Contribution of two diagnosis tools to support interface situation during production launch

Organised by: Cranfield UniversityFirms are urged to constantly introduce new products. Hence, the New Product Development process should be mastered, especially its final phase, the production launch. This paper addresses the critical issue of the information exchange during production launch. Two diagnosis tools considering production launch as a key interface are presented. They permit to examine the information flows, to highlight their weaknesses and hence to find solutions for further improvements. This paper also presents the results of a case study where the diagnosis tools were implemented during a switchgear development project.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan

Classification of Company-specific Influence Factors as Part of a Knowledge Management System for Ramp-up Projects

AbstractA targeted control of the ramp-up phase is of vital importance to the success of a new product. Shorter life cycles, higher rates of innovation, and an increasing number of variants make the ability to introduce products quickly to the market (time-to-market) in a sufficient amount (time-to-volume) a competitive factor for companies. Knowledge management is repeatedly mentioned in the literature as a source for improving ramp-up performance. Despite its importance, research has been mostly conceptual or only partly oriented to the ramp-up. This study tries to close this gap by presenting the first piece of a ramp-up-specific knowledge management system. It evolved in cooperation with the automotive company AUDI AG. This approach structures the collection and evaluation of expert knowledge considering the company-specific influence factors and goals as well as the different stages of a ramp-up project. This data allows the identification of the most crucial control levers for future projects. The data is elicited through expert interviews of different ramp-up interfaces like development, production or organization. The internal framework of the ramp-up and important control levers identified in the literature structure these interviews. The relevant levers are then weighted by their importance to the goals of the ramp-up project. In summary, this allows prioritization of tasks and supports communication within a project team and over ramp-up projects. It offers a fundamental structure of a management system that ties itself to the identified crucial points. By repeated application, this also develops an internal culture of a learning organization, which fosters continuous identification, classification, condensing, and sharing of knowledge

How does development lead time affect performance over the ramp-up lifecycle? : evidence from the consumer electronics industry

In the fast-paced world of consumer electronics, short development lead times and efficient product ramp-ups are invaluable. The sooner and faster a firm can ramp-up production of a new product, the faster it can start to earn revenues, profit from early market opportunities, establish technology standards and release scarce development resources to support new product development projects. Yet, many companies fail to meet their time-to-market and time-to-volume targets and the complex interrelationships between product characteristics, development lead time and ramp-up performance are largely unexplored. In response to these limitations our study focuses on three research questions: (1) To what extent is ramp-up performance determined by development lead time and product complexity? (2) How do these relationships change in the course of the ramp-up lifecycle? and (3) How can the results be explained? Our results contribute to the field of operations management in three ways. First, we offer a more comprehensive and enriched analysis of the drivers for development lead time and ramp-up performance in the cell phone industry. Second, we demonstrate that late schedule slips – although disastrous for customer relations in which due dates are crucial – provide the opportunity to build up (semi-finished) product buffers which in turn increase the initial ramp-up performance. Third, we show that it is important to take these effects into account in a jointly and lifecycle-dependent manner. Thus, our insights support management efforts to anticipate the consequences of product design decisions, predict development schedule risk levels, and make informed decisions about production volume commitments

A Concept For Data-Driven Decision-Making During The Production Ramp-Up To Increase Resilience In Value Networks

Manufacturing companies are challenged by an increased number of production ramp-ups in shorter intervals due to shorter product life cycles and dynamically changing customer demands. The complexity of new products and the corresponding production systems, particularly in the value network, adds to this challenge. This complexity leads to an increased number of disruptions during the production ramp-up, to which manufacturing companies must be able to adapt flexibly. Although methodological support is available, there is a lack of data-driven approaches for adapting and reacting to potential disruptions during the production ramp-up in the value network. Therefore, this article presents a concept for a data-driven approach in value networks during production ramp-ups to flexibly adapt to disruptions. First, a method for describing and categorizing disruptions and corresponding mitigation decisions is developed based on the ISO/IEC 20000 1. Second, an application method for a generic simulation model is created to generate synthetic disruption production ramp-up data for a given value network configuration and corresponding disruptions. Third and parallel, a method for assessing a manufacturing company's resilience in the value network during the production ramp-up is developed. In the final step, the synthetic data is used to train a data-driven model. This model selects appropriate mitigation decisions for disruptions based on data and can evaluate the impact of disruptions and mitigation decisions on key performance indicators specific to production ramp-up. The possible increase in company-specific resilience is assessed using the developed assessment method

What determines product ramp-up performance? : a review of characteristics based on a case study at Nokia Mobile Phones

We present a conceptual model to explore the essential characteristics that affect product ramp-up performance in the consumer electronics industry, specifically in the mobile phones sector. Our findings are based on data analysis within Nokia’s mobile phones business group. Fast product ramp-ups are particularly critical for companies in which short product lifecycles prevail and in which development teams are required to work on new development projects than spending time with ramp-up support. Our model analyzes, extends and structures the results from other studies into five main characteristics: the product architecture, the product development process, the logistics system, the manufacturing capability and the external environment. We discuss the factors that describe and represent these five main characteristics on a quantitative basis and assess the impact of these characteristics on ramp-up performance with different measures in the model

PEASANT INITIATIVE FOR SOIL CONSERVATION: CASE STUDIES OF RECENT TECHNICAL AND SOCIAL INNOVATIONS FROM MAISSADE, HAITI

Theories of Haitian underdevelopment, and of the causes and solutions to that underdevelopment are many, complex and often competing. At a very basic level though, Haitian development involves the mastery of ever changing conditions and requires continual innovation, adaption and the ability to create and exploit resources both internal and external to the farm, to the community and to the nation. The capacity to innovate and adapt is thus essential and is a foundation of sustained economic and social development. The purpose of this paper is to consider the phenomenon of innovation in rural Haiti by examining two case studies of technical and social innovations for soil conservation The studies are prefaced with a historical review of indigenous and donor responses to soil erosion, and a synopsis of theories concerning how innovations emerge and the factors influencing that emergence. Special attention is paid to the role of history and culture, political economy, and social organization in innovation. The studies suggest that the soil conservation innovations examined can be understood as thrifty and incremental cultural evolution; that small groups were loci for innovation; and that knowledge shared between scientists and peasants in a conversational approach positively affects the generation of innovations.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,