Unveiling Customer-Centric Product Development: Insights from Japanese Robotics Company

Unveiling Customer-Centric Product Development: Insights from Japanese Robotics Company

연구 분야: Artificial Intelligence

학회: International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

The ongoing creation of high-quality new products stands as a key driver of competitive advantage for manufacturing firms. Previous research in New Product Development (NPD) has primarily emphasized the efficiency and effectiveness of the development process, often perceiving customer relationships as a factor contributing to market uncertainty. This study explores customer-centric NPD, which centers on customer value creation. Our objective is to address two key challenges: (1) the need to balance the integration of customer value creation and NPD and (2) strategies for effectively addressing customer value creation in the NPD process (customer-centric NPD). In our case study of a Japanese robotics company, we identified several insights related to the aforementioned issues. Regarding the first challenge, we uncovered three approaches: focusing on the concentration of business scope and development processes, establishing a revenue model that encompasses both development and mass production, and offering counterproposals grounded in customer value creation. As for the second challenge, we identified facilitating factors, including the integration of R&D and marketing functions and the role and development of key personnel.