DEGREE PROJECT IN PRODUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2018
Consideration of
downstream functions in New Product Development
A case study at Company X
CARL PHILIP FREDBORG ALEXANDER NILSSON
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
I
Abstract
In recent years, customers demand for new products has increased in line with a rapid technological change. This has put pressure on industrial companies regarding New Product Development (NPD) in order to continuously develop and produce products at or above the customers’ expectations. Furthermore, products need to be profitable throughout the whole product lifecycle.
In order to consider the whole product lifecycle in NPD, inputs with information, as well as, involvement from/of downstream functions are considered as two critical factors to ensure that profitable products are developed. Information from other functions with a wide range of perspectives, knowledge and experiences from previous products are vital.
This thesis uses the above mentioned notion while examining a large multinational company, Company X. Product Development in the Company X Group follows the Gateway process which was released group-wide in 2009. This process consists of gateways which cannot be passed if not all requirements are satisfied in each step. This ensures that all areas are covered and that products are developed in an effective matter.
Interviews, observations and archive analysis are methods utilized to define the current state at CXDY. The current workways and processes are compared to the outspoken ones by the
company. Also, the workways and processes are compared to the theory of project management, product development, Design for X methodology and management of knowledge. In the
analysis, gaps are identified and the authors present their solutions to improve the NPD process at the Company X
The major findings in the proposed solution were a new approach of the Gateway process that;
takes the Internal Customer into consideration, has clear definitions of roles and responsibilities and has a cross-functional team that represent the Internal Customer in order to encourage concurrent engineering.
Due to confidentiality reasons some parts of this report are hidden.
Keywords: New product development, Project management, Product Lifecycle, Concurrent engineering, Design for X, Management of knowledge.
II
III
Sammanfattning
Svensk titel: Beaktning av nedströmsfunktioner i produktutvecklingsprojekt
Under senare år har kundernas efterfrågan på nya produkter ökat i takt med en snabb teknologisk utveckling. Detta har ställt krav på tillverkande företag att fokusera på
produktutvecklingprojekt för att kontinuerligt leverera produkter som uppnår eller överträffar kunders förväntningar. Vidare måste produkterna vara lönsamma genom hela produktlivscykeln.
För att kunna beakta hela produktlivscykeln i produktutvecklingsprojekt anses input med information och involvering från/av nedströmsfunktioner vara två kritiska faktorer för att säkerställa att lönsamma produkter utvecklas. I detta är informationen från andra funktioner med olika perspektiv, kunskaper och erfarenheter från tidigare produkter avgörande.
Denna avhandling behandlar ovanstående tankar när ett stort multinationellt företag, Företag X.
Produktutveckling i Företag X-koncernen följer Gateway-processen som släpptes på grupp-nivå under 2009. Denna process består av Gateways som inte kan godkännas om inte alla krav är uppfyllda i varje steg. Detta säkerställer att alla områden har behandlats och att produkter utvecklas effektivt.
Intervjuer, observationer och arkivanalys är metoder som applicerats för att definiera det aktuella läget vid CXDY. De nuvarande arbetssätten och processerna jämförs med företagets uttalade.
Arbetssätten och processerna jämförs vidare med teorin om projektledning, produktutveckling, Design för X-metodik och kunskapsförvaltning. I analysen identifieras luckor och författarna presenterar sina lösningar för att förbättra produktutvecklingsprojekten på CXDY.
De viktigaste resultaten i den föreslagna lösningen var ett nytt tillvägagångssätt av Gateway- processen som; tar hänsyn till interna kunder, har tydliga definitioner av roller och ansvar och har ett tvärfunktionellt team som representerar den interna kunden för att främja Concurrent engineering.
På grund av sekretesskäl har vissa delar av denna rapport gömts.
Nyckelord: Produktutveckling, Projektledning, Produktlivscykel, Concurrent engineering, Design för X, Kunskapsförvaltning.
IV
V
Acknowledgements
This thesis is the final piece of our Master’s degree in Production Engineering and Management at The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and has been written during the spring of 2018. It is the result of a close collaboration between the authors, our supervisors at CXDY and KTH.
We would like to seize this opportunity and thank everyone involved in this thesis. First and foremost, we would like to thank the individuals of the CXDY organization. They have contributed with their time and inputs which has been crucial. Especially, we would like to acknowledge our supervisors Anneli and Mikael. Their input and feedback has been vital in the creation of this thesis.
We would also like to thank our supervisor Hamzah Ssekiunga Ssemakula at the Faculty of Production Engineering. He has ensured that the thesis contributed academically, was finished on time and of good quality.
On a more personal note:
I, Alexander, would like to thank my family for the love and support during my time as a student in general and during my Master Thesis in specific. Especially, for letting us use the apartment in Alicante for a week’s writing in the sun. Furthermore, I would like to thank my girlfriend Alice for her understanding throughout my academic years, as well as, her help with the dishes when I had a plastered arm. Finally, I thank Carl Philip for a pleasant time and great collaboration during our Master Thesis.
I, Carl Philip, would like to thank my family which has supported me throughout all my academic years. Especially, I would like to thank my mother. Without her I would never have completed the five years at KTH. I would also like to thank my girlfriend Amanda. Her patience, understanding and support has been vital for me. Last but not least, I thank my colleague
Alexander. It has been a pleasure.
We would also like to thank our friends at school, especially the members of “Pingisklubben” for the support during the last two years.
