| 1. |
- Karlsson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Innovation processes in SMEs : Exploring the influence of varying degrees of control
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED. - Zagreb : The Design Society. ; , s. 447-456
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous research in the field of product innovation management has focused on large firms. This is unfortunate because small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have features that clearly distinguish them from their larger counterparts and also play an important role in the global economy. In addition, SMEs often have more varying control of the whole innovation process-from identification of a customer need to delivering customer value-compared to larger companies. This article addresses this research gap by exploring how SMEs with growth ambitions, and varying degree of control, can leverage their innovation process. The article outlines results from a SWOT analysis utilizing data from a multiple case study of eight SMEs. Both 'product owning' companies (with either in-house or outsourced manufacturing) as well as manufacturing industry subcontractors were sampled. The results show indications of the influence of varying degree of control of the innovation process-relating to different phases, how knowledge and competence are considered and being reliant on others-and how SMEs and their offerings can be considered as parts of larger systems.
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| 2. |
- Karlsson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Product-Service System Innovation Capabilities : Linkages between the Fuzzy Front End and subsequent development phases
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Production Research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0020-7543 .- 1366-588X. ; 56:6, s. 2218-2232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In an attempt to remain competitive, manufacturers increasingly offer integrated product-service systems (PSSs). This transition from physical products to PSSs calls for new ways of working, for example in the product development process. However, so far only limited attention has been put on capabilities needed to succeed with PSS innovation in the very early development phases – often referred to as the fuzzy front end (FFE). This article, therefore, has a dual aim: first, to further our understanding of capabilities for PSS innovation in the FFE, and second, to determine how these capabilities are linked to PSS innovation capabilities needed in subsequent development phases. Empirical data were collected from an ongoing industrial project developing an innovative PSS offering in a large manufacturing company. Individuals connected to the project reported major challenges, both experienced in the FFE and anticipated in later phases, which provided valuable information regarding capabilities needed to succeed with the endeavour. Findings reveal four links of PSS innovation capabilities: (1) adapting vocabulary and mental models to PSS, (2) handling the ‘intangible aspect’, (3) bridging organisational structures, and (4) managing new business models. PSS innovation capabilities in the FFE are also found to be of higher order (dynamic) compared to capabilities in later development phases
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| 3. |
- Larsson, Lisa, 1980-
(författare)
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Characteristics of Production Innovation
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today firms must maintain high levels of efficiency, quality control, customer responsiveness and speed, but even the full set of these attributes is not sufficient for sustainable competitive advantage. A further challenging requirement is to innovate successfully, not only in product development but also in production. Traditionally, innovation is regarded as successful product development, and delivering innovative products of sufficient quality at a reasonable price is seen as the primary means of acquiring and maintaining competitiveness. In this context, the role of production development is simply to provide production solutions required for the realization of new products. However, production development (sometimes called ‘production improvement’ or ‘process innovation in production’) may also involve continuous incremental or radical improvement of current production processes or systems in terms of productivity, cost, speed, quality, and/or flexibility.Previous research provides a rather narrow view of production development, largely ignoring value creation, which obscures its importance for organizations. Due to the lack of attention to innovativeness in production development, limited effort is also made to understand how to manage production development projects as innovation processes, where the emphasis is on obtaining value. This retards progress and restrains organizations’ competitiveness, and to some extent the potential social benefits (such as increases in sustainability) of new production technologies. Thus, the primary objective of the research this thesis is based upon was to increase understanding of distinguishing features and valuable outcomes of production innovation, together with challenges in managing production innovation processes. Data underlying this research were collected through case studies of development projects in firms operating in several industries.The research findings show that the pursued outcomes of production innovation are mainly cost reductions and increases in quality. Nevertheless, production innovation also contributes with expansion of product design space, and strengthening innovation capabilities, which in themselves provide sustainable competitive advantage. Further, production innovation is highly dependent on successful implementation – a complex endeavour involving internal organization, external customers and other actors contributing to the production system. Organizations lack support for capturing, prioritization, decision making and resource allocation in production innovation processes, a topic that warrants further research.
