New field product development management through the collaboration of a traditional crafts company and an IT apparatus company

Ishikawa Prefecture has top-level traditional-handicrafts techniques in Japan and holds a large production value of traditional crafts. However, according to the Department of Commerce and Industry in the Ishikawa Prefectural Government, its production dropped to a one-third compared with that in its best period (1990). Similarly, the output of traditional industries has been greatly reduced in Japan as a whole. The external factors of this tendency are the change in lifestyle and the increase in cheap imports, and the internal factors might be the delay in product development adapted to the needs, and the delay of new distribution channels development. In order to improve this decline, some new field products have been developed by the collaboration of IT equipment companies and traditional crafts companies. Among these, the USB memory with the box of traditional porcelain, the mouse painted with lacquer, and the iPhone cover decorated with gold lacquer are receiving good reactions from clients. This paper will propose a product development management in a new field, presenting a case study of the above-mentioned hot-selling products.