Benchmarking new product development: how do you compare with global competition?

Benchmarking a new product development process is a structured way of comparing the practices of one company with those of other companies so that the resultant information can be applied towards improvement. Since the competitive arena is global, examination of best design practices across political and geographical boundaries is essential. The nature of the questions will drive not only the form of the survey but also the nature of the companies that will be contacted to participate. The need to get potentially sensitive information is imperative. Proper consideration of who in industry should be contacted and how to enlist them in the study depends largely on professional relationships. An internal survey is required to validate the set questions and to provide the internal measure of performance which is used as the basis of comparison. After the survey is complete, the discoveries are valuable only is acted upon by the firms sharing the data. Action plans can span the range from corporate goal setting with objective targets to the implementation of new procedures on current development programs.<<ETX>>