PurposeThe exploratory paper investigates the reasons for the adoption or non‐adoption of quality tools in industry. Although quality tools such as statistical process control and failure mode effect analysis are commonly practiced in manufacturing, the same cannot be said for product development.Design/methodology/approachWe adopted a case study approach in this study, which has been found to be the more suitable approach for exploratory research. Semi‐structured interviews ranging from half an hour to one and a half hours were conducted with seven industrialists and three academics. These industrialists are R&D managers, product development managers, project managers and engineers who have been involved in new product development (NPD) in one way or another.FindingsBuilding on previous studies, the study identified two categories of factor affecting the adoption of quality tools: internal and external factors. User‐friendliness, usefulness, time, monetary cost, flexibility and popularity of the tools are internal factors which may influence the usage of tools. External factors such as project nature, organization, industries and culture account for the external influence.Originality/valueBy identifying the possible reasons of (non‐)adoption of quality tools in NPD, researchers can better design tools and techniques which would be more readily adopt by companies.