Innovating in Product/Process Development demonstrates how to achieve true innovation in product development, and how to launch a new product in the quickest and cheapest way. The new approach to product development proposed in this book is based on the most recent research in the field. It suggests the integration of several tools that are currently only used independently, with the aim of stimulating the creation of innovative ideas in general, and specifically in the areas of product/process improvements and problem solving. Innovating in Product/Process Development explores different aspects of innovation processes in twenty-first century industry from a global economic perspective. It presents in detail several approaches to support these processes, from ICT-based systems to collaborative working environments, all of which will be of interest to MBA or advanced students; researchers; and design teams charged with the creation of new product lines.

Product and Process Design: Driving Innovation is a comprehensive textbook for students and industrial professionals. It treats the combined design of innovative products and their innovative manufacturing processes, providing specific methods for BSc, MSc, PDEng and PhD courses. Students, industrial innovators and managers are guided through all design steps in all innovation stages (discovery, concept, feasibility, development, detailed engineering, and implementation) to successfully obtain novel products and their novel processes. The authors’ decades of innovation experience in industry, as well as in teaching BSc, MSc, and post-academic product and process design courses, thereby including the latest design publications, culminate in this book.

"The time for rehashing America's lost battles on the world market has passed." "Now it's time to address a critical component of the economic battle plan: the product development process that creates the products that satisfy customer needs. How quickly these weapons of economic war are developed, how competitive they are, how timely they are deployed, and how supportable they are will determine the failure or success of American business in the 1990s." "Here is the right book at the right time...a concise blueprint to transform product development from a collection of ad hoc activities into an integrated, smoothly operating process. Written by the Director of Corporate Engineering for Hewlett-Packard, one of the most successfully innovative companies in America today, Accelerating Innovation shows how successful, well-tested concepts from the manufacturing domain can be readily transformed into the needy world of new product innovation." "Filled with clear-sighted analysis and practical explanations, this book will help management unleash innovation and creativity in development processes to meet the urgent need for bringing new technology to customers faster and more effectively than the competition." "Discover how to cope with the limited life span of today's products...anticipate changing consumer needs and desires...close the gap between new technology and products that apply it...bring leading-edge products to market fast...eliminate profit-threatening gaps between the "death" of obsolete products and the introduction of new ones...and enjoy higher returns on investment." "Accelerating Innovation provides a results-oriented model for transferring to product development the strategies that are moving manufacturers from the old era to the new one. Numerous real-life examples give you powerful insights into the time-based factoring and total quality management principles used so successfully in manufacturing and shows how to implement them in the product development cycle. Key chapters address how to shorten the innovation cycle time, applying the principle that success springs from focusing on the right issues; manage organization change so that change goes where you want it to go - and quickly, transfer quality principles used on the assembly line to the process of developing raw information and adding value to it, reduce innovation time by implementing the cost of quality principle (cost as a function of when an error is detected), manage information flow and bottlenecks, minimize changeover time; and much, much more." "Does your organization really have a handle on new product development? Are goals, objectives, processes, metrics, and controls in place? Are you equipped to create new products rationally and systematically, while continuously reducing innovation cycle times?" "Accelerating Innovation presents new thinking that will help you answer these questions with a resounding "yes." In product development, doing business the same old way is a formula for disaster. The time to act is long before the livelihood of the product development function is ever threatened. And if a company is trying to catch up, then it has to improve faster than its toughest competition if it ever expects to win." "Finally, here is a guide that can give you the critical advantage you need for success in product development - success that is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for survival."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Innovation in product design starts with materials. Developing successful commercial products demands a sound understanding of the materials that go into those products—their uses, their costs, their lifetime performance. However, the valuable knowledge of materials engineers is often not fully leveraged in the creative phase of the product design cycle. Gessinger seeks to bridge this gap that exists in many companies. Written from the bottom-up perspective of the engineer or scientist on a product design team, Materials and Innovative Product Design introduces business, economics and strategic product development to the materials specialist and demystifies materials selection for other members of the design team and manufacturing management. Using case studies from innovative organizations, such as ABB, and successful start-ups, such as NDC, Day4Energy, and Metoxit, Gessinger illustrates how the integration of different engineering and business disciplines can power innovation in the design process. By addressing the real world needs of innovators, this book allows the reader to unlock the potential of the new material types that have been changing the face of product design and deploy an integrated business approach to materials selection and the design process. Allows engineers to develop a fuller understanding of economics and business objectives in order to contribute more effectively to innovative product design Introduces the business opportunities and practical challenges of deploying new material types to design and manufacturing management Illustrates how to harness the power of R&D within the design cycle through case studies of innovative and successful organizations that have brought new materials technologies to known markets and known materials to new markets

This book will take the reader through a systematic examination of the factors involved in process innovation. It starts with the considerations to be initiated in the boardroom and at group management level and develops into a hands-on guide for middle management and professional engineers directly involved in the innovation of process technology. The book initially puts process innovation in a corporate perspective, providing a framework for the development of a corporate process innovation strategy. Some new methodological tools are also introduced which support the targeting and proper roadmapping of improved process capabilities, and the progression of customer and end-user product demands, into raw-material specifications in a well-managed supply and demand chain.Various aspects of the design of a process innovation organisation are reviewed in a later section. In the context of the development of process technology, this book advocates the importance of delineating and clarifying corporate work processes. Various environments for development work are discussed, from initial test work to pilot-plant testing and the use of demonstration facilities to achieve lean process innovation. The importance of an open collaborative approach is stressed. This includes involving external equipment manufacturers at an early stage as well as collaborative development of customers' use of the products in their production processes, with a view to excellence in future application development.Process innovation will not, however, generate profit or reduce operating costs until the new or improved process technology is operating well in the plant. Best practice for start-up of new process technology and process plants is examined, starting with a fresh outlook on technology transfer in general. This often-neglected area of management of process innovation is, in fact, of an importance equivalent to that of a product launch in the development of new products. The final part of the book closes the circle, discussing how to implement and measure the strategic intent of process innovation. Improving the general performance of corporate process innovation is then covered by going through success factors and key performance indicators, and their aggregation on a corporate level.

Innovation in Product Design gives an overview of the research fields and achievements in the development of methods and tools for product design and innovation. It presents contributions from experts in many different fields covering a variety of research topics related to product development and innovation. Product lifecycle management, knowledge management, product customization, topological optimization, product virtualization, systematic innovation, virtual humans, design and engineering, and rapid prototyping are the key research areas described in the book. It also details successful case studies developed with industrial companies. Innovation in Product Design is written for academic researchers, graduate students and professionals in product development disciplines who are interested in understanding how novel methodologies and technologies can make the product development process more efficient.