Is Your Product Development Team Successfully Managing The Global Supply Chain?

Time to market is a crucial factor in determining the success of a new product. At the Electronics Supply Chain Association Spring 2005 symposium a recent survey by Infosys Technologies, a Fremont, Ca-based consulting firm, reported that 70% of 170 supply chain executives interviewed said managing the global supply chain was the biggest challenge they faced in product development.

Interestingly the survey reported that time to market was more important than quality of design or product differentiation. Furthermore, companies seemed willing to trade off optimization of product features, performance, cost and reliability, since modular versions of the product could be introduced on subsequent releases as newer technologies develop.

Eighty-nine companies representing the semiconductor industry, original equipment manufacturers, software vendors, distributors and electronic manufacturing service providers participated in the survey.