Smart prototyping

Prototyping, as a central part of the innovation process (Rothwell, 1994), is one of the most critical activities in new product development (NPD) (Wall, Ulrich, and Flowers, 1992). It allows one to assess and to overcome uncertainties of future products (Wang, Guan, and Zhao, 2004; Zhang, Vonderembse, and Cao, 2009), and a good use of prototypes increases the speed to market of the products (Chen, Reilly, and Lynn, 2005). Today, many industries are facing the challenges of increasing competition, shorter product life cycles, changing customer demands and fast technology innovations (Liao and Tu, 2007). In such an environment, a highly efficient prototyping process is crucial to overcoming these challenges that could ensure the speed to market and increase successfulness (Tennyson, McCain, Hatten, and Eggert, 2006).