________________________ ________________________
Alexander Nilsson Carl Philip Fredborg
VI
VII
Abbreviations
AR - Action Request BOM - Bill of Material BU – Business Unit
BUM – Business Unit Manager CAD - Computer Aided Design CAE - Computer Aided Engineering CAM - Computer Aided Manufacturing CE – Concurrent Engineering
CFO – Chief Financial Officer CM - Change Message
CP - Change Proposal
CPI - Continuous Product Innovation CRM - Customer Relationship Management CTO - Chief Technology Officer
CXDY – Company X Division Y DFA - Design for Assembly DFD - Design for Disassembly DFI - Design for Installation DFLC - Design for Lifecycle DFM - Design for Manufacturing DFMa - Design for Maintenance DFX - Design for X
EPD - Existing Product Development EqS - Equipment Sales
ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning FOPS – Field Operations
GW - Gateway KB - Knowledge Base
KPI - Key Performance Indicator LCC - Life Cycle Cost
LRU - Line Replacement Unit
VIII MRS – Market Requirement Specification
NPD – New Product Development NPI - New Product Innovation PD - Product Development
PDM – Product Data Management PS - Pedestrian Solutions
PLM – Product Lifecycle Management PPI - Pre Product Innovation
PRS – Product Requirement Specification Q - Quality
R&D – Research and Development RD - Revolving Door
SC - Supply Chain SL - Sliding Door SW - Swing Door TTM - Time To Market UBR - Unique Buying Reason USP - Unique Selling Point
VA/VE - Value Analysis & Value Engineering VOC - Voice of Customer
VOIC - Voice of Internal Customer VP - Vice President
IX
Table of Content
1 Introduction ... 1
1.1 Background ... 1
1.2 Problem statement ... 1
1.3 Purpose ... 2
1.4 Scope and delimitations ... 2
2 Company presentation ... 5
3 Theoretical framework ... 7
3.1 Design for X ... 7
3.1.1 Design for assembly ... 7
3.1.2 Design for manufacturing ... 7
3.1.3 Design for disassembly ... 8
3.1.4 Design for lifecycle ... 8
3.1.5 Design for maintainability ... 9
3.1.6 Design for Installation... 10
3.2 Management of knowledge ... 10
3.2.1 Product data management (PDM) and Product lifecycle management (PLM) ... 10
3.2.2 The PLM system ... 11
3.2.3 PLM as a knowledge management system ... 12
3.2.4 Communication ... 13
3.3 Organization ... 13
3.3.1 Matrix organizational structure ... 13
3.4 Project management ... 14
3.4.1 Planning and control ... 15
3.4.2 Roles and responsibilities ... 15
3.5 Product Development ... 17
3.5.1 Introduction and delimitations ... 17
3.5.2 Technology push and market pull ... 18
3.5.3 Market trends ... 19
X
3.5.4 New Product Development (NPD) ... 20
3.5.5 Concurrent engineering ... 22
4 Method ... 25
4.1 The approach ... 25
4.2 Data collection ... 26
4.2.1 Interviews ... 26
4.2.2 Archive analysis ... 27
4.2.3 Observations ... 27
4.3 Qualitative and quantitative analysis ... 28
4.4 Reliability and validity ... 28
5 Current state ... 31
5.1 Interviews ... 31
5.1.1 Questionnaire ... 31
5.1.2 Results from questionnaire ... 34
5.1.3 Open-ended interviews ... 39
5.1.4 Results from open-ended interviews ... 39
5.2 Archive analysis ... 39
5.2.1 Gateway process... 39
5.2.2 Organizational charts ... 42
6 Analysis ... 45
6.1 Identified problems in the current state ... 45
6.2 Analysis of identified problems ... 45
6.2.1 Consideration of other functions in NPD ... 45
6.2.2 The Gateway process ... 47
6.2.3 Concurrent engineering ... 52
6.2.4 Roles and responsibilities ... 53
6.2.5 Corporate culture ... 54
7 Future state ... 57
7.1 The proposed Gateway Process ... 57
XI
7.2 Roles and responsibilities ... 58
7.2.1 The Internal Customer ... 58
7.2.2 The Reference Group and Function forums ... 58
7.2.3 The Product Council ... 59
7.2.4 The Product Manager ... 59
7.2.5 The Program Manager ... 59
7.2.6 The Product and Program Manager ... 59
7.3 Activities ... 60
7.3.1 The Gateway meeting ... 60
7.3.2 Inputs to NPD and Product requirements ... 61
7.3.3 Activities to implement ... 62
7.4 Concurrent engineering ... 62
8 Discussion and future recommendations ... 65
8.1 Contribution ... 65
8.2 Inputs to the NPD Process ... 66
8.3 Involvement in the NPD Process ... 67
8.4 Corporate culture ... 68
9 Table of References ... 69
10 Table of figures ... 73
11 Table of tables ... 75 12 Appendix
12.1 Appendix A 12.2 Appendix B 12.3 Appendix C 12.4 Appendix D 12.5 Appendix E 12.6 Appendix F 12.7 Appendix G
XII
1
1 Introduction
In this chapter a brief background of the thesis is presented followed by the problem statement, purpose, scope and delimitations.
1.1 Background
Company X is the global leader in door opening solutions. The group was founded in 1994 through the merger of a Swedish company and a Finnish competitor. Since the inception the company has grown organically but also via acquisitions of door and security companies. As of 2017 the group has become global, employs 47 000 and annual sales exceed 7.9 billion EUR.
The group is divided into five divisions where one of them is Division Y. Company X Division Y (CXDY) is the division within the Company X group that supply the market with automated entrance solutions through a direct and an indirect channel. The division develop, produce, sell, install and maintain door and docking solutions ranging from large hangar doors to swing door operators for pedestrian purposes. Thus, CXDY are involved in the whole lifecycle of their products because everything from Product Development to maintaining customers door operators are business areas where they conduct business.
Product Development in the Company X Group follows the Gateway process which was released group-wide in 2009. This process consists of gateways which cannot be passed if not all requirements are satisfied in each step. This ensures that all areas are covered and that products are developed in an effective matter. Also this tool works as a communication tool for top management where the current state of a development project can be realized by looking at the progress in the gateway process.
The wide range of business areas within CXDY requires good collaboration between the different functions of the company, in reality this is not always the case. From this notion the opportunity for this thesis arose. The thesis is primarily concerned with the collaboration between the Product Development function and the field operation functions, as well as the Sales function, of CXDY. The field operations involve installation and service of customer operators. The Service function is divided into preventive maintenance, break downs and upgrades.
1.2 Problem statement
In recent years, customers demand for new products has increased in line with a rapid
technological change (Miao & Chen, 2011). This change has shortened the product lifecycle and
2
the development of new products has evolved into being compulsory for companies in order to survive on today’s competitive market (Ibid.). In addition, the design of a product is considered to influence the total cost of a product with between 70% and 85% (Dowlatshahi, 1992).
New Product Development (NPD) is described as the process of transforming business opportunities into tangible products (Trott, 2005). When a new product is developed it is important to consider the whole product lifecycle and calculate with costs and revenues throughout the entire product lifecycle, i.e. the lifecycle cost (LCC).
In order to consider the whole product lifecycle in NPD, inputs with information, as well as, involvement from/of other functions are considered as two critical factors. Trott (2005) highlights the importance of involving other functions in NPD in order to collect valuable information from people with a wide range of perspectives, knowledge and experiences from previous products.
