1. Customer/Supplier Integration Into
New Product Development
سپیده محمدرائی
پدرام جهانگیری
علیرضا ناظم زاده
محسن قادری
1 New Product Development-seminar6 Spring 2011
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3. Customer Need Assessment
The activities concerned with the recognition,
gathering and clarification of customer needs and
their importance to determine need specifications
and objectives for new products. Sometimes the
concept is extended to cover also the activities
ensuring that all the important needs are fulfilled
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4. Customer Need Assessment(con’t)
A Customer Needs Assessment can
provide marketers with insight regarding:
Where challenges or needs exist
Current problems and whether they are
expected to increase, decrease, or stay the
same in the future
The direct and indirect costs of failures
Which processes or products currently used
are the most successful and why
Obtain reactions to a new product or solution
Anticipate future challenges or needs
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5. Customer Need Assessment Matrix
Desired
Outcome
s
Definitio
n
Ration
ale
Performance
Expectation
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Importan
ce
Satisfaction
A word or
phrase in
the
customer
s terms
that
states the
need,
issue or
problem
to be
solved
Descripti
on of the
customer
s desired
outcome.
Provide
the
reason
that the
attribut
e is
importa
nt to
the
custom
er.
List the
customer
requirements in
qualitative,
quantitative, or
comparative
terms..
A
numerical
rating or
ranking
designati
on the
importanc
e of the
outcome
to the
customer
A
numerical
rating of
how
satisfied
the
customer is
with the
outcome
when using
products
on the
market
6. Development Needs:
Better ability to recognize customers’ future
needs,
Improvement of direct contacts and cooperation
between the product development and customers
More organized and careful co-operation with the
most advanced lead-customers.
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7. Supplier Integration
Into New Product Development
The most important activities in the new
development process
Understanding the focal suppliers’ capabilities
and design expertise,
Conducting a technology risk assessment,
Weighing the risks against the probability of
success
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8. Supplier Integration
Into New Product Development(con’t)
Key questions that must be addressed…
1. Which suppliers should be involved?
2. Is the supplier able to meet our
requirements?
3. Is the supplier’s technology roadmap
aligned with our technology roadmap?
4. Given the level of technical complexity, to
what extent should the supplier be involved in
the project?
5. When should the supplier become involved
in the project?
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10. Design Flexibility and
Cost of Design Changes
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11. Different Degree of Supplier Integration
White box
No Supplier
Involvement
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Gray
Box
Black
Box
12. Process Model for Reaching Consensus on
Suppliers to Integrate into NPD Project
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13. Identifying Desired Supplier Capabilities
and Potential Suppliers
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14. Identifying Desired Supplier Capabilities
and Potential Suppliers(con’t)
New product/commodity teams should seek
to formally Specify roles and
responsibilities it requires of suppliers
selected for new product development, in as
much detail as possible.
These objectives become the primary criteria
used in supplier selection, negotiation,
alignment, and relationship management.
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15. Supplier Risk Assessment
Important factors in considering new or existing suppliers for
integration:
Targets: Is the supplier capable of achieving the required
targets regarding cost, quality, and product
performance/function (e.g., weight, size, speed, etc.)?
Timing: Will the supplier be able to meet the product
development schedule?
Ramp-up: Will the supplier be able to increase capacity
and production fast enough to meet volume production
requirements?
Innovation and Technology: Does the supplier have the
required engineering expertise and physical facilities to
develop an adequate design, manufacture it, and solve
problems when they occur?
Training: Do the supplier’s key personnel have the
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required training to initiate and successfully operate
required processes?
16. Supplier Risk Assessment(con’t)
Develop a comprehensive risk assessment that
answers these questions:
What is the likelihood that this supplier can bring
the product to market?
How does this risk compare to other potential
suppliers?
At what point are we willing to reverse this
decision if we proceed, and what are the
criteria/measures for doing so?
What is the contingency plan in the event the
supplier fails to perform?
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17. Supplier Risk Assessment(con’t)
Supplier is able to design and
manufacture a prototype or start-up
small volume production
suppliers must also be able to meet
product introduction deadlines and
ramp-up their production volumes very
quickly
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18. Supplier Risk Assessment(con’t)
When the supplier’s capabilities are not at desired
levels, the new product/commodity team has two
options:
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19. Supplier Risk Assessment(con’t)
If the technology is not critical to the product’s
functioning, a different supplier may be
investigated.
If limited numbers of suppliers are available and
the technology is critical to the product, the
company may undertake a more detailed
technical assessment of the supplier in order to
develop and improve the suppliers’ capabilities
early in the product development process.
