Managing novelty at the interfaces between concept and product : case studies for the automotive industry

Appearance of the product is a discerning factor for the consumers purchase decisions. Time from concept to product creation is a critical factor in the competitive automotive industry. The period to develop a product is dependant on the people, content and the technology changes that constitute a large majority of expense allocation, and time invested. The greater the degree of change from something established and successful, the more difficult it becomes to incorporate the change into a product. Being successive in the automotive industry relies on the ability to maintain market presence with new and innovative products, while shortening the cycle time associated with new product design, development, and its introduction. Increasing capability to manage changes becomes more challenging as product complexity and customer demands increase and product life cycles decrease. How automotive manufacturers manage these changes during the critical product definition phase through process, tools and methods is the central discussion of this paper. The intent of this thesis is to identify the processes and key enablers that allow a rapid development process for appearance related systems, in particular the interior environment of the vehicle. Five cases that effect the interior trim environment will be reviewed to understand the methods, which allow the migration of novelty. Situations that will be studied will be introductions to aspects of: new technology, strategies, and the impact of late additions. To compare and contrast the degree of change occurring in these cases, a framework is essential to identify novelty. The ability and skills which an organization can perform changes is defined as organizational capability. This term

Department dc:contributor.department

System Design and Management Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Zarewych, Lara Daniv, 1972-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Paul Carlile.

• System Design and Management Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34812

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34812