Providing customer voice for R&D – A case study in manufacturing industry
Hiiri, Beada (2018)
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2018
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2018122022544
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2018122022544
Tiivistelmä
Manufacturing companies need to stay competitive in the business and it requires innovation and improvements to existing products or services, to keep current customers but also gain new market share. There is a long history mentioning customer involvement, and how to create products that serve the customer needs. The starting point for the thesis is how to give the customer voice to those parts in the company that are responsible for innovating the products and services for the consumers.
The purpose of the thesis was to look for ways to provide the customer voice of the manufacturing area of the case company’s research and development (R&D) department and to employ design thinking (DT) and innovation. The theoretical part concentrated on defining the role of R&D and the customer in product development. The customer role in R&D was evaluated through new product development (NPD), design thinking and the quality requirement Six Sigma processes. The empirical part concentrated on the case company’s R&D personnel and their actual needs, and on how to integrate the voice of the customer in the daily work. The empirical part of the thesis utilized service design process and methods.
The theoretical and practical parts proved that a customer voice is needed in R&D work and it requires effective communication between R&D and marketing departments. Collecting and presenting the customer voice so that it is usable requires their own efforts that are not a part of current processes. The study did also show that the marketing organization has more information in use than the R&D department, and that this could be corrected with an R&D personalized way to present the same information.
Uncertainty in product development created another pain point and it was in the beginning of the process where initial definitions for the product should have been agreed. Based on theoretical findings, this is the part where customer needs should be involved, and it should be the starting point for the development. R&D sees definitions as more important in the beginning where marketing would like to keep the options open. Definitions will affect the speed of the process, and the quality of the product, especially if definitions change later in the project.
Future research should follow up with the implementation part of the proposed methods and evaluate if they have any effect on the work of the co-creation between departments, in the speed of the new product development process, on the success and quality of the new products and on the increased amounts of ideas and innovations.
The purpose of the thesis was to look for ways to provide the customer voice of the manufacturing area of the case company’s research and development (R&D) department and to employ design thinking (DT) and innovation. The theoretical part concentrated on defining the role of R&D and the customer in product development. The customer role in R&D was evaluated through new product development (NPD), design thinking and the quality requirement Six Sigma processes. The empirical part concentrated on the case company’s R&D personnel and their actual needs, and on how to integrate the voice of the customer in the daily work. The empirical part of the thesis utilized service design process and methods.
The theoretical and practical parts proved that a customer voice is needed in R&D work and it requires effective communication between R&D and marketing departments. Collecting and presenting the customer voice so that it is usable requires their own efforts that are not a part of current processes. The study did also show that the marketing organization has more information in use than the R&D department, and that this could be corrected with an R&D personalized way to present the same information.
Uncertainty in product development created another pain point and it was in the beginning of the process where initial definitions for the product should have been agreed. Based on theoretical findings, this is the part where customer needs should be involved, and it should be the starting point for the development. R&D sees definitions as more important in the beginning where marketing would like to keep the options open. Definitions will affect the speed of the process, and the quality of the product, especially if definitions change later in the project.
Future research should follow up with the implementation part of the proposed methods and evaluate if they have any effect on the work of the co-creation between departments, in the speed of the new product development process, on the success and quality of the new products and on the increased amounts of ideas and innovations.