Collaborative Product Introduction within Extended Enterprises

Abstract: The trend of outsourcing within the electronic industry has contributed to the creation of new types of extended enterprises. These extended enterprises must be able to manage a challenging situation with shorter product life cycles and increased collaboration between companies during the vital product introduction process. For the electronic industry, which is currently acting in an “era of hyper-competition”, it is a challenge to implement an efficient and flexible collaboration within an extended enterprise during the product introduction process. In the product introduction process, a product design is prepared for and transferred into production.During the course of this research, the electronic industry has changed continuously. Empirical data were first collected within an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) that was responsible for its own production. Based on a strategic decision at the OEM, a new extended enterprise was established. In general, these new extended enterprises within the electronic industry consist of: a “product owner” in the form of an OEM that owns the product design and its brand; a “producer” in the form of an Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) company that is responsible for the production; and suppliers of services, material, components, equipment etc. However, in the later stages of this research the studied EMS was responsible for the product introduction, production and distribution of the product to the end user. In order to compare and contrast trends and lessons learned in similar industries, case studies within the mechanical engineering and aerospace industries also were performed.The dissertation primarily describes the process of collaborative product introduction (PI) within the electronic industry, and presents among other things a number of general conditions for efficient collaborative PI within an EE in that industry. First, a clearly communicated definition of what is included in product introduction is needed. A second condition is that early participation from all involved partners in the EE’s product introduction process supports efficient collaboration. Third, clear communication and information handling within the extended enterprise – both internally and externally – was found to facilitate collaboration. Fourth, business approaches should be built on trust, reliability and respect for each other’s competence. Finally, the importance of cultural awareness, both between different companies and countries, cannot be ignored. This research also presents a framework for supporting collaborative product introduction within an extended enterprise, which serves to both synthesize and summarize much of the research.