Multiproject strategy, design transfer, and project performance: a survey of automobile development projects in the US and Japan

Large manufacturers usually need to manage multiple projects in order to leverage their financial and engineering resource investments on new technologies and designs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between different multiproject strategies and project performance measured...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on engineering management 1995-11, Vol.42 (4), p.397-409
Main Authors: Nobeoka, K., Cusumano, M.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobile industry
Comparative studies
Concurrent engineering
Design engineering
Engineering management
Financial management
Investments
Manufacturing
Product design
Product development
Project management
Rapid prototyping
Resource management
Technology management
Technology transfer
Time measurement
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Summary:Large manufacturers usually need to manage multiple projects in order to leverage their financial and engineering resource investments on new technologies and designs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between different multiproject strategies and project performance measured by lead time and engineering hours. The multiproject strategy in this study focuses on different ways of transferring core technologies and designs from one project to another within the firm. First, this paper proposes a typology of different multiproject strategies, which categorizes new product development projects into four types: new design, rapid design transfer, sequential design transfer, and design modification. Second, using survey results on 103 different new product projects at 10 automobile firms in Japan and the US, this study concludes that projects using the rapid design transfer strategy are the most efficient in terms of engineering hours. Only through rapid design transfer can a preceding design be transferred from a base project to a new project with effective task sharing among engineers and mutual adjustments between the two projects. This paper also discusses organizational requirements for managing rapid design transfer projects. Neither a pure project-team approach nor a functional approach seem appropriate for the management of concurrent multiple projects.
ISSN:0018-9391
1558-0040
DOI:10.1109/17.482089