Breaking the Barrier: facilitating collaborative decision-making in product development : A product development study and design proposal

Sammanfattning: In this work, a company's product development process with a specific focus on the decision-making steps in the earlier phases is investigated in order to improve the  overallproduct development and design process. Based on interviews with various  functions involved in the product development process,and a case study where a prototype of a real product was developed it was found that customer inputs and design requirements should be detailed and clearly integrated into the early decision-making steps in order to reduce confusion and facilitate the overall design process. During the case study, the general product design and development process by Ulrich and Eppinger was largely adhered to, although some modifications were made to identify potential improvements. The study suggests that there should be more investment of time in the product development process during the early stages, to clarify the underlying problem. This will facilitate communication and further development between the stages in which there will be a clear understanding between the developer(s) and management of what is important. It is also suggested to rank the different specifications quantitatively rather than qualitatively in orderto facilitate the decision-making process. The report includes the study of the company's product development process as well as the development of a specific product. The developed product is related to outdoor activities and can be described as a ladder that enables dogs as well as its owner to safely enter a rooftoptent. All critical steps in the development are described in detail