product development) team for manufacturability

Abstract

We explore whether structural factors of NPD (new product development) team such as its physical co-location and team composition are still relevant and important in enhancing manufacturability as part of NPD performance in this highly virtualized coordination era as much as in the past before the Internet. We also examine how the analysis result is affected by the product's innovativeness as well as other control variables like project duration and product type. In order to answer the research questions, we collected data on 127 projects of new product development at a global consumer electronics company. Based on our analysis, we conclude that whether the NPD members are physically co-located throughout the product development process and whether the team membership is balanced have profound implications for enhancing manufacturability. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.