The influence of strategy and concurrent engineering on design for procurement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of strategy and concurrent engineering (CE) in driving design for procurement (DFP) actions and results via the role of procurement professionals in new product development (NPD). The strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and a hybrid approach are compared, and sequential NPD is compared to a CE approach within a DFP context. Design/methodology/approach ANOVA was applied to survey data collected for a series of items capturing the activities and characteristics relating to procurement for a new product design, as well as the performance of the product compared to other design events in the firm. Findings Several major findings were supported through the analysis. Product-level strategy played a limited role, at best, in driving the implementation of procurement activities and product performance. In contrast, high CE intensity was shown to improve procurement activity and product performance. The results were analyzed along the three dimensions of sustainability, and were especially strong for both environmental and economic-focused activities and performance. Practical implications Managers should work to integrate procurement early into NPD activities, ensure procurement uses strategy to drive decisions, and can use DFP initiatives from this research to implement a DFP program. Originality/value This research is one of the first attempts to empirically test design-for (DFX) approaches in NPD. It creates one of the first theoretical frameworks for DFX-related research.