Nevertheless, collaboration between NPD and other functions are important in order to maximize profit throughout the whole product lifecycle. In order to succeed with this every function shall have the ability to contribute with inputs to the NPD, as well as, being involved in the NPD process. If this not is done sufficiently, there is a gap in the collaboration between NPD and other functions that will constrain the ability to develop products that are competitive and profitable.
1.3 Purpose
The purpose of this thesis is to propose a solution for how to coordinate information flow to NPD and how to increase the level of involvement from other functions into the NPD process.
1.4 Scope and delimitations
This thesis will primarily focus on the direct channel because only in the direct channel CXDY is present through the whole product lifecycle, from product development to maintaining
customers door solutions. Since CXDY is a global company and the business is scattered over the globe a selection of a business area was necessary in order to minimize travel and maximize meetings with key persons and stakeholders of the organization. The decision was taken to examine Pedestrian Solutions (PS) because this business area had most of the key functions located in one place. However, the outcomes of this thesis are expected to be valuable in the other business areas as well where all are expected to strive for business excellence and work in more or less the same ways.
3
In order to further limit the scope of this thesis a pre-study was conducted where stakeholders within PS were interviewed. In this study it was recognized that the involvement of Sales, Installation and Service functions in the Product Development process was important to ensure profits throughout the whole product lifecycle. Therefore, focus were put on the interaction between these functions.
This thesis is delineated to examine functions which generates a positive cash flow namely Sales, Installation and Service. Efforts were made to increase the level of involvement by proposing changes of workways and processes at CXDY. This thesis also investigated different ways of efficiently collecting inputs from the functions which interacts with the product throughout the whole lifecycle.
4
5
2 Company presentation
Due to confidentiality reasons, the following chapter about Company X cannot be published.
6
7
3 Theoretical framework
In this chapter, the theoretical framework of concepts, definitions and theory that is considered as relevant to the thesis is presented. Those are design for x, management of knowledge, organization, project management and Product Development.
3.1 Design for X
When products are developed different approaches might be undertaken to satisfy specific demands from Internal and External Customers. Design for X (DFX) methods are approaches that targets different areas of a product regarding functions. DFX research emphasizes that design goals and their constraints have to be addressed at an early stage. The application of these methods requires that designers and engineers work in cross-functional teams which occasionally creates friction (Kuo, Huang, & Zhang, 2001). This implies that more issues regarding
integration must be addressed during the process.
Below a brief introduction to different DFX-approaches are presented.
3.1.1 Design for assembly
Design for assembly (DFA) is based on the notion that the lowest assembly cost can be achieved by designing products and parts in such a way that it can be economically assembled by the most convenient assembly system. Boothroyd and Dewhust presented a handbook for this theory in 1986 and are considered to be pioneers in this field of designing of assembly (Boothroyd &
Dewhurst, 1986). In this handbook the authors where parts were rated in the assembly based on the ease of handling and insertion. All techniques presented by the authors are keys of
minimizing the cost of assembly but still satisfying the other constraints of the products design (Ibid.). There are primarily two factors that influence the assembly cost: the total number of parts in the assembly and the ease of handling, insertion and fastening of the different parts.
3.1.2 Design for manufacturing
When new parts are designed a selection of material and manufacturing process is of importance.
The selection of process and material are a matching approach where the functionality of the part has to be satisfied. At the same time it is important to design parts in a way where cost is minimized. The approach of keeping the manufacturability in mind when designing is called design for manufacturing (DFM). As mentioned above the material and process is important to keep costs as low as possible. But modular design, multi-use part development, standard components, separate fasteners and assembly direction minimization are also key factors for
8
minimizing the total cost of manufacturing a part or product. These factors were presented by (Kirkland, 1988) as being important for minimizing cost in the manufacturing.
3.1.3 Design for disassembly
Since the inception of “Design for X” concepts focus has been put on minimizing costs of producing parts. However, more recent recycling of products has become increasingly important.
In order to successfully increase the recyclability of the product efforts are put into designing parts that can be disassembled in an efficient manner as well. Disassembly is defined by Brennan, Gupta and Taleb (1994) as “the process of systematic removal of desirable constitute parts from an assembly while ensuring that there is no impairment of the parts due to the process”.
It was proven in a study by Harjula et al. (1996) that the tools in a DFA-analysis will be beneficial for the disassembly of a product. The authors recognized that these tools would increase both the assembly and the disassembly. In addition more efforts could be deployed in the area for Design for Disassembly (DFD) to ensure that the product could be disassembled effectively.
3.1.4 Design for lifecycle
Design for Lifecycle (DFLC) involves the whole lifecycle of a product. The lifecycle areas of a product involves early product concept, product/market research, design phases, certification, manufacturing processes, installation/assembly, customer service, maintainability and
supportability (Kuo, Huang, & Zhang, 2001). All these areas must be addressed in all the phases of a product lifecycle. The six phases of a product lifecycle were distinguished by Boothroyd and Alting (1992) as being:
1. Need recognition 2. Design development 3. Production
4. Distribution 5. Use
6. Disposal
The lifecycle costs of a product can be divided into two parts for stakeholders: costs of design and production and costs of operation and/or service (Kuo, Huang, & Zhang, 2001). These costs can be divided between three stakeholders: Company, User and Society (Jovane, o.a., 1993).
9 3.1.5 Design for maintainability
Maintainability, is defined by Kapoor and Lamberson (1977) as “the probability that a failed system can be repaired in a specific interval of downtime”. The most important aspect of Design for Maintainability (DFMA) is to secure that a product can be maintained throughout its whole lifecycle at a reasonable expense without difficulty (Kuo, Huang, & Zhang, 2001). Maintainability requirements can take the form of design guidelines in order to secure ease of maintaining the product. These guidelines define requirements such as: accessibility, detection and isolation of failure, weight limitations of replaceable parts, dimensional limits in order to secure ease of transport of replacement parts and design requirements to secure that replaceable parts are compatible with robot assisted removal and replacement (Ibid.).
