Reducing Lead Times in Product Development Projects

Abstract

This study is a qualitative case study using an abductive logic investigating the potential for lead time reductions in product development projects within the case company, a large established European automotive manufacturer, specifically from the perspective of their project management office (PMO). To begin, an initial explorative phase took place with the aim of narrowing down the scope and defining subsequent research questions (RQ). The resulting RQs centered on: First, identifying lead time related issues at the company; second, to apply best practice from relevant literature to each issue and propose corresponding possible actions; and finally, curate the possible actions based on feasibility and potential to reduce lead times. To find the lead time related issues, 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviewees ranged across several functions and hierarchical levels. After the interviews, the answers were analyzed with thematic analysis, and the following main issues were specified: Coordination; Teams and organizational structure; Internal supplier; Pre-development; Testing and prototyping; and Software. Specifically, the first two main issues pointed towards a need to increase cross-functional integration at the operational level, as was found in the literature study, which took place in parallel to the above-mentioned activities as aligned with the abductive logic. The issues of the internal supplier were also seen as benefitting from cross-functional integration. For pre-development, more focused and well-defined scopes in combination with more thorough early phase work was suggested. Likewise, more early phase testing and adopting a modularization strategy was deemed favorable. Concerning, testing and problem-solving itself, less reliance on full system tests and more small-scale tests on the sub-system and component level was found promising. Modularization also showed potential here. Finally, the main software related issues seemingly fit into the pre-development and testing issues and their corresponding solutions. Conclusively, the more detailed proposed actions had already been curated throughout the discussion and also showed a noticeable degree of interconnectedness, hence all proposed actions were recommended, albeit with varying degrees of promise.