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| 4. |
- Lind, Erika, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Constraints and Capacities in Small Established Firms : The Role of Managerial Levers in the Innovation Process
- 2017
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Ingår i: XXVIII ISPIM Conference.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The importance of innovation for sustained competiveness is well stated in the literature. However, most product innovation research has so far focused on large firms or small high tech, start-up or spin-off companies. This study investigates innovation process practices in small established firms through the use of five managerial levers considered to determine the process. Based on a case-study design involving eight small established firms with growth ambitions, the results show that the levers “mission, strategy and goal” and “organizational learning” are important throughout the process, and that the lever “resource allocation” is directed towards the later phases of the process. The levers “structure and systems”, as well as “organizational culture” are less emphasized. By developing and testing an analysis model based on the innovation process and managerial levers, this paper contributes with insights of innovation in established small firms valuable for further research.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Bojesson, Catarina, 1984-
(författare)
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Improving project performance in product development
- 2015
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The development of new products and processes is a crucial point of competition and due to the rapid technological development and strong international competition, companies are being forced to design better products faster and more efficiently. In the last two decades large companies in particular have developed increasingly sophisticated models, process descriptions, structures and routines for how to steer and manage their often large and complex projects. Processes in product development projects often contain many dependencies among both tasks and people, requiring coordination of activities and the opportunity to capture incomplete information that evolves over time. When attempting to increase project performance, a strong focus has been on the efficiency of the projects, on doing things right. As a result, both in industry and in research, effectiveness, doing the right things, has gained less importance than it probably should. For companies to really increase their performance, effectiveness must be considered to a much higher extent.The objective of the research presented in this thesis has been to increase the knowledge of how the performance of projects in a product development context can be improved. This involves investigating factors which affects performance on different levels of the projects such as the individual working on the project, the single project, the project organisation, the company, and the business context. Data have been collected through literature studies as well as a case study divided into two parts.The research results show that project organisations face the challenge of being able to have projects running efficiently according to plan while at the same time exploring and creating new knowledge. Formalised product development processes can support the progress of projects, but there is a risk that exploratory work and innovation could suffer. This is a challenge, especially in contexts characterised by uncertainty and complexity. Further, a number of areas which affect the project performance were identified, including the business context, process characteristics, project model, project characteristics, and project management. These findings have resulted in a proposed start of a framework for improving product development project performance in dynamic contexts.
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| 8. |
- Dordlofva, Christo
(författare)
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Qualification of Metal Additive Manufacturing in Space Industry : Challenges for Product Development
- 2018
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is a collection of production processes that has received a good deal of attention in recent years from different industries. Features such as mass production of customised products, design freedom, part consolidation and cost efficient low volume production drive the development of, and the interest in, these technologies. One industry that could potentially benefit from AM with metal materials is the space industry, an industry that has become a more competitive environment with established actors being challenged by new commercial initiatives. To be competitive in these new market conditions, the need for innovation and cost awareness has increased. Efficiency in product development and manufacturing is required, and AM is promising from these perspectives. However, the maturity of the AM processes is still at a level that requires cautious implementation in direct applications. Variation in manufacturing outcome and sensitivity to part geometry impact material properties and part behaviour. Since the space industry is characterised by the use of products in harsh environments with no room for failure, strict requirements govern product development, manufacturing and use of space applications. Parts have to be shown to meet specific quality control requirements, which is done through a qualification process. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate challenges with development and qualification of AM parts for space applications, and their impact on the product development process. Specifically, the challenges with powder bed fusion (PBF) processes have been in focus in this thesis.Four studies have been carried out within this research project. The first was a literature review coupled with visits to AM actors in Sweden that set the direction for the research. The second study consisted of a series of interviews at one company in the space industry to understand the expectations for AM and its implications on product development. This was coupled with a third study consisting of a workshop series with three companies in the space industry. The fourth study was an in-depth look at one company to map the qualification of manufacturing processes in the space industry, and the challenges that are seen for AM. The results from these studies show that engineers in the space industry work under conditions that are not always under their control, and which impact how they are able to be innovative and to introduce new manufacturing technologies, such as AM. The importance of product quality also tends to lead engineers into relying on previous designs meaning incremental, rather than radical, development of products is therefore typical. Furthermore, the qualification of manufacturing processes relies on previous experience which means that introducing new processes, such as AM, is difficult due to the lack of knowledge of their behaviour. Two major challenges with the qualification of critical AM parts for space applications have been identified: (i) the requirement to show that critical parts are damage tolerant which is challenging due to the lack of understanding of AM inherent defects, and (ii) the difficulty of testing parts in representative environments. This implies that the whole product development process is impacted in the development and qualification of AM parts; early, as well as later stages. To be able to utilise the design freedom that comes with AM, the capabilities of the chosen AM process has to be considered. Therefore, Design for Manufacturing (DfM) has evolved into Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). While DfAM is important for the part design, this thesis also discusses its importance in the qualification of AM parts. In addition, the role of systems engineering in the development and qualification of AM parts for space applications is highlighted.
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| 9. |
- Eckert, Claudia, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Industry Trends to 2040
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED19). - : Cambridge University Press. ; 2019-August, s. 2121-2128
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The engineering design community needs to development tools and methods now to support emergingtechnological and societal trends. While many forecasts exist for technological and societal changes,this paper reports on the findings of a workshop, which addressed trends in engineering design to 2040.The paper summarises the key findings from the six themes of the workshop: societal trends, ways ofworking, lifelong learning, technology, modelling and simulation and digitisation; and points to thechallenge of understanding how these trends affect each other.
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| 10. |
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