The following list provides a designer with general DFMA guidelines (Ibid.):
General design features
o The design shall hinder the possibility of damaging the equipment during maintenance and service
o Minimize the use of special solutions which require special tools o Part reference number shall be located next to each part legibly o Guidance pins shall be used for correct alignment of modules
o Sharp edges or protrusions that could harm technicians shall be avoided o Handles shall be provided on removable parts that weigh an excess of 5 kg o Keying shall be used to ensure that reassembly are done in the right order
Mounting and location of units
o Provide a design solution which makes replacement of line replacement units (LRU) without removal of undamaged parts
o Provide a design solution which makes removal of LRUs without interrupting critical functions
o Heavy unit shall be mounted as close to the floor as possible
o Provide a design solution that allows ease of replacing LRUs. Units shall be mounted on chassis or structure rather than mounting on other parts
Test and calibration
o Adjustments shall be designed in an uniform way for example clockwise, right or up for increase
o Test points on circuit boards shall be designed so in-circuit testing is possible o Calibration and adjustment levers shall be designed with stops to prevent damage
10
Cables, leads, wiring and connectors
o Clearing around connectors shall be provided to ensure accessibility and viewing o Cables shall be routed to facilitate tracing, removal and replacement
o Cable shall be labeled throughout their length to ensure identification o Service loops shall be provided to facilitate maintenance and service 3.1.6 Design for Installation
Design for Installation (DFI) is the method where focus directed towards the ease of installing the product. The method is similar to the other Design for X methods but here the designers and engineers collaborate to invent products that can be installed quicker, simpler and more efficient without any specialized expertise (Maltzman, o.a., 2005).
3.2 Management of knowledge
It is becoming increasingly more important to manage knowledge in order to stay competitive in the market. In order to fully understand what knowledge is three different terms that are used interchangeably to misleadingly describe the same thing are analyzed. Data, information and knowledge are the three terms (Cambridge Dictionary, 2018):
Data: Information, especially facts or numbers, collected to be examined and considered and used to help decision-making
Information: Facts about a situation, person, event, etc.
Knowledge: Understanding of or information about a subject that you get by experience or study, either known by one person or by people generally
When analyzing these definitions a clear hierarchy can be realized. Knowledge is understood information which relays on data. So for corporations in the information age the management of knowledge is of importance. Data and information is easier to gather and store than knowledge.
Research has shown that only 4% of organizational knowledge is stored and available in a structured way. The rest is unstructured or stored in people's minds (Rasmus, 2002).
3.2.1 Product data management (PDM) and Product lifecycle management (PLM)
In the later part of the 1980s Product Data Management (PDM) appeared which controls and manage the data created around the product. The sole purpose of these early PDM systems was to provide users with required data insure integrity of the data by continuous control and updates (Ameri & Dutta, 2005).
11
The implementation of PDM systems were supplemented over time with functionalities like document management, change management, workflow management and project management that promised enterprises a streamlined Product Development process and concurrent
engineering. The early PDM systems were effective in the engineering domain but failed to handle non-engineering areas like Supply Chain Management, Sales and marketing. Also these systems failed to encompass external agents such as customers and suppliers. Two major reasons for the early PDM systems failure was that an engineering or technical background was needed to handle the system and the system primarily handled engineering data like drawings and Bill Of Material (BOM) lists. These shortcomings can be rooted to the development of PDM systems where they were considered to be support systems to Computer aided design (CAD), Computer aided manufacturing (CAM) and Computer aided engineering (CAE) systems. (Ibid.)
During the same era as PDM systems were introduced the first solutions for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems were simultaneously developed. These systems were introduced to further streamlining the business practices of enterprises. Each of these systems were
independently focusing on different areas of the products lifecycle and heavily depended on information about the product. However, problems arose in supportability from the PDM system, unlike the support PDM provided for CAM/CAD/CAE, due to the focus on engineering data. (Ibid.)
The Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems appeared later in the 1990’s with the task of providing a shared platform to support the enterprise systems mentioned previously. The data handled by the PLM system should include much more than just engineering data like design and manufacturing. Example of such information is marketing, sale, after sale service. So the PLM should support the whole lifecycle of a product.
The objective of PLM is minimize product-related cost, maximizing product revenue, maximize value of product portfolio and maximize value of current and future products for both end-users and the enterprise (Stark, 2017).
3.2.2 The PLM system
The PLM system is interacting with all business processes of an enterprise and stores all necessary knowledge regarding the products. The system is built on the foundation of a knowledge base (KB). This KB doesn’t necessarily consist of a connected database, instead it could be an interconnected network of knowledge that is spread out through different systems.
The PLM system should also be present throughout the whole lifecycle of a product. The agents
12
of the lifecycle communicate with the PLM system in two ways: either they add new knowledge to the KB, this is called telling (TELL), or the agent look for answers for their questions in the system by asking (ASK) (Ameri & Dutta, 2005). A rough overview is shown in Figure 4 PLM system overview.
Figure 1 Adopted from (Ameri & Dutta, 2005): PLM system overview
3.2.3 PLM as a knowledge management system
An effectively implemented PLM system can aid all business processes of an enterprise, from R&D to after sales service. Organizations with an extensive knowledge management system becomes more effective where knowledge is stored and managed. Knowledge becomes easy to access and decisions are reinforced by using the updated knowledge of the organization (Ameri
& Dutta, 2005).
In Figure 5 Learning capacity the relationship of acquired knowledge over time is shown. The dotted line indicates the presence of a knowledge management system such as PLM.
Figure 2 Adopted from (Ameri & Dutta, 2005): Learning capacity
13
The improved learning capacity also facilitates the increase of cash flows, this is shown in Figure 6 Cash flow. The improved cash flows is a reaction on more knowledge reinforced decision in the enterprise.
Figure 3 Adopted from (Ameri & Dutta, 2005): Cash flow
A well-established knowledge management system will contribute to organizations of achieving competitive advantages of today in terms of innovation, customer intimacy and operational excellence. These are regarded as the internal forces of an enterprise. The external forces of the enterprise are considered to be globalization, product complexity, shrinkage in product lifecycle, push into supply chain and environmental issues. All these internal and external forces can be helped with a PLM or equal knowledge management system (Ibid.).
3.2.4 Communication
Communication is about spreading information and sharing knowledge with others, a strategy for communication is of importance in large organizations with many stakeholders. In the strategy, the best-suited communication channels, as well as, infrastructure for the information flow needs to be determined in order to “ensure that the right target group gets the right
information at the right time and in the appropriate way” (Tonnquist, 2012, s. 203). In otherwise, the risk for making mistakes that may upset stakeholders whom feel overlooked increases.
