Technology assessment & planning tools Flashcards
Lecture 12
What are some main drivers of technology performance evolution?
Science and technology advances
Market competitions & customer expectations
Societal demands formalized in laws & regulations
Explain the “tactical” tools for technology assessment
Purpose: Compare, position, set targets
SWOT analysis
Product benchmarking
Patent benchmarking
Target setting
Explain the “strategical” tools for technology assessment
Purpose: Predict evolution, plan development
S-curve
Technology roadmapping
Patent landscaping
Technology readiness assessment
Explain “SWOT” analysis
An analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & threats, that could apply to the company as well as the product idea
In SWOT-analysis, you first look internally at the business (company, organization, product) to identify its strengths and weaknesses
You then review the external business environment in which the business (company, organization, product) unit operates and identify opportunities presented by that environment and the threats posed by that environment
What are some questions to be asked when performing a SWOT analysis
Strengths
What does company do well?
Weaknesses
What does company do poorly?
Problems?
Opportunities
Are industry trends moving upward?
Do new market exist?
Threats
What are competitors doing well?
What obstacles for company?
Explain the process of benchmarking
Form a list of relevant design issues and properties
Identify competing or related products
Conduct an information search
If possible, buy exemplars of competing products
Systemize product information
Analyze the information
Why is benchmarking useful in the development process?
For identifying customer needs - What are others satisfying?
For improving concept generation - what sub-solutions do others use, can we prove our concept to be better?
For embodiment design - Can we adapt or improve used design features?
For establishing product specifications - How can we secure that we set goals that lead to a competitive product?
For detailed design - What supplier can we use for components?
Note! that benchmarking may lead to a tendency to copy industry leaders rather than developing differentiated ideas.
What does patent benchmarking mean?
Analyzing the uniqueness of a technical solution
What is patent landscaping?
Using patent information to determine filing trends and areas of interest, leading actors etc. Often spans over several technologies. Broad class symbols when searching. Extensive lists of keywords.
What is TRL?
Technology readiness level
Used to assess and communicate how mature and ready a technology is to deploy
Minimizes risks by suggesting the next development and verification steps
TRL 6 typically required for use of technology when formally starting to develop a complex product (car, aircraft, etc)
What is MRL?
Manufacturing readiness (MRL)
Addresses the readiness to manufacture a product
