Tools to support the innovation process: the 3P Methodology

The rapid evolution of technologies and the changeability of market scenarios make the need to invest continuously and with determination in product and process innovation more and more current: innovation has become a critical factor for competitiveness and success for the company. In order to respond effectively to this need, it cannot be improvised: it is necessary to rely on a structured corporate innovation management process supported by suitable tools.

There are numerous Innovation Tools to support the various phases of the innovation process, starting from those that favor the generation and evaluation of ideas, up to those useful for facing the development and design of a new product or a new line of production. Among the latter, the 3P Methodology (Production Preparation Process) represents a possible alternative. The methodology, based on principles deriving from the Lean theory from the Toyota world, represents a systematic approach to innovation in the development of a new product (Product Design 3P) or a new process (Process Design 3P) and presents a series of concrete advantages :

• It is general, therefore applicable to any application area
• It favors the work of a group of heterogeneous teams
• It guarantees a good balance between divergent and converging phases
• It is also interesting for very technical profiles (eg engineers, etc.), being characterized by a process consisting of well-defined phases and accompanied by numerical evaluations
• It’s fun because it also involves rapid prototyping of ideas and concepts.

The meeting, after a general introduction by CRIT on some support tools for the innovation process and a brief review of case studies, foresees the testimony of L3 Calzoni on the 3P Methodology, with particular reference to 3P Product Design, and on its use as a tool to support the development of new products.