As Doris already mentioned, one of the disadvantages of the stage-gate-process is it sequential approach. In order to overcome delays in the innovation process, parallel activities are considered as a powerful way to reduce the development time. A widespread approach is the so called concurrent engineering or integrated product development. The core of the concurrent engineering is the simultaneous design and development of all the processes and information needed in NPD. Improving product manufacturability and quality while reducing development cycle time and cost is in the main target. This is done by resolving product, process, and organizational matters at earlier stages. In Hilti‘s case, their process designers would start developing manufacturing processes in close contact with product designers even before the product specifications are completed. Hence the project phases overlap and the TTM decreases.
Nevertheless the approach of concurrent engineering has to be adjusted to the company in order to get a efficient solution. The simultaneously running activities need to be chosen and program priorities set. Also the level of innovation and technical risk have an influence on the design of the program. To successfully implement it, the top management‘s involvement is considered as the key factor – Good luck!
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