Product development in process industry changes and consequences

Abstract: This thesis addresses the issue of product development in Process Industry, and it is presented in the form of six appended papers together with an extended summary. Product development in Process Industry is not widely researched upon, and even less in the Swedish process Industry. For these reasons, the focus of this thesis is specifically on product development in Swedish Process Industry and on some of the consequences of a changed perspective in product development work in Process Industry. The selected research strategy has been a combination of exploratory interviews and a survey. The main academic contribution of the research is the elaboration of some of the implications of a changed perspective in development work for Swedish process industries. One contribution is that an analysis of the entire supply chain for a process-based company and its actors can facilitate this change towards a more product-focused development. Further, this thesis shows that the two disciplines; Management of Technology and Supply Chain Management can together emphasise some of the aspects that must be highlighted in order to understand and create effective product development in Process Industry. The main managerial implication of the research is the investigation of a changed perspective for Swedish process-based companies and the implications of such a change. Development managers can facilitate the change towards a more product-oriented focus in development projects by thoroughly view and analyse product development work as a process in the supply chain. Sources of innovation and key actors can be both suppliers (of machine equipment or raw material) and customers (customers and/or end- customers). However, an analysis of vital sources of innovation can require changes in both organization and means to cooperate).