Industrial Engineering and Management Systems

Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers (대한산업공학회)
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Limiting the Number of Open Projects to Shorten the NPD Schedule

  • Wang, Miao-Ling (Minghsin University of Science and Technology Department of Industrial Engineering and Management) ;
  • Yang, Chun-I (AboCom Systems, Inc.) ;
  • Chang, Sheng-Hung (Minghsin University of Science and Technology Department of Industrial Engineering and Management)
  • Received : 2011.01.19
  • Accepted : 2011.02.21
  • Published : 2011.03.01
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Abstract

Many companies open multiple projects simultaneously due to market trends, which results in a crowding out effect because of limited resources. R&D engineers become overloaded and scheduling of product development is delayed resulting in timing misses and lost sales leads. The company in this case study (Company A), often opens up many projects simultaneously in order to respond to market needs quickly. The engineers are overloaded and, of course, the schedule is delayed. In order to identify problems, Company A began using Dr. Goldratt's Thinking Processes (TP) during new product development (NPD). When the analysis phase of TP was completed, Company A's core problem was identified as "the quantity of kick-off projects." Consequently, new rules and conditions and procedures were proposed for the opening, suspending, stopping, and closing of projects. Finally, the "Future Reality Tree" ensured that the proposed rules, conditions and procedures were set up as an available solution approved for practical application by executives. After a one-year trial run, the results showed that the Project Duration Rate was reduced by 53%, the Project Closed Rate was increased by 140% and the Project on Time Rate was increased from 10% to 68%. The above results give significant evidence of the benefits of the proposed methodology.

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References

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