The successful NPI process

Requirements

Requirements of the NPI process with respect to the product and process:

The products are developed as fast and as cheaply as possible

The manufacturing process is as cost effective as possible and produces the best quality products

Requirements of the NPI process with respect to the customer:

At the beginning of the process, the customer’s views are taken into account when the product is developed, so that the product fulfils all the customer’s requirements

At the end of the process, to deliver quality products on time, every time, for total customer satisfaction

Using tools in the design phase

The point to remember is that, in order to reduce overall time in the NPI process, there will be time (and cost) investment made during the design phase. Therefore, the design phase will be extended, with a hopefully greater time saving during manufacture and overall.

Concurrent engineering will allow ‘parallel’ development, where design information can be passed to manufacturing before design completion. In some cases, the completed design is not required for process design and tooling manufacture to commence. Concurrent engineering also encourages multi-disciplinary development teams. This will add time to the design phase because of the extra logistical and procedural requirements, but it ensures that issues that other departments have (for example, marketing, manufacturing or finance) are addressed during the design phase, when design changes are the cheapest to make.

Also, tools such as QFD and Value Analysis communicate the intended customer’s or market requirements to the development team. This prevents the rejection of the product (in the case of contract supply) or poor sales (as long as the marketing function have done their homework).

Delivering a quality product to the customer starts at the design phase with tools such as DfX (DfM, DfA, DfT). Incorporating manufacturability guidelines into the design prevents rework of the product and ensures the product is designed for the most efficient process. If the product is designed with these in mind, there will be a better-manufactured product with less reworks and consequently better quality.

These tools will add the design time of the product but the intention is for the product to be the right product (no returns for redesign), manufactured in the quickest time, with DfM providing the best process and less rework, and all products working properly at delivery and during the product’s lifetime (no returns due to failure). These all add up to a reduction in the overall development time.

Likely obstacles

There will be parties who believe that, in order to improve the overall NPI time, there must be a time reduction in the individual phases in the process. As described above, introducing design tools such as VA and DfX will increase the product’s design time. If these parties are responsible for or involved in the program then they must be persuaded to take the holistic view of increasing the product’s design time gives a bigger time pay-off overall.

To improve the development time may mean introducing new tools and procedures. There will be problems with this, for example, with DfX:

Lack of upper management support/buy-in. Any major change in an organisation will require top-level support.

Lack of resources to attend DfX reviews. Those departments not traditionally employed during the design phase may perceive the extra work unfavourably. DfX must have the authority to force these departments to participate.

To some it is seen as another fad or fashion. Some common responses to any implemented tools are:

Only the large organisations can afford to implement the tools necessary

The methods were tried in the past but failed and are not worth trying again.

Any new process or culture change requires education or re-education. Education must come from top-level downwards so that everyone understands the benefits and these benefits apply across the organisation.

There are also organisational problems:

Teams are more difficult to manage than individuals. Teams may consist of personnel from various locations or companies. Therefore team meetings will be more difficult although tools such as teleconferencing aid convenience and reduce project costs.

Not all designers and engineers are willing to participate in teams. There may be a perception by certain employees allocated to a design team that it outside their responsibilities or they have always worked successfully alone. It is these employees especially who have to be made aware of the potential benefits.

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