Abstract
Relying more heavily on multi-disciplinary groups involved in product design and development creates added challenges for companies in maintaining the proper mix of members of the design and development team and those with technical skills and abilities. Further, there is a greater learning curve in bringing in new members and growing the team. This study examines the challenges of new product development in mid-to-large-sized companies in a global supply chain arena. It provides for a formal and standard product lifecycle and cycle-time compression process that leverages technology function deployment (TFD) product development framework. An in-depth comparative analysis of TFD methodological framework employed in design and development of three different consumer products featuring varying level of technology sophistication is offered.