Product design and development is critical in helping an organisation to achieve its long-term success, especially in offering products aligned to the needs and preferences of its clients in different parts of the world (Christopher 2016). There is a need to understand how collaboration within a firm supply chain processes can enhance the process of designing and developing products. The study intends to generate information that can be used by the electronic industry to enhance its product design and development, through its supply chain processes that generating information and ideas to come up with better products in terms of features, prices aligned to changing needs of their customers.
i) How does the firm facilitate supply chain collaboration in its systems?
ii) Does supply chain collaboration impact positively on the firm’s product design and development processes?
iii) What are the strategies that can be used by the firm in facilitating supply chain collaboration?
iv) What are the challenges to supply chain collaboration in the firm and how does this affect product design and development process?