(Tonnquist, 2012)
3.3 Organization
3.3.1 Matrix organizational structure
A matrix organizational structure is a way to combine a functional structure and a market-based structure in order to achieve advantages from both of them. Advantages from a functional
14
structure by allocating similar tasks, such as purchasing, production and service to specific departments; and from a market-based structure by allocating responsibilities for different products, projects or customer segments to specific divisions. (Jacobsen, Thorsvik, & Sandin, 2014)
A matrix organizational structure is also referred to as a two-dimensional structure. Jacobsen et al. (2014) points on the fact that in a two-dimensional structure, every employee in a matrix organization has at least two chiefs, which is illustrated by Ford and Randolph (1992) in Figure 7 Matrix organizational structure.
Figure 4 Adopted from (Ford & Randolph, 1992): Matrix organizational structure
3.4 Project management
Due to the fact that new Product Development mostly is performed through projects, the basic theory and the vocabulary of project management will be described. The definition of the project as a work form is a unique assignment with limited resources that should be performed in a predetermined time (Hallin & Karrbom Gustavsson, 2012).
Models such as waterfall, stage-phase or stage-gate are in this thesis referred to as traditional project management. Main characteristics of traditional project management are methods for planning and control, sequential project lifecycle stages and a predictable process (Hass, 2007).
Planning and control is important when resources are utilized in order to finish the project on time and budget. A predictable vision and process is considered as a requirement in traditional
15
project management because in otherwise it would not be possible to set up activities within the project stages.
The traditional project has a project goal that is specific and well-defined (Tonnquist, 2012). In some cases where the vision of the project is not obvious, it may not be possible to set specific and well-defined goals, then it is appropriate to apply an agile project management method instead (Hallin & Karrbom Gustavsson, 2012). In agile methods, the planning model for the project execution need to be more flexible and the stages that the project needs to go through is not determined in advance (Ibid.).
3.4.1 Planning and control
Once one stage in the project is completed, the aim is that it never should be revisited (Hass, 2007). In purpose to control the outcome of each stage, tools called tollgates are utilized. A tollgate occurs after each gate in a meeting where achieved project results are evaluated and the future of the project is determined. The outcome from a tollgate can either be 1) continue, 2) go back, or 3) close. (Tonnquist, 2012)
Another tool is the milestone, which has the purpose to control the project during the execution phase. Milestones are either activities that needs to be performed or deliverables that needs to be reached in order to fulfill the project goal. (Tonnquist, 2012)
3.4.2 Roles and responsibilities
In traditional project management, it is important to structure the project organization by
assigning project roles and determine its responsibilities. Depending on the responsibilities in the project, Hallin and Karrbom Gustatvsson (2012) describes that roles can be categorized into following four functions, which are illustrated in Figure 8 Functions and roles in a project:
Management function o Project Manager
Control function
o Steering Committee o Project Owner o Client/user/recipient o Resource Owner/sponsor
Executive function o Project Group
o Project Team Members
16 o Project Controller
Advisory function o Reference Group
Figure 5 Adopted from (Hallin & Karrbom Gustavsson, 2012): Functions and roles in a project
The two most important roles in a project is claimed to be the Project Owner and Project Manager. The Project Owner has the overall responsibility for the outcome of the project and, in addition, he or she is responsible for allocating resources and that the assignment, or project goal, is well-defined and specific (Tonnquist, 2012).
The responsibility for the execution of the project, on the other hand, is delegated from the Project Owner to the Project Manager. The execution of the project consists of delivering a result that fulfills the project goal to the Project Owner by managing the executive function (Tonnquist, 2012). In some industries, the Project Manager role can be divided into two roles, Project Manager and project leader, where the Project Manager is responsible for the financial part and the project leader for the managerial part (Ibid.).
Furthermore, resource owners are usually Line Managers within the control function whom are separated from the project group but, nevertheless, are responsible to provide the project with required competence. The cooperation between Project Managers and resource owners is important since the project group members often work in a matrix structure and have responsibilities in the organization under a Line Manager, as well as, in the project under a Project Manager (Tonnquist, 2012). Another role within the control function, mainly used in larger projects, is the Steering Committee role that is independent from other project roles and often used to report the status and progress of the project. Primarily, the committee is involved
17
in the most important tollgate decisions regarding whether the project should continue or be closed. (Ibid.)
The executive function consists of people who perform the actual work in a project. Within the executive function, the work is mainly performed by the project team members who are
responsible for planning, organizing and executing activities based on instructions given by the Project Manager. In addition, project members need to make sure that methods and routines are followed and quality requirements are fulfilled. (Hallin & Karrbom Gustavsson, 2012)
Within the advisory function, there may be a reference group which consists of people who are specialists, either in what the project shall deliver or in the processes against achieving that goal.
The reference group are responsible for giving advices on how the project can meet the
requirements and has a supporting role to the Project Manager, the Steering Committee and the Project Owner. It is often the Project Managers’ initiative to involve and ask a reference group for advice in the project but when and how this is done depends on the circumstances. (Ibid.) A role that is not described in Figure 8 Functions and roles in a project is the Program Manager role.
A Program Manager is sometimes used in larger organizations where many projects are
performed simultaneously; the responsibility in his or her role is to coordinate resources between line and Project Managers (Hallin & Karrbom Gustavsson, 2012).
3.5 Product Development
3.5.1 Introduction and delimitations
In recent years, Product Development has evolved into being viewed as one of the most important functions within a manufacturing company. The main reason for this is because the design of a product is considered to influence the total cost of a product with between 70% and 85% (Dowlatshahi, 1992).
Knowledge and information from other functions in the company plays a key role in Product Development as a valuable input to the process. This is illustrated in Figure 9 Product Development and the design environment, where the wide range of functions are presented horizontally and the knowledge input to the Product Development vertically (Trott, 2005). Depending on which type
18
of industry, input from one function may be more important than from another but the important thing is to consider them all in the Product Development process.
Figure 6 Adopted from (Trott, 2005): Product Development and the design environment
By looking into the Product Development process, innovation is a broad concept of which fundamental knowledge will be required in order to follow this thesis. While discussing innovation, it is important to understand that innovation not is one single event but instead a process of several activities that includes several functions (Ibid.). According to this, following definition of innovation will be applied in this thesis:
“Innovation is the management of all the activities involved in the process of idea generation, technology development, manufacturing and marketing of a new (or improved) product or manufacturing process or equipment” (Trott, 2005, s. 23)
Among several types of innovations, this thesis will only examine product innovation that shortly could be described as the development of a new or improved product (Ibid.). Furthermore, it is common to divide product innovation into New Product Development (NPD) and Existing Product Development (EPD). Of these two, NPD is considered to be most important in this thesis and is therefore further described in chapter 3.5.4 New Product Development (NPD).
