Construindo um sistema de desenvolvimento de produtos em empresa têxtil por intermédio de gestão de portifólio e de QFD

Abstract

Organizations that focus on consolidating competitivity in a market that is characterized by an increasing internationalization and a great variety of goods rely on product and service innovation for critical business. However, in the Brazilian textile industry, Product Development System PDS is generally marked by the absence of formal steps, sensibleprocedures for decision making, and a structure behind the capacity for development. Financial resources and staff technologically trained to develop new fabrics are available, but one can verify that a strategic tendency towards Product Development Management is stilllacking. In view of this absence, the main objective of this masters thesis is to show how Portfolio Management PM and Quality Function Deployment QFD methods can be used as a way to strengthen Product Development System in a Brazilian textile company. For this,a theoretical survey was done at the same time as two interventions in the companys Product Development Management occurred. Using the action-research strategy, the researcher directly guided two multifunctional teams put together especially to introduce the two methods. The first intervention took place in the strategic area of clothing, interested in fashion and whose sportswear fabrics are sold in the international market. After analyzing models found in the literature, a PM model was developed and applied in order to select projects for the development of new products and to allocate resources, thus aiming at the strategic level of Product Development Management. The second intervention was conducted in the strategic area of business that participates in the international market of workwear fabrics, used exclusively in the manufacturing of work uniforms. This interventioninvolved the application of QFD in the project for the development of a fabric that was new to the company, but that already existed in the professional clothing market, thus aiming at the operational level of Product Development Management. The PM model used served as aroadmap for systematizing the activities that define the ideal portfolio for the Summer 2008 Collection, which allows for the selection of an adequate number of projects in tune with the business strategy and balanced between the companys product groups. The research notedthe efficacy of the QFD method, also evidenced through the development of Positive Quality, once it assured that the clients requests could be answered in a reliable manner. The information that was obtained through the deployment of the Cost aspect was crucial in orderfor the product and process engineers could develop the project, under the guidance of cost analysts. Adjustments in the production chain were planned and effected in order to achieve the desired balance between cost and client requests. A significant reduction in developmenttime was noted. The employment of both methods allowed for the systematization of PDS, thus generating knowledge that can be used in other projects in the company that was particularly researched and in similar organizations.