Keeping advanced product development viable
09/01/2001
BY DANIEL K. WARD
Nearly every manufacturing company today has resources and budgets assigned to examine future designs of existing products, or to develop new products for existing and new markets. These innovative resources are known by many names, including Advanced Product Development, Advanced Design, Advanced Engineering, and Research and Development.
 |
By the very nature of the work that these departments are chartered to do, they typically provide little short-term revenue streams for companies. Therefore, their immediate importance to a company is closely related to the company's economic situation. If a company is in difficult economic times, advanced groups are often pressed into providing immediate solutions to current product issues. If economic times are good, these groups are challenged to look ahead toward innovations that may not be in step with current product strategies.
Companies, therefore, tend to expend more on advanced resources in good economic times. Understandably, this fluctuation of resources can place the long-term effectiveness of an advanced development department in jeopardy. Typically, the key people who populate an advanced product group are a company's most experienced and skilled in product design and technology. Past experience and accrued knowledge provide these individuals the ability to see the natural progression of things - in other words, the future.
The Great Engineering Nomads
Experienced engineers are a valuable company resource, and they can be immediate contributors and problem solvers because they have solved similar problems before. This makes such workers easy to relocate in an organization, but also very difficult to reclaim into an advanced group at a later date. When building an advanced organization, both an individual's capabilities and his or her long-term career objectives need to be considered. Many engineers prefer the immediate rewards and sharpening of skills that problem-solving and improvement tasks offer. However, some engineers are bored with the repetition of short-term activities and naturally migrate to the undefined world of the future. It is best to build an advanced group's core with people who can work outside the box.
Highly skilled technical people with little company experience are not as agile in moving from advanced product organizations to support organizations. Typically, they have not developed the experience to become instant contributors and problem solvers outside their area of expertise. These individuals, if they are moved from advanced theoretical activities, should be placed in opportunities where they can apply their strong skills, and also gain additional company experience.
A Bit of Advice
In my opinion, extreme care must be exercised when adding or reducing advanced development personnel. Movement, without a clearly defined strategy, can cause a company's most knowledgeable and skilled people to move to a competitor where they can easily apply their experience and skills.
The preferred way to resolve personnel fluctuations within advanced development groups is to limit fluctuations. Advanced development resources should not be tied by a short leash to a company's bottom-line. Advanced development departments are strategic, not tactical. These organizations hold in their hands the product gems of a company, and these gems need to be worked and reworked independent of current sales, stock prices or quarterly reports. If a company focuses primarily on short-term goals, it can cause a lack of confidence in advanced activities, which can eventually lead to budget cuts and low morale. If allowed to continue unchecked, it can result in a downward spiral of new technology output and impede the long-term effectiveness of a company.
AP
Daniel K. Ward, industry consultant in advanced packaging and design for manufacturing, can be contacted at Ward and Associates, 779 Hunters Trail, Kokomo, IN 46901; 765-452-2672; E-mail: [email protected].