ABSTRACT
Managing a small company has always been a challenge, but today with global markets, the internet, and overnight delivery services, meeting customer needs and delivering quality products on time in a highly competitive market is especially difficult. The temptation for a small-or medium-sized company that has a large market share in its particular niche is to continue doing things the same way it has always done them. Why change when sales are good, the customers are relatively happy with their products, and a product eventually does get out the door even if the schedule slips a little? However, the market is always changing; eventually your company’s products will be challenged by domestic or overseas competitors. This book is intended to help change the way smalland medium-sized companies design and manufacture their products to keep ahead of the competition. What manager doesn’t want to remain competitive by reducing their timeto-market, improving product quality, and reducing costs? This book introduces a product and process development methodology that can help your company achieve these objectives. Conceptually, the changes needed to achieve more efficient product development are easy, but implementing them is a challenge because it is human nature to resist change unless faced by adversity. Implementation cannot occur overnight, but may take months, even years using continual process improvement as the model for change. This redirection requires a commitment from every employee in the company, from CEO to maintenance worker. The goal of this book is to provide a roadmap that will guide a company to better and more efficient product development and manufacture, and that can be used by every person involved in product development, including design, manufacturing, sales, and service.
