Estudio de la innovación tecnológica en el proceso de diseño y desarrollo de producto: aplicación a las PyMEs de la industria auxiliar del automóvil: caso comparativo Estado de México y Cataluña.

Abstract

The technological innovation consists of an idea transformation in a new marketable or improved product and the design is directly responsible for the success of the products, as a whole, they play an important role in the competitiveness of the companies, nevertheless, these managerial properties, are well known prodigies but they are used in a little degree in the medium and small enterprise. The subject of the research is ¿the technological innovation in the design process of second and third level automotion parts¿ and it is orientated to the analysis of the strategies of design and the relation it keeps with the technological innovation in the interior of the company. An exploration is realized in the automotive manufactured sector, doing a comparative study of the process of design and technological innovation between Mexico (State of Mexico) and Spain (Catalonia), through a field research from the selection and analysis of a sample of Spanish and Mexican companies for which the information is obtained by means of a survey carried out by an interview and the resolution of a designed questionnaire, consequently, the information obtained is processed with a statistical IT program, subsequently, with the analysis of the information obtained, a model of innovation is projected based on the real needs as well as of the good practices that the companies develop in the diverse surveyed sectors, immediately an experimental application is done in some of the companies of the sector. The thesis has two definite objectives: 1.To determine the level of technological innovation in the process of design and development of products in small and medium companies, concretely, those which give services to the automotive sector. 2.The creation and validation of a model of innovation based on processes of design, in order to support companies in their consolidation in the market; to modernize their work organizational structure; to conform a dynamic design process according to their specific needs; to promote their capacities so that these do have a sustainable benefit to the business. The hypotheses formulated in this thesis raise that: The diversity of strategic products which the SMEs develop and their relation with the commercial position of their competitors, influences directly in the creation of competitive advantages; the high costs in technological investment provoke that the SMEs in Mexico continue with obsolete technologies and processes of design; the existence of an inadequate culture in the matter of technological innovation in the key departments in the technological development of manufacturing PyMEs in Mexico. The results obtained, show that: * The SMEs depend on the number of strategic products to sustain the markets in which the company is developed. * The investment in machinery is very important, in its majority of foreign origin. The innovation is tacitly understood, the activities regarding this are originated in the business plans realized previously and of the requirements based in the customers, the projects times and the tendencies that the market demands. * The designer becomes as the main point, as much in the coordination as in the execution of the decisions, the information contributed, turns round about the definition of the product, supervising directly in the factory, the development of the products and establishing interpersonal relations with different actors of the production, distribution and consumption.

La tesis tiene por objetivo determinar el nivel de innovación tecnológica en el proceso de diseño y desarrollo de productos en pequeñas y medianas empresas, en concreto, las que prestan servicios al sector automotriz. Se busca contribuir a la comprensión del significado que poseen estos procesos para la empresa y de todos los aspectos que deben ser tomados en cuenta para que puedan llevarse a cabo de manera óptima. Se realiza una exploración y análisis del sector de manufacturas automotrices haciendo un estudio comparativo del proceso de diseño y la innovación tecnológica entre México (Estado de México) y España (Cataluña), estableciendo tendencias, conductas y determinando las perspectivas que se tienen a medio y largo plazo en ambas zonas geográficas. [...] En esta investigación se emplean cuatro líneas principales de trabajo: (a) Definición de conceptos a partir de los cuales conseguir entender mejor el significado del desarrollo de productos, innovación y diseño en el empresariado PyME; (b) identificación de las prácticas habituales en el proceso de diseño y desarrollo de productos de las PyMEs de acuerdo con sus niveles de incorporación tecnológica y procesos de innovación; (c) determinación de las principales fortalezas y debilidades manifestadas por la empresa en el proceso de diseño y desarrollo de productos en cuanto a conocimiento y aplicación de técnicas; (d) confirmación empírica a nivel experimental del funcionamiento del modelo propuesto de innovación.