A Hands-on manager's guide to making the most of today's product development breakthroughs A quarter century after MRP first transformed the global manufacturing arena, "Next Generation Product Development "stands poised to similarly impact new product development. This movement-defining book gives R&D professionals an in-depth explanation of the ways in which companies are able to achieve substantially higher levels of development productivity, while better aligning product development with strategy through new practices and systems. Processes explored in "Next Generation Product Development," and enabled by cutting-edge new-enterprise software, promise to explode the possibilities of what product development professionals can accomplish. This hands-on practitioner's guidebook will: Establish a common set of frameworks and concepts Introduce new project portfolio and product strategy management practices Help R&D professionals increase productivity by 30 to 50 percent

FRONT COVER]

"McGrath has again crafted new ideas to drive product development."

--William A. Kozy

President, BD Diagnostics

[BACK COVER]

[CATEGORY] Manufacturing

[HEAD] A Manager's Guide to Harnessing--and Gaining Maximum Competitive Advantage from--Today's Most Compelling Product Development Practices

A quarter century after MRP arrived to transform the global manufacturing arena, "Next Generation Product Development-- written by PRTM cofounder and PACE(R) developer Michael McGrath--promises to revolutionize new product development. Let its combination of real-world practice and cutting-edge insight show you how to consistently increase your organization's R&D productivity by 30 to 50 percent--and transform you into an R&D leader.

Praise for "Next Generation Product Development:

"I recommend that senior R&D managers, enterprise IT planners, chief information officers, chief technical officers, and chief operating officers read and discuss this book. It would help them improve corporate focus on how to achieve a more holistic 'real-time' environment for managing product strategy and product development."

--Marc Halpern

Research Director, Product Life Cycle Management, Gartner Research

"Michael McGrath led a revolution in product development with PACE(R) in the 1990s. In "Next Generation Product Development, he once again provides critical insights on an issue every CEO faces--how to get more out of your R&D investment."

--R. Ernest Waaser

President and CEO, Hill-Rom Company, Inc

"R&D efficiency is the challenge of the new millennium. It is a survival imperative. Early adopters of the management practices defined in "Next Generation ProductDevelopment will build a significant and sustainable competitive advantage."

--Tom Porter

Chief Technical Officer, Seagate Technology

"Once again, Michael McGrath and PRTM provide a roadmap for gaining competitive advantage through product development. The focus on productivity improvement is timely, as we struggle with the need for more new products and tighter development budgets."

--Mark Stasell

VP and General Manager, International Truck and Engine Corporation

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"The next generation of product development management is many times more complex than its predecessor...those who master it early will achieve competitive advantages that will not be easy to copy. It's one of those opportunities in business where great companies see an opportunity, master it before others, and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage."

--From the Preface

Product development is a process that, like any other, is both manageable and improvable. "Next Generation Product Development helps you stay at the forefront of the newest in product development innovation, as it introduces and examines the newest generation of practices in which the focus has changed from reducing time-to-market to managing and improving productivity. In other words, developing more new products than your competitors with a lower investment of valuable firm resources can be an avenue to drastically increasing your company's image and profits.

This straightforward, step-by-step guide--instructive and invaluable for R&D executives and managers--is also important for anyone looking to understand and utilize "new generation" product development management practices. Three key areas explored include:Resource Management--Ideas for increased capacity utilization and utilization management lead to an outline for fully integrated resource management Project Management--From enterprise project management to context-based knowledge management, techniques for bridging the gap between initial and final stages are offered Portfolio Management--Methodologies are established for dynamic portfolio and pipeline management, comprehensive financial management of R&D, and integrated product strategy

Today's most successful and innovative product developers will harness the latest concepts, frameworks, and technologies, and place themselves at the forefront of the battle for competitive superiority. "Next Generation Product Development explores today's most revolutionary processes, reveals how they are being enabled by constantly evolving new enterprise software, and promises to explode the possibilities of what you can accomplish in the exciting new generation of product development.

[author bio]

Michael McGrath is the cofounder of global management consultancy Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM). McGrath is a world-renowned expert on product development and strategy. He led PRTM's development of the Product and Cycle-Time Excellence(R) (PACE(R)) methodology and is founder and chairman of Integrated Development Enterprise (IDe), a pioneer in enterprise software for product development. In demand around the globe as a keynote speaker, McGrath coauthored "Setting the PACE in Product Development and "Product Strategy for high-Technology Companies and has written a number of influential articles on international manufacturing, product development, and trends in the high-technology arena.

Michael McGrath is a cofounder and managing director of Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM), a leader in helping technology-based companies develop agile, robust management processes and methodologies. In over two decades of management consulting, he has worked with more than 100 companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. McGrath initiated PACE“ (Product And Cycle-time Excellence), PRTM’s product-development consulting practice, and has directed many of PRTM’s projects in reducing time-to-market in a variety of high technology companies. He coauthored the books Product Development and Setting the PACE in Product Development, and has published numerous articles on international manufacturing, product development, and trends in the high-technology industry.