The Components Conundrum

The Automotive New Product Development NPD) ecosystem is one of the most complex environments. Suhas Kini writes how a finished automobile at the backend has manufacturers toiling away to achieve a complex and audacious end goal.

- Suhas Kini

The New Product Development (NPD) comes with its share of challenges. This complexity can be attributed to factors like many parts developed by different auto component manufacturers that must not only come together in the final vehicle, but also function together flawlessly as a system. While developing auto components is important, it is equally important to deliver them through a process that is robust, precise, and repeatable at scale. Thus, while the end customer gets to see a stylish high-performance automobile, what they don't see is the back end where numerous auto component manufacturers toil to achieve this complex and audacious goal.

Four simple rules to increase NPD productivity

The best an auto component manufacturer can do is to ensure that they provide the fastest response to OEMs from their end. This will help make them a "Preferred Supplier". In order to achieve this, they are required to take full control of the flow within their NPD organisations, irrespective of what is happening externally. The solution for faster lead times is to follow these four simple rules:

1. Respect Full kits/Design Gates

Do not start the development phase of a project until the full kit of interacting designs has been completed and verified ("gating" rules). This way, there will be minimal interruptions (and iterations) during development. Managers are aware of the benefits of gate control, but they break this rule owing to time pressure. However, if the design phase for an auto component can be completed quickly, it would be easier to abide by the gating rules.

2. Limit WIP with clear priority