APPLICATION OF A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Abstract

The Product Development Process (PDP) can be defined as a value-added process that consists of converting a market opportunity into a product or service available to the customer. The PDP involves different disciplines: business (or marketing), design and manufacturing.
In competitive sectors as the metal-mechanic industry, it is essential to manage properly the PDP, in order to consolidate the position of companies in different markets.
The study of Maturity Levels allows classify companies into different stages according to the degree of application of good PDP practices, making it possible to identify actions to increase the level.
Previous studies made by the authors allowed designing a PDP diagnostic tool for companies belonging to the metal-mechanic industry. The objective of this work is to determine the level of maturity of the PDP of three companies in Region 3 Santa Fe Node, based on the application of the mentioned tool. By using semi-structured interviews and systematizing the information obtained, it is determined that two of the companies present an Advanced Level of PDP, characterized by having standardization in most activities. The third company is at an Intermediate level, without conceiving the PDP as a business process.
It is worth mentioning that, because the study is in process, this work presents preliminary results. The application of the tool to a bigger number of companies will provide relevant information to characterize the PDP practices of the metal-mechanic sector in the defined Region.