The focus of competition in manufacturing industry has shifted from cost to technology. But competitive advantage based on technology can only be maintained by a policy of continuous renewal and innovation. There are never enough new products and their development is never fast enough. To recoup the heavy investment of resources demanded by the increasing pace and complexity of new product developments they must be exploited in the broadest possible marketplace. The paper discusses the sourcing, selection and development of innovative product ideas from the standpoint of an international automotive component supplier.
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