ABSTRACT
There is an increasing pressure for companies to improve their product development capability; the challenge is to provide innovative design solutions in shorter timescales whilst not compromising on product quality. Many companies are looking for a step change in their development performance, targeting improvements of around 20-30%. This in itself is a significant challenge, with the added pressure of insufficient assistance to achieve such improvements and limited understanding of how best practice companies achieve industry leading processes and products. This paper describes two approaches that have been developed to help companies achieve step change in product development performance. Both approaches have been developed through empirical research into the factors that affect implementation success; the paper expands on four of the factors, highlighting their significance to improvement activity and presenting their embodiment in the implementation methodologies. The selected method for guiding companies through the transition is a series of focused, interactive workshops, customised by participating companies to meet the more specific requirements of their unique business situation.
