Implementation of synchronization process to coordinate R&D and product planning using technology roadmapping tool

This paper discusses product planning processes in manufacturing companies that coordinate workflows between fundamental research and product planning activities that are conducted on different timescales and have different roles and motivations. The author's research group developed a reference model called “Synchronization Process (SP)” in 2014. The paper presented at PICMET '15 demonstrated how the SP model worked and also presented a specific case in step-by-step sequences using a technology roadmapping tool to enable discussion in a visual form. The objective of this paper is to discuss how the SP model can be implemented in organizations that accommodate a wide range of technologies and potential applications. This paper introduces shared knowledge pools called a “Gap Table” and an “Awareness Map” in order to systematize the SP model and enable a combination of technologies and expected applications to be identified. These pools indicate the potential solutions and classify them by difficulty or uncertainty based on the current business position of the company. The design of these pools is based on the actual product development history of mobile phones for elderly customers. The contribution of this paper is to introduce a scheme to match technologies and applications in large-scale companies.