Product and Service Design Innovation

286 Pages·2022·9.651 MB·English

by  António Augusto Fernandes

António Augusto Fernandes
Product
and Service
Design
Innovation
Product and Service Design Innovation
António Augusto Fernandes
Product and Service Design
Innovation
António Augusto Fernandes
Faculty of Engineering
University of Porto
Porto, Portugal
ISBN 978-3-031-12773-1 ISBN 978-3-031-12774-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12774-8
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To Maria Cristina, Ana Luisa, João and
Teresinha
Preface
This book is the result of the author’s more than 40 years experience of teaching
in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the
University of Porto and more than 15 years of research and teaching of product and
service development methodologies, in curricular courses of the Ph.D. program in
mechanical engineering and integrated master in mechanical engineering and M.Scs.
postgraduate courses in industrial and product design, innovation and technological
entrepreneurship and service engineering and management, as well as in the supervi-
sion of several Ph.D. and masters theses and coordination of projects for industry. The
methods described in the book have been taught and applied by the students, within
the scope of those courses and research. Some examples of concept development
projects of products and services, carried out by the students, are included, many of
them revealing great creativity, which shows the added value of the methodologies
described.
This book intends to be both formative and informative, so relevant knowledge and
its practical application, as well as research results and future trends, supported by an
extensive bibliographic/reference list, are included. This will allow its readers to study
in depth specific topics, making the book, in the author’s opinion, an invaluable aid,
not only for students of higher education courses, but also course for instructors and
for managers and practitioners from companies and other organizations. The target
audience of this book is, therefore, master’s and doctoral students and managers
and other professionals in industry and services, with interest and responsibilities in
defining innovation strategies and organizing/implementing the development of new
products and services processes.
The creation of innovative products/services requires the integration of multi-
disciplinary skills in a teamwork environment. Through the study of this book, the
reader will be able to acquire a set of skills and knowledge that will allow her/him:
•
Master a systematic process of innovation, applicable in a horizontal way in
various sectors of industry and services;
•
To design organizational structures and teams within the company that enhance
the development process;
vii
viii Preface
•
To organize and define a product/service development process in the company;
•
To define a structured and systematic plan for product or service development;
•
To know and use a set of methods and tools for a systematic practice of introduction
of new innovative products/services, taking into account the role of the customer
and other internal and external stakeholders;
•
Integrate the development of new products in the company’s strategy;
•
To value and develop skills for teamwork.
The book is organized into seven chapters, preceded by a preface. Its structure
and the sequence of the chapters intend to mimic a structured process of innova-
tion of products or services, consisting of several phases, from the identification
of an idea/opportunity, through the identification of real or latent needs/problems
of the target market, definition of the product/service specification, development of
concepts and architecture of the system and selection of the final system that will be
the object of detailed design, production and launch.
Through the various chapters, it is intended to provide not only theoretical infor-
mation, but also to transmit good practices and tools, in the form of a roadmap,
with step-by-step application methods, that make it easy to use, both in the context
of an academic project-based learning environment and in real cases of product
development in an industrial setting.
The product development models provide a roadmap to turn an idea into a concept
and a viable product. All models aim to reduce development time, systematize the
process, ensure repeatability and increase the success rate of the innovation process.
The development of new products and services, especially when it comes to
new-to-the-world products, is a complex and risky process, constrained by multiple
factors. Thus, the author does not propose single or preferred models, but instead
proposes several alternative models and tools, as well as diverse approach philoso-
phies, to allow the reader to exercise his critical judgment to make the decisions that
best fit the context in question, so as to make the innovation process more effective.
Chapter 1 introduces the concept of innovation, focused on the development
of products and services, describing and defining terminology and other parame-
ters/dimensions considered relevant for understanding the methods and principles
described in subsequent chapters. It is not intended to address theories of innovation,
which are beyond the scope of the work. The definition of product planning strategy,
aligned with the organization’s overall strategy, is also extensively covered. Product
planning precedes the development process itself, before resources are consumed and
the decision is made to go ahead with the project and to start building the development
team.
Chapter 2 gives an historical perspective of product development models and
presents various sequential and linear models, which, when applied in a system-
atic and structured way can discipline the innovation process. These models have
limitations, but can be applied with advantage in incremental innovation processes.
Next, the needs identification phase and in particular the involvement of customers
in characterizing the attributes they value is covered. Several information gath-
ering and processing tools are described with the aim of understanding what
Preface ix
the experience of the product and service user is, which, when translated into
specifications/requirements, enhances the value proposition for its addressees.
Once the requirements of the product/service to be developed have been defined
and embodied in a specification (even if incomplete), the raw material for starting the
conceptual phase of developing a product or service is gathered. This phase, devel-
oped and explained in Chap. 3, is the most important of the system design process,
since it is through it that it is possible to materialize the satisfaction of a need or to
solve a problem. The chapter proposes methodologies and tools for concept gener-
ation and definition of alternative product architecture, illustrated through exam-
ples of student projects and projects executed in collaboration with companies. The
concept of product platform and design of modular architectures is also introduced
and analyzed.
In the last decades, services have been assuming an increasing weight in the GDP
