The new product development process in the mechanical industry: evidences from some Italian case studies

New product development (NPD) refers to the process of bringing a new product or service to market and involves several steps. In today’s environments, successful NPD is recognised as a key factor for a company in order to compete and survive. Thus, greater focus has been placed on NPD as an integral part of the corporate strategy, as well as on offering products that are adapted to the needs of target customers in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage and to stay ahead of the competition. Since NPD involves interaction with organizations within and outside the primary manufacturing company, interaction between NPD and supply chain management (SCM) is now understood to be a crucial success factor. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between NPD and SCM in the specific context of the Italian mechanical industry. Based on analysis of the extant literature on NPD and SCM, an NPD framework has been first developed; then, a case study-based research has been carried out, with the purpose of investigating whether the companies analyzed adopt the NPD framework proposed, or at identifying different phases to be included in the framework, as well as those to be deleted. Findings from this study provide managers with a preliminary picture of the NPD framework that the mechanical companies use to adopt, as well as with some useful guidelines for companies wishing to perform better in terms of NPD.