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Stakeholders in the Product Development

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THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Patrik Nilsson and Björn Fagerström Engineering and Industrial Design Product and Production Development Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden Abstract: Today, product development is a complex process: the designer continuously needs to consider new demands from different stakeholders and analyse how these demands can be fulfilled. Gathering and sharing stakeholder information is important, but is only beneficial if the information is used effectively. This is not a straightforward task. Information must be shared across design functions, and all involved need to develop a common understanding of the evolving design and the importance of particular …show more content…

in Sweden, and, finally, the conclusions are presented in Section 6. Stakeholders in the product development process Many authors argue in favour of a holistic view during the early phases of product development, taking into consideration as many perspectives and interests as possible (Harding et al. 2001). The design of a product often starts with some general project objectives and a set of stakeholder needs (see Figure 1). The stakeholders’ different needs will then be translated into more detailed product/system requirements. The project plan will propose some early work packages in order to start the work at certain sub-systems. The main objective of the designer is to produce a design that meets this need within the limits of available resources. However, it is also important in early phases that the designers look for alternative work packages and product architecture in order to balance different stakeholders' interests and to consider different life-cycle aspects. When the product architecture is determined, the detailed design followed by verification and validation takes over. The Product Data Management (PDM) system is used to integrate various kinds of information generated and exchanged during the development process. Product planning and project

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