Re-engineering the new product development process-Siemens Ltd: Bombay.

Abstract

Liberalisation *aw die entry of global players like AT & T, ABB, CM Matatthfta etc. intensifying competition in the Indian electromarket In the next few years the local customers will be exposed to the latest (4th generation) Switchgear designs. Siemens anticipating this change in scenario has been concentrating on re-engineering its work processes for the past few years. The new product development process review is one of the top priority projects in the corporate re-engineering agenda. The main reason for such priority is that Siemens intends to introduce 10 products every 5 years as against its earlier rate of 2 to 3 and stay ahead and competition. The development process maps of two representative products showed that it took Siemens 46 months (on an average) to develop these products. On analysis it was found that there were two subprocesses which took up major chunk of lead time, the product conception to manufacturing goahead segment and the tool development cycle. Further, the two subprocesses were reviewed in detail, alternative options studied and suggestions vis-a-vis information systems and organization focus were made. The system solutions apart from reducing the lead time of critical activities, such as product design, tool design, tool monitoring etc., would also enable Siemens to use state of the art technology profitably. The organization solutions of forming new product teams and restructuring will not only reduce the cycle time in totality but would also go a long way in permeating product awarenessand ownership throughout the organization. If the suggestions are implemented the new product development cycle time can be reduced by 50%.