A product development process for a photovoltaic water pump system in a small to medium enterprise

The effective management of technology and new product development in a high technology small to medium enterprise associated with a large corporation with specific reference to the development of solar photovoltaic water pumps is investigated in this study. Innovative product and the development thereof have already become this century's battleground. The availability of information to all and the ease of communication have contributed to changing the battleground. Small organizations and companies can now also participate in high technology environments, different from the past. Technology management and new product development are subjects that are thoroughly studied, discussed and understood in larger corporations (LCs) and multinational enterprises (MNEs). It would appear that the same cannot always be said when it comes to small to medium high technology enterprises. The following research questions can be asked: • How does the current body of knowledge (regarding technology and new product development) influence and impact on technology and new product development in a small to medium enterprise? • How does the interface and interaction between various small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and SMEs and other large corporations impact on new product development in a small to medium enterprise? • How does a small to medium enterprise cope with relatively limited resources when attempting to develop a new product? • How does the informal nature of a small to medium enterprise impact on new product development? • Does a small to medium enterprise use a structured process to manage new product development? As SMEs become more prominent role players in technology intensive industries, answers to the above questions will strengthen the SME in the relevant areas and enhance the role that SMEs will play in the future. To answer the research questions the study comprises: • an applicable literature survey in the areas of technology management and new product development, • an investigation into the business environment and interaction a typical SME encounters during new product innovation including resource management, • the development of an alternative model for the new product development (NPD) process in an SME, • an industry acceptability survey of the proposed alternative model and • a case study (photovoltaic water pump system) of the development of a new product, mapped onto the developed alternative NPD process. A study of the literature and own experience have shown: • a lack of addressing the above questions and the impact thereof and • a lack of practical and appropriate guidelines to implement technology management and ensure repetitive successful innovative new product development (NPD) in small to medium high technology enterprises. The author suggests a reduced complexity NPD process model, which takes cognisance of intangibles such as the chaotic interaction between various stages and tasks within the NPD process, informal decision making and natural information feedback mechanisms and illustrate why an SME that observes a given structural discipline displays an inherent advantage over large corporations and multinational enterprises. The model is exposed to a limited scope industry survey and applied to a case study (development of a photovoltaic water pump powered by sunlight). The acceptability survey, although limited, suggests that industry supports the hypotheses on which the development of the proposed alternative new product development process is based. The proposed management process was mapped onto the case study to ascertain whether it is practical. The application of the proposed management process to the case study resulted in further insight into possible alternative methods of reporting on new product development work. A complete photovoltaic water pump system as a new product emanated from the case study with significant marketability.