of countries. Chapter 4 develops strategies to enhance innovation in services, espe-
cially technology-based innovation, based on the methodologies and approaches
already presented for product innovation, but bearing in mind that services have
specific characteristics which require different management styles and instruments.
Based on a comparison of models applied to the development of physical prod-
ucts and service design models, a methodology for the design of new services is
described which focuses on understanding and modeling the customer experience
of the service. The importance of service prototyping and how it can be imple-
mented in practice is addressed and highlighted. An introduction to product-service
systems, which are considered particularly relevant for manufacturing companies,
is also presented. Finally, a description of new philosophies of design of new prod-
ucts and services, based on design thinking and lean thinking philosophies, is done.
These allow the identification of new opportunities for the creation of innovative
products and services, through systematic and holistic approaches, based on the
operational integration of people, context, processes and also cultural and struc-
tural dimensions of the organization (culture, leadership, strategies and policies) and
internalized patterns of thought and behaviour (mindset) by all the employees of
the organization. This allows them to continuously improve and adapt to new situ-
ations/contexts, as they evolve, leading to more intelligent and creative solutions.
This chapter allows the reader to become aware of the fact that in order to achieve
more creative innovations, difficult to replicate by the competition, it is not enough
to apply in isolation some of the instruments described in previous chapters, as a less
attentive reading might assume. Paradigmatic examples of the application of those
principles are the companies IDEO (design thinking) and Toyota (lean thinking),
which are considered world leaders in their sector of activity.
The context of uncertainty and change, typical of a business environment, is often
incompatible with the use of rigid and linear models. Therefore, Chap. 5 analyzes
strategies that make the innovation process more flexible in order to take into account
the changes and risks that may occur in the market during the development period. The
concept of flexibility in the decision-making process is introduced in order to optimize
and adapt it to more dynamic markets, reducing costs and development/launch times
of products and services. In complex and unstable/volatile high-risk environments or
x Preface
in very innovative programs, the inability to deal with the unknown and its associated
uncertainty can lead to value destruction. Thus, several strategies to deal with various
types of uncertainty and the complexity of systems and their interaction, which
require management methods adapted to each context, are highlighted.
A company does not survive based on a single product, and therefore, its offer
consists of a set of products, often associated with complementary services, which
constitutes its portfolio. Within a company, new product projects are not conceived
and executed in isolation, but are integrated and managed within programs and project
portfolios. Integrated program and project portfolio management at a high level in an
organization are considered to be central to maximizing opportunities to innovate and
create value. Chapter 6 specifically addresses this topic, analyzing the interdepen-
dence between projects, programs and portfolio, describing in particular one tool, the
aggregated project plan. This plan allows for a more efficient allocation of resources,
simultaneously guaranteeing resources for different types of innovation projects that
support the sustainability of the organization now and in the future (through more
radical innovations). This chapter also draws the reader’s attention to the importance
of managing a development project and perform risk analysis. The management of
a product project in itself does not make it more or less innovative, but allows the
planning and coordination of resources, facilitates the transfer of knowledge between
projects, making them more efficient and introducing discipline in their execution,
thus contributing to their success. Risk analysis, on the other hand, makes it possible
to anticipate and quantify the impact of risks occurring during the development and
launch of a product, support critical decisions and design mitigation and contingency
actions in the early stages of the project, where the cost of changes is low and the
impact on costs throughout the life cycle is higher.
Nowadays, the ecosystem in which companies have to survive is increasingly
dynamic and uncertain. On the other hand, scientific and technological advances are
unstoppable, so the list of “next big things” is getting longer and longer. Some of
these technologies have the potential to subvert the status quo for businesses, change
the way people live and work and lead to completely new products and services that
did not exist before. It is therefore increasingly important that product and service
development managers have the means to anticipate discontinuities, through the
design and management of collaborative sensing and detection networks, which put
early signs of these discontinuities on the company’s radar, to be incorporated in the
conceptual phase of new products. This is the objective of Chap. 7.
At the end of each chapter, several assignments are proposed which can be used
to apply and test the principles, methodologies and tools described.
Porto, Portugal António Augusto Fernandes
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all the people and institutions that directly or indirectly
contributed to make this project possible: first of all to the students who, for more
than 15 years, have attended the courses I have taught and who have allowed me to
learn and mature my knowledge and experience in this field, to Prof. Alan MacCor-
mack, Professor at Harvard Business School, for the opportunity to share his teaching
experience, based on the case study methods used at Harvard University, and also
to introduce me to new trends and emerging research themes and to Prof. Christer
Karlsson, from Copenhagen Business School, for the invitation and privilege to orga-
nize the innovation and product development management (IPDM) conferences in
2007 and again in 2018. I wish to thank the various Ph.D. students and my colleagues
Lia Patricio, Renato Natal and Jorge Teixeira and others from the Department of
Mechanical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto for their
collaboration, to my friend and colleague Prof. Paulo Tavares de Castro, for his
encouragement and comments received and to the book reviewers for the construc-
tive suggestions made. I am grateful to Dr. Mayra Castro, who accepted to include
this book in the textbook collection of Spring Nature.
Finally, I wish to thank the constant support of my daughters, Maria Cristina and
Ana Luisa, and also of Teresinha.
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