3.5.2 Technology push and market pull
Traditionally, there were two distinctive models within product innovation; the technology- driven model and the customer need-driven model (Trott, 2005).
What differ the models from each other is what triggers the development of a new or improved product. In the technology-driven model, also referred to as technology push, scientists triggers
19
the Product Development process by making unexpected discoveries in their research. In the customer need-driven model, also referred to as market pull, marketing triggers the Product Development process by identifying market needs through interaction with customers. (Ibid.) The interactive model of innovation, illustrated in Figure 10 The interactive model of innovation, is developed by the idea of connecting the technology-push model with the customer need-driven model (Rothwell & Zegveld, 1985). Characteristics of the interactive model of innovation are that it has no specific trigger point, includes both technology push and market pull, and allows feedback through linkages with science base and marketplace (Trott, 2005). Furthermore, Trott (Ibid.) consider that inputs from organization capabilities, needs of the market, and the science and technology base are required in the development of new products.
Figure 7 Adopted from (Rothwell & Zegveld, 1985): The interactive model of innovation
3.5.3 Market trends
Miao et al. (2011) describes the development of new products as compulsory for companies to survive on today’s competitive market. This is because customer’s demand for new products has increased in line with a rapid technological change and, as a result of this, the product lifecycle is shortened (Miao & Chen, 2011).
A shortened product lifecycle is also mentioned by Olhager (2000) when he claims that this in recent years have set requirements on shorter Product Development lead time i.e. time to market. To adapt to these new circumstances, Product Development went from being a sequential process to an integrated process where the different activities were overlapping each other in purpose to minimize time to market. An effect of an integrated process is that several functions are involved in the process at the same time, this is illustrated in Figure 11 Integrated Product Development process below. (Olhager, 2000)
20
Figure 8 Adopted from (Olhager, 2000): Integrated Product Development process
3.5.4 New Product Development (NPD)
As mentioned above, NPD is considered to be the most important area within product innovation in this thesis. Trott (2005) describes NPD as the process of transforming business opportunities into tangible products and points out that several stakeholders (e.g. Marketing and Manufacturing), with different perspectives, are involved in a NPD process. This wide range of different perspectives regarding what is most important in the NPD process are frequently considered as a weakness when it instead should be viewed as a strength; this is because it consists of valuable information from stakeholders with different experiences of previous products (Ibid.).
Hsuan et al. (2015) refer to “The six phases of NPD process”, developed by Ulrich and
Eppinger (2015), as the most comprehensive and used model to describe the NPD process. This model follows the definition by Olhager (2000), of an integrated Product Development process but describes the steps on a more detailed level in a way that will be valuable in this thesis in purpose to involve every function in the Product Development process. The most important theory in each phase are presented in Table 2 The six phases of NPD process.
Table 1 Adopted from (Eppinger & Ulrich, 2015): The six phases of NPD process Phase 0 - Planning:
Design
o Evaluate new technologies o Analyze product platform and
architectural aspects
Marketing
o Define market opportunity and market segments
Manufacturing
o Develop a supply chain strategy and identify manufacturing constraints
Phase 1 - Concept Development
Design
o Analyze feasibility of product concepts
o Development of industrial design concepts
o Construct and test demo prototypes
Marketing
o Collect information regarding customer needs
o Identify lead and analyze lead users
21
Research department
o Propose new technologies
Finance
o Set planning goals
Top management
o Determine resources to the project
o Consider competitive products on the market
Manufacturing
o Estimate the cost to manufacture the product
o Evaluate manufacturing feasibility
Finance
o Perform economic analysis
Legal
o Analyze possible patent issues Phase 2 - System Level Design
Design
o Create alternative product architectures
o Characterize subsystems and interfaces
o Refine industrial design
Marketing
o Create a plan for product options and product family
o Determine target sales price point
Manufacturing
o Sourcing suppliers for key components
o Make -or buy analysis
o Determine final assembly process o Determine cost targets
Finance
o Facilitate make -or buy analysis
Service
o Identify service issues
Phase 3 - Detailed Design
Design
o Part geometry, materials and tolerances
o Complete documentation of industrial design control
Marketing
o Create marketing plan
Manufacturing
o Define production processes and design tooling
o Set up quality control processes o Prepare procurement of tooling
Phase 4 - Testing and Refinement
Design
o Testing of reliability, life and performance
o Obtain regulatory approvals and implement design changes
Marketing
o Develop promotion, launch materials and facilitate field testing
Manufacturing
o Facilitate supplier ramp-up o Refine fabrication, assembly
processes and quality control o Train workforce
Sales
o Create sales plan
Phase 5 - Production Ramp-up
Design
o Evaluate early production output
Marketing
o Assign early production to key customers
Manufacturing
o Start operation of the whole production system
The model is, furthermore, illustrated in Figure 12 The six phases of NPD process below:
22
Figure 9 Adopted from (Eppinger & Ulrich, 2015): The six phases of NPD process
3.5.5 Concurrent engineering
As mentioned in 3.5.3 Market trends, the NPD process has gone from a sequential process to an integrated process where several functions are involved at the same time and activities are overlapping each other (Olhager, 2000). This change is in contradiction with the financial functions view on the NPD process which still has a sequential approach. The NPD process, in a financial perspective, is illustrated in Figure 13 Cash flow throughout a product lifecycle that shows the cumulative cash flow effect throughout the entire product lifecycle (Trott, 2005). From Product Development activities to product launch which generates negative cash flow, to Sales and other functions which generates a positive cash flow (Ibid.).
Figure 10 Adopted from (Trott, 2005): Cash flow throughout a product lifecycle
23
Functions involved in NPD consider the financial perspective, with a sequential approach, to be a simplification of the reality and therefore a suggestion from research is to view the process as a simultaneous or concurrent process with cross-functional interaction (Ibid.). Before
simultaneous or concurrent engineering is described, two different NPD models need to be distinguished; the departmental-stage model and the activity-stage model.
