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
