Manufacturing Insights Asia/Pacific: Auto Industry to Increase Product Intro Investment

November 13, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

"Companies are showing increased interest in the new product introduction process [NPI], including research and development (R&D)," said Dr. Christopher Holmes, vice president, Manufacturing Insights Asia/Pacific.

"The NPI process is critical as it combines inputs from all functions within the organization and locks in the design, features and cost of the product. Managing this complex process is the key to success for automobile manufacturers," Holmes said.

The following are the top three findings of the study:

• Automobile manufacturers will seek to collaborate with their suppliers and integrate them into the NPI process by making them members of the team. The purpose is to deliver products in a timely and cost-effective manner.

  Furthermore, collaboration with customers through the supply chain and across internal function is set to increase. Real-time cooperation with engineering teams will also start to find favor as more and more companies implement technology to support their global product development strategies.

• Automobile manufacturers are investing in leading-edge programs and project management tools to support their drive to improve the NPI process. By integrating product development and supply chain functions, companies are striving for the goal of flawless execution of new products.

• Regional automobile manufacturers will start to source R&D from worldwide centers of excellence. Companies will seek out the best, whether is it a technology or a product, from all over the world and transfer it into their products.

"Through the use of leading-edge technologies, we will see companies implement global new product development strategies, where internal, geographically dispersed company teams will be integrated using common processes and tools," Holmes said.

"Increasingly, suppliers will become full members of these teams to achieve a flawlessly executed new product launch, where the product is brought to market on time and within budget," he said.

The results of this study were drawn from a 2008 survey with more than 50 automobile manufacturers across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

To order the vertical industry report, titled New Product Introduction in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan Automotive Manufacturing Sector, go to the Manufacturing Insights web site.

Source: Manufacturing Insights.