About the Report

In the post-recession economy, the new product development process is becoming more complex, with more people and processes involved from early in the ideation of a product through engineering, manufacturing and product retirement. The research showed:

• Increasing the rate of innovation is a top priority for most organizations in the coming year.
• While budgets are tight and increased investments in research and development (R&D) are limited, most companies are focused on innovation gains from increased internal efficiency, such as the expanded use of product lifecycle management (PLM) to enhance collaboration.
• Information technology (IT), such as PLM, is a key enabler of new product development processes and outcomes; IT systems play a crucial role in tracking compliance with product requirements, product data management, and change and workflow requirements.
• Partners are an important new source of innovation, both in identifying new ideas and in innovation support, but this expansive approach has increased the complexity of R&D processes, and increased concerns about protection of intellectual property rights.