Designing for speed creates surprising competitive benefits: growth of market share and reduction
of inventory requirements. Hewlett-Packard, Brunswick Corp., GE’s Electrical Distribution and
Control Division, AT&T, and Benetton are among the companies who have reported stunning
achievements in cycle-time reduction for both product development and manufacturing (Dumaine,
1989). In each of the companies, the gains resulted from efforts based on a focus on major processes.
Other common features of these efforts included: