Leveraging Prototypes in the Quest for Viable Concept Development A study of the automotive industry

Abstract

Concept development is an important activity in any new product or technology development process. It is in the early phases of the development—the so-called fuzzy front end—where developers can make the most impactful decisions and changes to the product concept. Although early-stage concept development has been recognized as a crucial activity in a stream of recent research, little is known about this topic. This thesis investigates product and technology concept development in the automotive industry from an engineering point of view, aiming to make a contribution to the understanding of the challenges practitioners face in early-stage concept development. In-depth qualitative studies of two automotive suppliers and eight automotive OEMs—including two in-depth case studies of recent innovations launched by one of the OEMs—serve as the basis for the conclusions made herein. The thesis consists of an introductory overview followed by the appended papers, which are the main results and contributions of this work. Along with a comprehensive literature review, the study employs a qualitative case study approach with semi-structured interviews, project documentation, the study of physical artifacts and graphic elicitation as the main methods and data sources. The contribution of this thesis is the identification of a number of core challenges related to the development of new product and technology concepts. One of the most prominent challenges identified is the incompatibility of mindsets that occurs due to the tension between units that explore new, novel solutions and those that opt for merely improving existing, proven solutions. As a result, obtaining internal support for new solutions becomes a considerable challenge. To highlight and analyze this problem, the term viable concept is introduced and defined. In this context the two terms internal viability and external viability are crucial. Internal viability refers to a concept’s ability to survive internally within the firm while external viability refers to a concept’s (potential) ability to survive in the marketplace. Several enabling practices are then suggested to increase the internal and external viability of new concepts. Among the most important enabling practices are the use of physical models—i.e., prototypes. Prototypes are found to aid communication and learning within the team, across the organization and in collaboration with external suppliers. Finally, an explanatory model that describes how development teams use prototypes to drive the development process forward is proposed, together with several recommendations and guidelines on how to use prototypes within the (entire) organization, beyond the development teams.