The use of product development methodology in Swedish industry: opportunities, challenges and conditions

Purpose and goal

The aim of the project was to investigate the opportunities, challenges and conditions for the use of methods in companies with product development activities in Sweden. An exploratory survey was carried out with respect to how methods (e.g., tools, processes or ways of working and thinking for certain purposes) are disseminated, implemented and utilized in industry. In the project, over 40 interviews were conducted, each about one hour, with various organizations such as industrial manufacturers, consulting firms, and innovation actors.

Results and expected effects

The results indicate that all of the organizations in the study utilize methods and that the nature of these methods varies widely, from specific tangible or mental tools (e.g. CAD, DFA, DFM, TRIZ, FMEA, QFD) to general product development processes (e.g. the Global Development Process Model) and frameworks for achieving strategic goals (e.g. Lean Production , Lean Startup, Business Model Canvas). It is suggested that companies increasingly seek support to implement major changes of the ´wicked problem´ type, rather than seeing methods as isolated problem solving procedures.

Approach and implementation

The analysis was done in several steps. In an initial phase, a broad review of all interview transcriptions was done to highlight aspects that stood out as particularly important and interesting. These aspects were collected in a separate document and categorized, initially with respect to the themes identified in each interview. After this, a meta-analysis of all the interview themes was done in order to identify broad categories. This bottom-up process was followed by a top-down analysis in order to verify the categories and consolidate and compare the results.