Using Process Simulation to Manage New Product Development Pipeline Throughput

Abstract: New product development is complex. Companies often underestimate this complexity and do not invest in efforts to fully understand their new product development system and the ramifications of running that system without control. New product development involves dedicated resources, from multiple disciplines, often for long periods of time. These resources are precious and decisions about how they are utilized should be informed. This work pursues a simulation model of a full new product development pipeline, incorporating the common organizational pathology of taking on too many projects, consistent with the literature and the researchers' experience. This project considers the fact that queues may not occur in all areas of new product development and that resources can be allocated at levels greater than 100%. The phenomenon of decreased efficiencies, when capacity of any discipline is exceeded, has been incorporated to show how the pipeline slows down and unplanned costs increase.

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