The departmental-stage model is a linear innovation model where the tasks within the project is divided and assigned to different departments. A risk with departmental-stage model is the
“over-the-wall” phenomenon where departments will accomplish their tasks and then throw the project over the wall to the next department, this phenomenon is considered to constrain NPD, generate rework and create disputes between departments (Ibid.). For example, engineering department develops prototypes based on technical ideas given from R&D and then throw the project to manufacturing who will investigate in how to manufacture the product.
The activity-stage model, on the other hand, has the foundation of activities in the project instead of departments whom will perform them. With an approach that is focusing on activities and promotes iteration of activities by using feedback loops, this model is considered to be closer to the reality of NPD but still some critique for the “over-the-wall” phenomenon have been received (Ibid.). Nevertheless, a cross-functional approach is important when activities are performed simultaneously within NPD (Crawford, 1997). In Figure 14 An activity-stage model below, an activity-stage model with activities performed at the same time that vary in intensity throughout the NPD process is illustrated (Ibid.).
Figure 11 Adopted from (Crawford, 1997): An activity-stage model
Concurrent engineering or simultaneous engineering was applied by several industrial companies in the late 1980’s in purpose to solve the problems that had been identified through the use of
24
departmental-stage and activity-stage models. The idea of concurrent engineering was presented by Winner et al. (1988) as a systematic method of designing a product concurrently as
downstream production and support processes. The key to change focus from individual stages to the entire project is claimed to be the involvement of all functions in the beginning of the project (Trott, 2005). Two common definitions of the concurrent engineering approach are the following:
1) “The consideration of all downstream activities which are likely to affect the product's lifecycle at the product’s design stage” (Pop-Iliev & Nokleby, 2011)
2) “Concurrent Engineering is a systematic approach to the integrated, concurrent design of products and their related processes, including manufacturing and support. This approach is intended to cause the developers, from the outset, to consider all elements of the product lifecycle from concept through disposal, including quality, cost, schedule, and user requirements.”
(Carter & Baker, 1992)
During the development of new products it is of outmost importance to understand the concept of increasing cost of design changes and decreasing flexibility in design over time (Bowersox, Closs, & Cooper, 2002). Changes to design are getting increasingly harder the further down the timeline the project moves. Therefore, concepts and design ideas must be evaluated in earlier stages of the process, by all involved functions, in order for the project to deliver product that satisfies a majority of the demands stated by different stakeholder. This concept is illustrated in Figure 15 Flexibility and cost of changes below.
Figure 12 Adopted from (Bowersox, Closs, & Cooper, 2002): Flexibility and cost of changes
25
4 Method
In this chapter the methodology for the research of this thesis is presented. This methodology provides a foundation from which the thesis refers to in the analysis in order to answer to the purpose.
4.1 The approach
The methodology can be either fixed or flexible. A fixed methodology implies that the study is defined before the start. A flexible study is continuously changing throughout the process when new circumstances appear. (Höst, Regnell, & Runesson, 2006)
The method of this study were of a flexible nature. The flexible approach was chosen due to the nature of the problem statement. The problem was broad, included many functions, hierarchy levels and the solution was not obvious. Therefore a flexible approach was needed which could adapt continuously throughout the project in order to the cope with the new knowledge gained during the process.
Furthermore, there are four approaches of investigations that all have different ambition levels and that answers different kinds of questions (Höst, Regnell, & Runesson, 2006). These approaches are:
1. Explorative 2. Descriptive 3. Explaining
4. Diagnostic and evaluating
The first, explorative, is an approach which gives the investigator an understanding of the problem and issues connected (Ibid.). This approach was used in the beginning of this thesis in order to scope and define the problem. By conducting interviews with relevant people of different functions, observing and analyzing archives a more detailed problem description was reached. The interviewees for the initial stage were chosen based on relevant function in regards to the initial problem statement. This method is called quota sampling (Acharya, Prakash, Saxena, & Nigam, 2013).
The second, descriptive, approach which tries to describe the specific process or situation (Höst, Regnell, & Runesson, 2006). This approach was used during this theses in order to understand the outspoken processes and activities at CXDY by further interviews, observations during meetings and observations and analyzation of archives.
26
The third approach, explaining, tries to answer the question why (Ibid.). This approach was used in this thesis as well. The reasons behind the problem were also investigated by conducting interviews and by analyzing processes.
The last approach, diagnostic and evaluating, aims to identify causes of the given situation and measure effects of an action (Ibid.). In this thesis focus lied on suggestions for a better future state, this is why this approach was of importance to provide the management with sufficient knowledge in order to take the right strategic decision.
4.2 Data collection
This thesis primarily used interviews and observations as data collection method. The interviews were set up in two intervals where data was collected in both a quantified and a qualitative manner. The interviews were supposed to collect data on how the organization perceive their situation and how they work. The method was then an analysis of archives. This analysis
investigated the communicated processes and identified gaps between perceived work tasks and what is stated in documented processes. In the analysis of the current state, the authors also observed the people and workways. This approach was the triangular approach in which the gaps were confirmed. In Figure 16 The triangular approach the data collection method used in this thesis is presented in order to get a holistic understanding of the processes and problems associated with it. (Höst, Regnell, & Runesson, 2006).
Figure 13 Adopted from (Höst, Regnell, & Runesson, 2006): The triangular approach
4.2.1 Interviews
According to Höst et al. (2006), there are primarily three different types of interviews:
1. Structured 2. Semi-structured 3. Open-ended
27
The structured interview is based on a set of questions that were determined before the start of the session. These questions are followed meticulously throughout the process and the
interviewee is not allowed to deviate from them. This form of interviews can be seen as a survey.
Semi-structured interviews are more open and the pre-determined questions are used as support.
The questions are not as strict as in structured interviews and can be altered and the order might be changed in order to keep the process flowing. Open-ended, or unstructured, interviews are more open and leaves the direction of the interview unhindered. It is up to the interviewer to make sure that the interview remains on topic. (Höst, Regnell, & Runesson, 2006)
This thesis utilized both structured and open-ended interviews. The structured method were used in a questionnaire that was sent out to different functions and stakeholders. The open- ended interviews were used to further extract data from different functions and stakeholders.
These interviews focused on how the stakeholders are involved in the Product Development process and the interviewees were given the chance to express their thoughts for a potential future state. Extensive notes were taken during these interviews and the interviewers asked questions that regarded current workways and their specific tasks in the Product Development process.
