Swink, M., Talluri, S., & Pandejpong, T. (2006). Faster, Better, Cheaper: A Study of NPD Project Efficiency and Performance Tradeoffs. Journal of Operations Management, 24(5), 542-562.

Format: Peer-reviewed article

Type: Research — Non-experimental

Experience level of reader: Fundamental

Annotation: This article investigates trade-offs between different new product development best practices and resulting efficiencies specifically involving NPD cost, product cost, product quality, and project lead time. The following were found to be of importance in achieving high efficiencies, project management experience, management commitment, and cross-functional integration. A new process of analyzing new product development projects using data envelopment analysis (DEA) was also described.

Setting(s) to which the reported activities/findings are relevant: Large business, Small business (less than 500 employees)

Knowledge user(s) to whom the piece of literature may be relevant: Manufacturers, Researchers

Knowledge user level addressed by the literature: Organization

This article uses the Commercial Devices and Services version of the NtK Model

Model: Design manufacturing integration is positively associated with NPD project efficiency, if product design and manufacturing personnel act in truly cooperative ways, overall project efficiency should increase.
Survey of 137 completed NPD projects. The degree of design and manufacturing integration significantly differed across the project groups in the expected direction.
Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 7.1, Step 7.6, Step 7.5, Step 7.4, Step 7.3, Step 7.2, Step 6.4

Method: Project activity overlap (concurrency) is positively associated with NPD project efficiency. Concurrent engineering, an approach involving the overlap of product and process development activities, is one of the most highly cited techniques to reduce NPD time.
Survey of 137 completed NPD projects. Overlapping of activities (concurrency) was the only practice that differed significantly across the two levels of Efficient projects.
Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 7.6, Step 7.5

• Theory of Performance Frontiers suggests that NPD project efficiency is improved through the implementation of changes to project execution processes. Such process changes might apply new technologies, operating procedures, organizational structures, or other practices that remove waste (inefficiency) from design and development activities.
  Survey of 137 completed NPD projects. Authors interpretation of theory of performance frontiers as it relates to NPD
  Occurrence of finding within the model: Tip 7.2, Tip 7.1, Step 7.6, Step 7.5, Step 7.4

• A collaborative work environment is positively associated with NPD project efficiency. Collocation of project members reduces the physical distances between them. The removal of distance as a barrier should improve overall project efficiency, as information transactions and other communications are made easier.
  Survey of 137 completed NPD projects. Managers’ perceptions of a collaborative environment were significantly higher on average for efficient projects as opposed to Inefficient projects, supporting one hypothesis.
  Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 4.1, Step 4.6

Model: Knowledge sharing in a collaborative environment has been found to positively affect innovation performance, as it facilitates problem solving and reduces the inefficiency of re-inventing already existing solutions. (Nonaka [1991], Leonard-Barton [1992])
Occurrence of finding within the model: Stage 2, Stage 4, Stage 7

Method: Use of methods such as design for manufacturing (DFM) to encourage the integration of product and process design decisions has been associated with lower product costs and better conformance quality. (Youssef [1994], Swink [2002], Sanchez and Perez, [2003])
Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 7.1, Step 7.6, Step 7.5, Step 7.4, Step 7.3, Step 7.2, Step 6.4

• Utilize data envelopment analysis (DEA) to categorize R&D projects into subgroups (accept, consider further, and reject) for assisting managers in identifying potential projects for selection and execution. (Linton et al. [2002])
  Occurrence of finding within the model: Gate 1, Gate 2

• Harter et al. (2000) argue that NPD quality, lead time and cost can all be simultaneously improved by reducing defects, waste, and rework in NPD project activities. They provide empirical evidence indicating that process maturity may contribute to greater project performance. (Harter et al. [2000])
  Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 9.3