PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CYCLE TIME AND COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

Proponents of time-based competition argue that a firm will be most successful if its development times are shorter and products generated faster than its competitors. Intensive research in one firm shows that rapid development times are not correlated with expected commercial success, and that forcing rapid development when technological and market uncertainties are high may produce failure. Difficulties in technology integration, which occur when multiple core technologies must be combined, slow the speed of developing new products. New channels of distribution will also extend the time required to develop and bring new products to market. Shortened cycle times may be associated with commercial success, but to pursue reduced cycle time in isolation from underlying organizational and technical foundations will not lead to improved performance. These foundations include the longer term development and renewal of functional product architectures and manufacturing processes from which specific products can be efficiently and rapidly synthesized, as well as a product planning and control system that reaches beyond single product, single period thinking. Without these, the effort to drive down cycle time may drive the firm out of business.