Narrow Results

In an exploratory survey to R&D managers in different sectors of European Process Industry, the importance and present use of a formal work process for process development has been studied. A new conceptual three-phase model for the "process development process", including the identification of production needs, process development and transfer of results to production, was also tested. The results show that only 44% of the companies in the study presently use a formal work process for process development, but the need for such a process is considered to be high. Good support was given for the new conceptual model as a starting point for further development of a company-specific "process development process".

In Process Industry, process development traditionally takes a large part of the company's total development efforts, but has nevertheless not received much attention in academic studies. As a part of a larger research project concerning process development in Process Industry, the allocation of company resources to R&D, and to process development in particular, has been investigated in an exploratory survey to R&D managers in European Process Industry (Mining & Mineral Industry, Food & Beverage Industry, Pulp & Paper Industry, Chemical Industry, Basic Metal Industry, and Other Process Industry). The results show that of the total resources for R&D, 40% was allocated to process development, and over 60% of the companies expected this figure to increase in the future. This figure not only shows the future importance of process development, but also indicates that the importance of product development in this group of companies is at present still rated higher than process development. The results from the study do not fit the most widely used theoretical models, and it is concluded that there is a need for better models with more explanatory power. The new concepts of product and process development intensity are introduced. The product and process development intensities can be looked upon as aggregated measures of individual development efforts by a company, and it is thus argued that they are of overall company strategic importance.

Using a survey mode of inquiry, involving informants from 19global manufacturing companies in six sectors of the process industries, this study explores the intrinsic nature of product innovation of non-assembled products. Results show that the characteristics of the “transformation-based” production system in the process industries should not only govern the design of the total product innovation work process and the selection and use of related experimental environment but will also influence the design of the forthcoming production system. It is noted that pilot-planting and full-scale production trials are important instruments not only during the product development phase, but also afterward in solving B2B customers’ post-launch production problems. It is concluded that the experimental output from the product development phase of the product innovation work process for non-assembled products is both a new product design and a new foundation for the production process design.