6.1.3 Project Management

Segment circles on the perceptual map move at speeds ranging from 0.7 to 1.3 units each year. You must plan to move your products (or retire them) as the simulation progresses. Generally, the longer the move on the perceptual map, the longer it takes the R&D Department to complete the project.

Project lengths can be as short as three months, or as long as three years. R&D project lengths will increase when the company puts two or more products into R&D at the same time– when this happens each R&D project takes longer. Production line automation levels also affect project lengths (see Figure 6.3 in the "Production" section). R&D project costs are driven by the amount of time they take. A six-month project costs $500,000; a one-year project costs $1,000,000.

It is important to verify completion dates after all decisions have been entered. Usually you want repositioning projects to finish in less than a year. For example, consider breaking an 18 month project into two separate projects, with the first stage ending just before the end of the current year and the second ending halfway through the following year. 

If the project length takes more than a year, the revision date will be reported in the next Courier. However the new performance, size and MTBF will not appear; old product attributes are reported prior to project completion.