4.2.2 Archive analysis
In an archive analysis previous documentation regarding processes, projects and workways are studied and analyzed. These documents are connected to the topic but are not generated by the thesis itself.
In this thesis process flow charts, organizational charts and roles and responsibilities were primarily studied. These documents covering the processes were studied and compared to the data collected via interviews. In addition, this information was compared to the observations.
This information supported the analysis of the current state.
4.2.3 Observations
Observations is the action or process of observing something or someone carefully or in order to gain knowledge. According to Höst et al. (2006), there are two different kind of observations:
1. Participatory 2. Complete
In participatory observations the observer participates in the studied phenomenon. The observer will have a role and will observe while engaging. The complete observations are more restricted where the observer only observes. No participation takes place (Höst, Regnell, & Runesson,
28
2006). There are benefits and negatives with both methods. In the participatory approach there is a chance of becoming bias but trust can be gained from other participants. In the complete approach the observer can become distant and might lack a full understanding after the observation.
In this thesis the later approach, complete, was utilized. This was in order to fully observe the processes and workways as is. These observations were used in order to triangulate the data that was collected during the interviews and archive analysis.
4.3 Qualitative and quantitative analysis
After the data collection phase the findings needed to be analyzed. Blomkvist and Hallin (2015) states primarily two different categories for this; qualitative and quantitative. These approaches are connected to the types of data that are being analyzed. Below in Table 3 Qualitative and quantitative the differences are presented:
Table 2 Adopted from (Blomkvist & Hallin, 2015): Qualitative and quantitative
Qualitative Quantitative
Words Numbers
Vicinity Distance
Induction Deduction
Contextual understanding Generalizations
Soft, rich data Hard, reliable data
This thesis handled the data collected in the presented manner. A majority of the data were qualitative due to the interview format of the data collection.
4.4 Reliability and validity
According to Höst et al. (2006) , there are three categories that identifies a valid study:
1. Reliability 2. Validity
3. Representativeness
These categories are concerned with different aspects of the study. Reliability ensures that the conclusions are well argued for, validity is explaining if the right phenomena is studied and representativeness that generalizations of results are done properly (Ibid.).
29
Reliability is primarily connected to the data collection and analysis. In order to achieve a high reliability the study must present how it has been conducted. This is done in order for the reader to understand and enable an assessment. Letting an external party examine the data collection and analysis is a good way of finding flaws in the study (Ibid.). This thesis used the supervisors from CXDY and KTH as externals.
Validity is ensured in this thesis by using a triangular approach in the data collection phase. This approach will provide a foundation and make sure that what is said to be examined is actually examined.
Since this thesis only concerned one company within a large group this study is not
representative and cannot be generalized. However, similarities of conditions at CXDY could be found elsewhere and the same phenomenon can occur. To increase representativeness this thesis put a lot of effort into studying the company and the prerequisites associated. This will help the reader to understand if other companies are in a similar situation and if results from this thesis can be applied elsewhere to a certain extent.
30
31
5 Current state
In order to define the current state of the Product Development process and its level of involvement of other functions; interviews, observations and archive analysis have been conducted. In this chapter, the structure of the interviews and results from the data collection is presented.
5.1 Interviews
The interviews were conducted in two intervals where questionnaires, as well as, open-ended interviews have been utilized. Below these are presented separately.
5.1.1 Questionnaire
Two different questionnaires have been conducted; one for Product Development and one for Sales, Installation and Service. Both of them included quantitative, as well as, qualitative
questions and have been sent out to a wide range of people with different roles in each function.
The selection process of whom to send the questionnaire was determined in collaboration with supervisors to ensure that people with good experience and knowledge were reached, as well as, collecting different perspectives of the business. The questionnaire design is described in the text below and quantitative, as well as, qualitative results are presented in 5.1.2 Results from
questionnaire.
Product Development
In question 1, the respondent rated Sales representative’s level of involvement in NPD on a scale from 0 to 6. If the answer was 1 to 6, the respondent was asked how representatives from Sales are involved; and if the answer was 0, he or she was asked whether or not Sales involvement are considered valuable. Furthermore, questions regarding how they would like to involve Sales in the future and who they think should be responsible for Sales involvement were asked. Question 1 is illustrated in Table 4 Q1 Product Development below:
Table 3 Q1 Product Development
In question 2, the same questions were asked regarding the involvement of representatives from the Installation function. Question 2 is illustrated in Table 5 Q2 Product Development below:
32
Table 4 Q2 Product Development
In question 3, the same questions were asked regarding the involvement of representatives from the Service function. Question 2 is illustrated in Table 6 Q3 Product Development below:
Table 5 Q3 Product Development
In addition, the respondent was asked when a new developed product is considered as successful and which targets they have for NPD. Question 4 and 5 is illustrated in Table 7 Q4-5 Product Development below:
Table 6 Q4-5 Product Development
Sales, Installation and Service
In question 1, the respondent rated their functions level of involvement in NPD on a scale from 0 to 6. If the answer was 1 to 6, the respondent was asked how their function is involved; and if the answer was 0, he or she was asked whether or not their involvement could be valuable.
Furthermore, questions regarding how they would like to be involved in the future and who they think should be responsible for their involvement was asked. Question 1 is illustrated in Table 8 Q1 Sales, Installation and Service below:
33
Table 7 Q1 Sales, Installation and Service
In question 2, the respondent rated to what extent their functions inputs are taken into consideration in the NPD process on a scale from 0 to 6. If the answer was 1 to 6, the
respondent was asked how their functions inputs are communicated; and if the answer was 0, he or she was asked whether or not their inputs are considered as valuable. Furthermore, questions regarding how they would like to communicate their inputs in the future and who they think should be responsible for this were asked. Question 2 is illustrated in Table 9 Q2 Sales, Installation and Service below:
Table 8 Q2 Sales, Installation and Service
In question 3, the respondent was asked how well the function fulfills their targets on a scale from 0 to 6. If the answer was 0 to 5, the respondent was asked about the main reason for not reaching their targets. This was of interest to identify the root-cause for not reaching their targets. Question 3 is illustrated in Table 10 Q3 Sales, Installation and Service below:
Table 9 Q3 Sales, Installation and Service
In a questionnaire, it is also of importance to consider how much knowledge and experience the respondent has on the subject. Therefore, question 4 was regarding how familiar the respondent are with the Gateway process for NPD on a scale from 0 to 6. Question 4 is illustrated in Table 11 Q4 Sales, Installation and Service below:
