Components in the Product Development-Production Interface

Earlier research has addressed various aspects of the interrelationships between Product development and Production. However few articles explain what the concept consist of. Those that do explain the concept are conceptually driven and not based on empirical studies. This is why this paper has addressed the often neglected issue of what the Product Development-Production (PD-P) interface really consist of. The logic in our reasoning is that before sound improvements can be suggested for the PD-P interface there is a need to understand what it is. Better insights into which the generic components of the PD-P interface are may support the integration between the two departments and hence increase efficiency in the industrial innovation processes in terms of shortened lead-times, lower costs, etc.The empirical data in this paper originates from case studies carried out at three Swedish manufacturing companies. The data was collected via semi-structured interviews with key actors involved in the three product development projects. The empirical findings are merged with theory into a tentative model that describes four generic components of the PD-P interface. The Technology component consists of the fit of product technology and production process technology. The Organization component involves the meeting between the production development and production organizations. The Tasks carried out during product development must also be aligned appropriately with the production tasks. The Scope component is what is being transferred between product development and production by various information tools and carriers, such as prototypes, blueprints, emails etcThe identification of these components provides a basis for further studies and analysis of the PD-P interface. As the model is tentative, future studies should also test the validity of the model as well as search for appropriate management approaches. Different problems should be addressed from a holistic view of the PD-P interface including aggravating circumstances such as geographic distance between the departments, complex products or new production systems. In-depth studies of the individual components as well as connections between them would also generate more insight to the PD-P interface.