Increase of product development efficiency in global distributed organizations by the development and application of company specific product standards

Resumen

This thesis presents a proposal of a framework for the development and application of company specific product standards in global distributed organizations to achieve product development efficiency increase. The methodology is framed in the dynamic and demanding environment of a tier one supplier in the automotive industry. In that industrial field, efficiency in product development capabilities and the management of knowledge are considered to be competitive advantages to optimize the use of resources, reduce costs and lead time. The target of those strategic directions is to improve internal organizational processes as well as the service to the OEMs. The thesis places product standardization in the introduced environment as a critical success factor to achieve product development excellence. The basis for the framework is the existence of a formal function in the organization for product standardization to lead and conduct the deployment of the business process. That function sets the structure, collaboration procedures, strategy and targets for the application. The formulation and spread of the product standards within the organization is performed by the framework elements designated as development and application of standards. The main conceptual element of the framework is the description of product standards characteristics which shape the morphology of the applied standards. They determine the degree of development efficiency increase to be achieved. The linking component in the framework is the use of knowledge management practices to integrate the other elements of the framework and to embed them in the organization. The originality of the framework is based on three factors: * Propose approaches to increase development efficiency in the field of design activities * Consider product standards beyond the frame of design tasks to link them with production processes and quality requirements * Present a knowledge management environment which effectively supports the achievement of product development excellence The research strategy is a practice-oriented and theory-supported descriptive research based on a case study. The methodology used for the study is the review of the scientific state of the art, the description of the framework and its elements and the exposition of the outcome of the framework application. The results are contrasted with the proposed objective of achievement of product development excellence and the state of the art of the body of knowledge related to the research topic. The body of knowledge for the study covers the fields of product design and development processes, the disciplines of standards and standardization, its specific subject of generation and application of company specific product standards, as well as knowledge management practices for global organizations and its application in development processes. The research objective of the thesis is to contribute to the knowledge of practitioners of product standards in general, and practitioners of product standards in a tier one supplier in the automotive industry in particular, in order to support them in acting effectively.