1. What are the major problems faced by the consulting company in "product development process"?

An automotive company operating in 10 business segments and 85 manufacturing facilities needed to improve its ability to plan and manage its Technological Change process. To do so, it wanted to automate several manual processes. Its goals included improving response time, securing intellectual property and improving collaboration within the organization, which featured 2,500 design engineers working, across the globe. Although the objectives were straightforward, the organization faced several challenges. For example: Product development processes were not similar across locations and product lines. The company used overlapping systems to manage product information, leading to duplication of parts and subassemblies. Cross-enterprise engineering metrics collection and monitoring were inconsistent. Collaboration between cross-functional teams was not proper and sufficient. No system could assess the impact of design on product and development cost. The customer partnered with another consulting company in an effort to solve these problems. At the outset, the consultant company team implemented a plan to streamline the technological change manage- ment process. The team also provided a product and development cost analysis based on design changes. Then, in a phased approach, it rolled out the whole plan to multiple locations and business segments. After upgrading the standard plan, team members began to switchover all enhancements into the newer version and provided enhanced technical support. The project leveraged an optimal mix of onsite/offshore profes- sionals, and included development, implementation, enhancement and upgradation.