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20. Supplier Risk Assessment(con’t)
To carry out a detailed assessment of the
supplier’s technical capabilities, both formal and
informal approaches are required:
Informal approach
A standard survey augmented by informal
evaluations based on face-to-face discussions with
the supplier’s technical personnel
Formal approach
The company audits the supplier’s facilities for
enviromental compliance, quality, technical
capability, and cost.
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21. Assessing the Supplier’s
Technology Roadmap
This second assessment ensures the short-term
and long-term alignment of the objectives and the
technology plans of the buying company and the
supplier.
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22. Assessing the Supplier’s
Technology Roadmap (con’t)
To obtain maximum strategic benefit from the
integration
of the supplier, companies must share objectives
and have complementary future technology plans
convergence of the partners’ technology roadmaps
describe the performance, cost, and technology
characteristics of future products each company
plans to develop and introduce over some
specified time horizon
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23. Assessing the Supplier’s
Technology Roadmap (con’t)
To achieve alignment of technology roadmaps
with suppliers
Sharing information is a critical element of the
process.
Providing incentive or motivation for suppliers is
the second important element.
Organizations will need to first build stronger
relationships with suppliers.
Sharing future product plans.
In turn, suppliers may need to alter their
technological plans to align with those of major
customers.
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24. Assessing the Supplier’s
Technology Roadmap (con’t)
maintain a competitive edge
separate groups responsible for advanced
technology development and expertise…
continuously monitor competitors’ products,
processes, and supply bases,
suggest modifications to current sourcing strategies.
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25. Assessing the Rate
of Technological Change
The rate of change in product technology
The current rate of technological change is
challenging many companies’ capabilities, and
they are seeking the help of suppliers with the
development and application of critical but non-core
technologies in their new products
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26. Assessing the Rate
of Technological Change (con’t)
If a particular technology is
changing rapidly, then
involving the supplier early
has potential pitfalls: the
buying company may
become “locked into” a
particular design or
technology, release the
product, and discover that
the technology has become
obsolete or has been
replaced by a technology
with improved performance
characteristics
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27. Timing of Supplier Integration
Companies should consider two major factors
when deciding when to integrate the supplier into
the product development process:
the rate of change of the technology,
the level of supplier expertise in the given
technology
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28. Timing of Supplier Integration
Field studies suggest that certain types of
suppliers are more likely to be integrated earlier
In general, face-to-face discussions are quicker,
and information can be exchanged more
effectively
At a U.S. electronics manufacturer, the supplier’s
level of involvement may vary. To get a good
quote, the supplier must be brought in early and
sit in on the customer negotiation meeting
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30. The Future of Supplier Integration
They expect to increase their use of supplier
integration in the future, and to involve suppliers
earlier in the development process than they do
now
On average, the respondents considered the
supplier integration have been fairly successful
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31. The Future of Supplier Integration
“We are currently satisfied with the results of our
supplier integration efforts.”
“Expectations about the results to be achieved
from supplier integration will increase
significantly.”
Many companies realize the importance of
supplier integration, but have not yet perfected
the process to successfully implement it.
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32. Developing Suppliers’ Capabilities
In the early stages of new product development,
a new product/commodity team may visit
suppliers and find that they will have problems
meeting performance expectations
This often involves working directly with the
supplier to identify and resolve problems. Help
may come in the form of process engineering
support, financial support, or even support from
within the supplier community itself
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33. Developing Suppliers’ Capabilities
Process Engineering Support
Financial and Facility Support
Supplier Associations
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34. Summary
Companies must recognize that supplier involvement in
new product development can have both positive and
negative impacts on technology risk and uncertainty.
Organizations need to capitalize on the positive
aspects of supplier involvement recognizing:
The supplier may have greater experience or
expertise with the technology and, as a result, may
have better information about where the technology
can be successfully applied.
Some (or all) of the technological risk may be taken
on by the supplier.
The buying firm may have some ability to influence
the direction of the supplier’s R&D efforts in order to
match developing technologies with the buying firm’s
technology strategy.
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35. Summary
If a closer relationship between the buying company and the
supplier develops as a result of supplier involvement, the
supplier may be more willing to share information about its
new/emerging technologies with the buying company. The
buying organization may also provide various types of
supplier development assistance to help motivate this
information exchange. However, organizations also need
to recognize that:
Involvement with a supplier may tend to lock the buying
company into the supplier’s technologies. This makes
initial selection of the supplier a more critical issue, as the
buying company needs to anticipate whether the supplier
will remain a technology leader.
A supplier with an “inside track” may not have as much
incentive to innovate, slowing the pace of technological
advancement. The buying company must find ways to
ensure it is getting the supplier’s best efforts.
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