ANALYSIS OF NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN A BRAZILIAN PETROCHEMICAL COMPANY

Abstract

This work explores the process of product innovation development at a Brazilian petrochemical firm. The firm – Petroflex – started in 1997 a systematic effort aiming a portfolio renewal. It has been trying to introduce and commercialize specialties and performance products, which are expected to be more profitable. Petroflex’s portfolio went from about 25 products in 1997 to more than 70 currently. This work tries to describe how the process has evolved and to identify the success factors in the new product development processes. Based on the literature on success and failure in the development and launching of product innovations, the study has considered technological as well market aspects. The work was conducted as a case study based principally on interviews with R&D, industrial and marketing engineers that have participated at the development, industrial production and commercialization of new products. The most important success factors were: the R&D team capacity and its early experience on process development, product complementarity and level of innovation, the expenditure on R&D, the organizational structure and the managerial style adopted, and the direction support. The analysis suggests that the results achieved by Petroflex could derive essentially from the mobilization capacity of the knowledge accumulated by the firm along its history.