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Medical-equipment manufacturers and suppliers that would like to measure their performance developing new products are invited to participate in a free study conducted by International TechneGroup Inc (iti-global.com). The study is conducted by an online survey. For their effort, says ITI Marketing Services Manager Bob Farrell, participating companies will receive a report that benchmarks them against best-in-class Japanese firms that participated in a similar study in 2007. In addition, the study will present a comparison of how well the company executes product-development activities against plans.

“It takes some commitment in that we're asking participants to assemble a comprehensive team of 25 to 40 or more people from a cross section of new product development related disciplines to take the survey,” says Farrell. The Milford, Ohio consultancy has already completed surveys among industrial-manufacturing firms. “Each participating individual receives a link and password to an online survey. It takes about 45 min. to complete the questions. The data (answers) help identify, for example, how well the company hits cost targets on a scale of 1 to 5, how well it executes plans, how up-to-date the company design and analysis software may be, and so forth.”

When all participants from the company have completed the survey, ITI says it will present a report to that firm showing how well, according to participants, the company is doing and where improvement should be focused. In addition, the report will benchmark participants against best-in-class and industry average data obtained from past study participants (without naming names). A white paper detailing 2007 study results can be downloaded from: tinyurl.com/medicalsurvey. Reach ITI's Farrell at (513) 576-3900 or farrell@iti-lobal.com.