Structure and Process of a Product Development Project 1 Model Flow Chart Basic scheme: A product development project can be described schematically in a simplified form using a “3 × 3” matrix (see Jorden & Weiberg, 1977). This matrix consists of three levels (“processing,” “controlling,” and “deciding”) and three successive phases (“planning,” “designing,” and “elaborating”). While the processing level can extend over the entire operation, the control function is usually the respon- sibility of a project leader who has been specifically designated to lead the task. The project leader coordinates and monitors the individual activities within the phases. The final decision at the end of a phase is made by corporate management or a committee appointed by corporate management. The basic scheme of a product development project is shown in Fig. 1. Model flow chart: The basic scheme from Fig. 1 is transferred to an exemplary flow chart, as shown in Fig. 2, which may correspond to the project flow in a medium- sized mechanical engineering company with a series of products. This plan is the basis for a consideration of typical individual activities in the development process. The responsible participants in the flow chart are as follows: • E—(head of) product development, • F—(head of) production, • G—corporate management, • L—project leader, • M—(head of) materials management, • P—(head of) product planning, • Q—(head of) quality management, • V—(head of) sales. Differences from “VDI 2221 (1993)”: In contrast to the model flow chart in Fig. 2, “VDI 2221” (1993) contains four phases; specifically, the design phase is divided into “conceptual design” and “embodiment design.” Depending on the task, however, © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 J. Schlattmann and A. Seibel, Structure and Organization of Product Development Projects, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81046-7_4 37