How can automotive parts companies effectively manage R&D projects?

Analysis of Problems in Automotive Parts R&D Project Management

General R&D enterprises have conducted a lot of project research and accumulated a wealth of R&D experience, but there are still many shortcomings in R&D project management. The various aspects of project management run through the entire lifecycle of the project, with R&D process management and cost control being particularly obvious. There are also some deficiencies in other areas, such as project R&D not being able to follow job responsibilities clearly, insufficient project management awareness, and one-sided management experience.

① Lack of project management concepts: Most enterprises focus on processing as the main task, with research as a supplementary means, and have not formed a good project management culture over the years, especially with unclear understanding of project management for R&D projects. Some R&D personnel believe that R&D project management is unnecessary and has no value.

② Incomplete implementation of project plans: Although most enterprises have established certain workflows applicable to product R&D, which at least currently seem to meet the requirements for product R&D, and employees recognize the importance of the R&D process, during execution, they believe that the designed processes have certain changes, such as unexpected events during the R&D process, which can affect the original R&D plan. Due to various factors (time, scope of work, market changes, etc.), the existing R&D project workflows become ineffective and cannot fully execute the established project plans.

③ Lack of complete process management for projects: Although most enterprises have designed corresponding R&D processes, in terms of completeness and systematization, most automotive parts R&D enterprises lack a complete R&D process.

④ Insufficient control of project progress: Delays often occur during R&D projects. Research has found that some enterprises generally have project planners design a relatively accurate project implementation timeline, but during implementation, they often cannot complete the project R&D requirements on time.

⑤ Outdated cost management concepts and methods: Some enterprises' R&D systems overall exhibit outdated concepts of R&D cost management and control, manifested as: chaotic and incomplete cost range definitions, unclear cost objectives, and inability to skillfully use cost evaluation methods, with cognitive biases present in the formation of these concepts.

⑥ Unclear job responsibilities: At the initial stage of the company's R&D project team establishment, only a few core members of the R&D center team participated and implemented, with no relevant business departments or subordinate company personnel involved in communication, leading to increased difficulty in coordination when relevant departments need to coordinate during the project research process.

⑦ Insufficient information sharing among R&D teams: These phenomena are mainly reflected in the repeated occurrence of the same research content, lack of understanding of mutual progress between different small teams, and project R&D having experience but lacking knowledge.

⑧ Incomplete historical R&D data cannot provide relevant support for subsequent projects. When new R&D projects are working on task division, resource allocation, workload calculation, etc., there is very little historical data or project experience available for the project control group, resulting in significant deviations in project planning and resource allocation.

Countermeasures for Automotive Parts R&D Project Management

1. Establish and strengthen the awareness and consensus of automotive parts R&D project management

Automotive parts R&D work is not just a single task of the enterprise's technology and R&D departments, but a complex systematic project that requires the concentration of the enterprise's management system and organizational strength. Therefore, it is necessary to establish and strengthen the awareness and consensus of project management during the automotive parts R&D process. It is essential to enhance the acceptance of leadership and management concepts among automotive parts R&D personnel, clarify the relationship between personnel management and project management in the R&D process, and root the idea of management efficiency and effectiveness in the personnel and processes of automotive parts R&D, so that automotive parts R&D can more effectively embrace the control and norms of project management.

2. Improve the automotive parts R&D project management system

Due to the diverse goals of automotive parts R&D projects and the complexity and multiple functions of management, it is necessary to accelerate the construction and improvement of the automotive parts R&D project management system to adapt to the development of automotive parts R&D projects and the implementation of project management work. On one hand, a hierarchical project management system should be established, centered on automotive parts R&D, to create a tiered management system that advocates effective communication and coordination at all levels and stages. By decomposing levels, the specificity of project management can be improved, and by integrating level objectives, the effectiveness of project management can be enhanced, leading to better management and control of automotive parts R&D work. On the other hand, a fluctuation space for project management should be established. Since automotive parts R&D involves creative labor, certain freedom and fluctuation range should be given to R&D and project management, using dynamic and adjustable strategies to broadly constrain and control the automotive parts R&D process, while improving the specificity of project management and reflecting new ideas of scientific and humanized project management.

3. Comprehensive tracking of the progress and process of automotive parts R&D projects

Project management should establish time nodes and progress for automotive parts R&D, effectively monitor automotive parts R&D projects, and comprehensively and timely grasp the progress of automotive parts R&D projects to respond with management measures. In management, projects with deviations in automotive parts R&D progress and slow processes should be highlighted, and objective factors and supervisory conditions should be analyzed technically and managerially. Targeted measures should be adopted to adjust the process, reality, and status of automotive parts R&D, quickly correct deviations in automotive parts R&D projects, and build a new mechanism for project management in automotive parts R&D, providing a management platform for the smooth development of automotive parts R&D projects.

4. Address key issues in automotive parts R&D project management

The main factors affecting automotive parts R&D and constraining project management are the difficulty in grasping key issues and breakthroughs in key technologies. Therefore, during the project initiation period for automotive parts R&D, a comprehensive prediction and research on technology should be conducted, using project management work as a platform, focusing on key technologies and issues to discuss the feasibility of automotive parts R&D projects, thereby determining the key issues and technologies for the implementation of automotive parts R&D projects, identifying the key points and countermeasures for solving problems and technologies, and further improving the project management system for automotive parts R&D projects, ensuring that project management covers the key issues and technologies in the automotive parts R&D process, continuously improving the project management system, enhancing the foresight and effectiveness of project management, and accelerating the development, implementation, and completion of automotive parts R&D projects.

5. Improve the processes of automotive parts R&D project management

Automotive parts R&D project management needs to follow a standardized and process-oriented approach, so as to keep the automotive parts R&D process and project management work in a stable, continuous, and controllable state. Before automotive parts R&D, project processes and management systems should be formulated based on the actual conditions of the enterprise and the objective conditions of R&D, implementing effective control over key steps, critical periods, and important nodes, enriching the means of automotive parts R&D project management, grasping the key elements of automotive parts R&D project management, promoting effective control of automotive parts R&D costs, and enhancing the smoothness and standardization of project management work. The management of automotive parts R&D projects should be built on a reasonable and effective process foundation, strengthening the management of details and key points in automotive parts R&D projects while achieving comprehensive control over the risks of automotive parts R&D and project implementation management.

6. Establish a cost management system for automotive parts R&D projects

Managing automotive parts R&D projects must highlight the idea of cost management and control, and have a complete set of economic control and cost management ideas for automotive parts R&D projects, in order to enhance the economic efficiency and effectiveness of automotive parts R&D project management. On one hand, the concept of controlling costs should be established in automotive parts R&D projects, based on the actual automotive parts R&D cycle and the lifecycle of automotive parts, to comprehensively determine the costs of automotive parts R&D, thereby further optimizing the costs of automotive parts usage and production, achieving the establishment of economic goals for automotive parts R&D costs, and promoting the minimization of costs in automotive parts R&D projects. In the management of automotive parts R&D projects, the core content of cost management should be established, focusing project management on key aspects such as cost awareness and expenditure control, emphasizing the planning of automotive parts R&D resources, formulating cost budgets for automotive parts R&D projects, implementing effective control of costs in automotive parts R&D projects, and using systematic automotive parts R&D project management to effectively predict and control project costs. In the practical operation of automotive parts R&D project management, prerequisite cost target management measures should be established to constrain the automotive parts R&D process with target costs, implementing scientific automotive parts R&D project management, and making cost control the main goal of project management and automotive parts R&D, ensuring that expenditures and costs in the automotive parts R&D project management process are stable and controllable.

7 Improving the auxiliary system of automotive parts R&D project management

As part of automotive parts R&D project management, it is essential to build a supportive system, so that project management can focus more on the core business of automotive parts R&D, applying more funds, manpower, and resources to the actual work of automotive parts R&D, and establishing a broader support platform for project management. On one hand, the project management department should build a management information network for automotive parts R&D information, collect data on automotive parts R&D, process information related to automotive parts R&D, summarize the archives of automotive parts R&D projects, and improve the informatization level and communication ability of automotive parts R&D project management work, ensuring the efficiency and speed of the main engineering of automotive parts R&D. On the other hand, a corporate culture conducive to automotive parts R&D project management should be established, creating a cultural platform that supports automotive parts R&D and project management through team building and group culture construction, better achieving knowledge sharing, activity expansion, and cultural activities in the automotive parts R&D process, effectively ensuring the actual work of automotive parts R&D project management.

Conclusion

Automotive parts R&D is an important core task for automotive enterprises, and implementing scientific project management is a key goal of the management system for automobiles. Market-oriented thinking and scientific management concepts should be introduced into the details of parts R&D project management, starting from the issues faced by automotive enterprises in parts R&D projects, reconstructing the management system and mechanism, effectively enhancing the progress of automotive parts R&D, improving the functionality and effectiveness of project management, solidifying the foundational system, management prerequisites, and project system of automotive parts R&D, upgrading project management, promoting automotive parts R&D projects to follow a scientific and systematic management path, and creating new models and examples for automotive parts R&D project management.