Holistic Approach to New Product

Holistic Approach to New Product Development: New Insights by Michael Tracey

Michael Tracey's article from the Journal of Supply Chain Management outlines what the author sees as a critical and costly divide between practice and praxis of firms in the genre of supply chain management. Much of the literature surrounding a supply chain business' best practices, Tracey notes, has for some time endorsed a more participative approach to new product development. In other words, all individuals and all business entities involved in the manufacture and development of a new product have critical and intermeshed roles to play in that product's birth, rather than simply the generator of the new product idea.

According to Tracey, it is not enough that the new product's life cycle is viewed as linear, with one actor in the supply chain taking control over the product's development in each successive stage, and then ceding influence to the next actor. Rather, during the product development cycle, while the entire progress of the new product through the cycle may ultimately be progressive nature, still needs for every entity involved in some fashion, during all steps, to bring on the next step in a satisfactory and intelligent fashion. Of course, some actors will be more critically involved at some junctures than others, but no critical actor can ever fully take a hands-off, no more responsibilities now, approach, to achieve maximum efficiency and profits.

Thus, according to Tracey, the currently observed practices of even established businesses still seldom follow leading supply chain theories of holistic best practices. Rather, the production, purchasing and logistics areas, as well as suppliers and customers, continue to be underrepresented at many manufacturing firms. A new product is often viewed more as an idea than a practical production. Only when the decision to embark upon and plan the generation of a new product has been established, do the hands-on details of logistics, for example, come into play. But these elements, as well as suppliers and customers on the wholesale level, and their perceptions of what retail customers and chains desire, have an important role to play as well, in conveying vital data to the company.

Over the course of his essay, Tracey attempts to demonstrate that his research and outside empirical support justifies his desire to include more parties early in new product development. Use all available data when deciding to embark upon a new product, he suggests, rather than later on, after the decision to develop the product has been made. The participation of all involved members, he believes, can have a positive and demonstrated impact upon a new product's manufacturing efficiency, thus increasing profits from the get-go, and mitigating some of the inevitable losses that occur early on in production.

Tracey believes that a new product's agility and receptivity to market forces can be enhanced with the additional input. Also, by improving delivery service through involving suppliers and distributors, one can also cut costs. Lastly, by integrating all of these members in the developing product's supply chain, overall organizational performance in development is enhanced and facilitated.