CIRJE-J-1. Thomke, Stefan and Takahiro Fujimoto, "Shortening Product Development Time Through 'Front-Loading' Problem-Solving", April 1998.

Shorter development lead times, other things being equal, contribute to competitive advantages in many of today's industries where market needs and available technologies are difficult to predict, rapidly changing or diversified, where novelty is highly valued in the market, and where competition through new products and technologies are intense. In this paper, we focus on the early identification and solving of design problems --- a concept that we define as front-loading --- as a way to reduce development time. With the aid of a conceptual model and some evidence from automotive development practice, we develop a problem-solving methodology that leverages new technologies and methods such as advanced computer modeling, simulation and rapid prototyping.