Determinants of new product designers' satisfaction with suppliers' contribution

A structural model was used to evaluate the impact of designer-supplier relationship on product development processes. Results suggest that long term cooperation between designers and suppliers are instrumental in enhancing the efficiency of development processes. It was also established that technology suppliers who capitalize on customer service, responsiveness and cooperativeness tend to obtain strong support from design teams. However, companies appear to be more inclined in the management aspect rather than the technical elements of a particular project.