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This book puts management of product innovation in a corporate strategic perspective and argues that a company's competitive position is strongly related to an underlying unique and continually renewed product innovation work process, which drives innovation and delivery of new or improved products in the marketplace. The book will take the reader through a systematic examination of the necessary consecutive steps for companies' successful development of non-assembled products in the cluster of process industries. For readers in search of a seamless, easy-to-use, effective formal product innovation work process, from customer understanding to product launch, this book provides a guiding framework and "hands-on" advice for work process design. A novel five-phase structural process model of the product innovation work process is initially introduced in order to orchestrate a more dynamic interaction between product and process innovation and the integration of sustainability and product eco-design in product design. The reader will learn first about the importance of aligning new product ideas with the corporate business model and product innovation strategy during the contextualization phase and then how to transform product ideas into well-defined complementary product and process concepts. In the movement of product ideas from the conceptualization phase to industrialization, the use of pilot-planting and production trials for scale-up of product and process concepts is further explored. To secure a design for processability, a novel industrialization sub-process is introduced, and the integration of complementary development of product and service offerings is further examined. The deployment of application development throughout and after product launch is highlighted for an enhancement of product commercialization and a reduction of "time to break even" for new products.

Using a survey mode of inquiry, involving informants from 19<FOR VERIFICATION>global manufacturing companies in six sectors of the process industries, this study explores the intrinsic nature of product innovation of non-Assembled products. Results show that the characteristics of the "transformation-based"production system in the process industries should not only govern the design of the total product innovation work process and the selection and use of related experimental environment but will also influence the design of the forthcoming production system. It is noted that pilot-planting and full-scale production trials are important instruments not only during the product development phase, but also afterward in solving B2B customers' post-launch production problems. It is concluded that the experimental output from the product development phase of the product innovation work process for non-Assembled products is both a new product design and a new foundation for the production process design.

This paper explores company design of a formal work process for non-assembled products, using a survey mode of inquiry with a follow-up questionnaire in an interactive dialogue with selected case-companies. The preliminary findings suggest that in the development or reconfiguration of company product innovation work processes in the process industries, it is advisable to design a work process that is adapted to inherent and contextual process-industrial conditions. It is further indicated that such a product innovation work process requires greater product and process integration from ideation to product launch and increased focus on the industrialization phase. The proposed novel five-phase structural model presented in a Stage-Gate format, can be deployed as a guiding template in company development or reconfiguration of an enhanced product innovation work process for the development of non-assembled products. 

In a survey mode of inquiry with informants in 19 global manufacturing companies in six sectors of the process industries, integration of product-service offerings (PSO) in the product innovation work process for non-assembled products has been examined. The results reveal that the case-companies have already come far on what one could characterise as a service infusion journey. The findings further indicate that it is advisable not only to articulate and institutionalise a PSO strategy during the contextualisation phase of a work process but also to include service development early in conceptualisation during pre-product development. A novel three-phase PSO sub-process has been developed and is proposed to be integrated in the product innovation work process. Apart from the confirmation of a need to deploy proper product launch strategies, a more general process-industrial dilemma has been identified related to the extremely long ‘time-to-break-even’ for product introductions during the post-launch phase.

In a review and theoretical analysis, Quality Function Deployment, Design Thinking and complementary methodologies have been assessed as supporting instruments in the development of non-assembled products. The findings demonstrate that QFD and DT characteristics substantially differ and that DT lacks many aspects of importance for process-industrial application. However, the results show that the methodologies are complementary in use; thus, an indepth knowledge of both methodologies could create a company competitive advantage in product innovation. Companies in the process industries are thus advised to use the results as a guiding framework for methodology selection and use in the different parts of the product innovation work process.

In an exploratory inquiry, involving informants in 19 global manufacturing companies in six sectors of the process industries, ideation, and concept integration during the pre-development of non-assembled products was studied. New and previously deployed constructs and concepts related to innovation in a process-industrial context have initially been developed, refined, and empirically tested. The findings demonstrate the importance of an early integration of constructs and concepts for raw material innovation, innovation-related process technology, and product innovation, as a prerequisite for successful ideation of new or improved products in the process industries. Companies in different sectors of the process industries can implement and use the novel “integrated framework” for contextualization and conceptualization of new product ideas in their development or reconfiguration of an enhanced work process for non-assembled products.

Previous empirical research on the industrial use and usability of methodologies and tools for product innovation is often based on national samples, and generally focuses on a few select industry sectors and typically lacks a perspective on methodologies as supportive instruments for the product innovation work process. Moreover, even if some studies recognise the problems with low company methodology awareness and use, the underlying causes remain unexplained. In a survey mode of inquiry involving informants in 19 global manufacturing companies in six sectors of the process industries, this study explores use and usability of methodologies in the development of non-assembled products in the process industries. While the findings demonstrate a rather scarce use of innovation methodologies, when they are used case-company informants not only report a high degree of usability but also recommend that all introduced methodologies should be included in an enhanced product innovation work process. The discussion advocates that an overarching strategy for methodology use should be institutionalised by company R&D management, including a "methodology tool-box"of select methodologies, and further facilitated by trained methodology experts as "ambassadors".

Introducing existing, improved or radically new process technology in the process industries is not finished until it is operating well at the firm’s premises; a fact of growing importance in the perspective of digital transformation. However, since it is uncommon for firms in the process industries to develop own process technology, they are dependent on suppliers for the acquisition of new equipment. Relying on the development of an organisational framework, the authors’ industrial experiences, and a literature review, success factors for inter-firm process technology transfer were initially developed. To facilitate the company use, and as an illustrative case, the success factors were afterwards included in a survey to informants in the petrochemical industries. The findings indicate that companies would benefit from the development of an internal guide for inter-firm process technology transfer. The success factors could not only be used as components in such a manual, but also serve as a “check-list” for internal improvement programs for process technology transfer.

 The family of process industries embodies multiple industrial sectors and make up an important part of the entire manufacturing industries of particular importance for late-industrializing countries. In a review of the extant literature on product innovation work processes and best practice innovation of non-assembled products, an integrated conceptual framework has been developed. The novel framework is proposed to guide and invigorate company development and design of individualized product innovation work processes more adapted to process-industrial contextual and innovation conditions. Due to the coupling between products and the production systems in the process industries, it is concluded that development of new products must be better integrated with the development of necessary production capabilities in an end-to-end work process perspective. Research on fuzzy front-end of process-industrial product innovation has been amalgamated but it is demonstrated that more attention should be paid to industrialization and market launch; here denominated the bumpy back-end.