Time to Market Improvement in Product Development

Time to market excellence depends on concurrent execution of not only engineering but all development activities. It also requires clarity as to which type of time to market determines success depends in your business.

Below are chapters that we have contributed to handbooks on the general topic of time to market. All chapters are available for download as PDF files.

"Enhancing Flexibility in Dispersed Product Development Teams," Chapter 12 (pp. 246–263) in Higher Creativity for Virtual Teams, Steven P. MacGregor and Teresa Torres-Coronas, Editors, Information Science Reference, 2007. This chapter explains how to maintain flexibility as your team spreads geographically. Download it (28 pp., 728 KB)

"Accelerated Product Development: Techniques and Traps," Chapter 12 (pp. 173-187) in The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development, Second Edition, Kenneth B. Kahn, Editor, John Wiley & Sons, 2004. An update of our book, Developing Products in Half the Time, emphasizing where the major opportunities and pitfalls lie in a time-to-market program. Download it (15 pp., 150KB).

"Techniques for Managing Project Risk," Chapter 13 (pp. 202-218) in Field Guide to Project Management, Second Edition, David I. Cleland, Editor, John Wiley & Sons, 2004.  A summary of the five-step technique in our book, Proactive Risk Management. Download it (17 pp., 409 KB).

"Concurrent Product-Development Teams," Chapter 35 (pp. 594-608) in Field Guide to Project Management, Second Edition, David I. Cleland, Editor, John Wiley & Sons, 2004. An update of the chapter below emphasizing high-performance time-to-market teams. Download it (15 pp., 512KB).

"Concurrent Engineering Teams," Chapter 32 (pp. 439-450) in Field Guide to Project Management, David I. Cleland, Editor, John Wiley & Sons, 1998. Describes how to set up a simultaneous development team and the vital elements to manage. Download Concurrent Engineering Teams (12 pp., 61KB) or learn more about project managment.

"Cross-Functional Design Teams," pp. 49-53 in ASM Handbook, Volume 20, Materials Selection and Design, George E. Dieter, Volume Chair, ASM International, 1997. As ASM is a society of materials professionals, this chapter puts special emphasis in integrating specialists, such as materials scientists,  into the team effectively. Download Cross-Functional Design Teams (5 pp., 109KB).

See related material on our cycle-time page.