Product Development FAQs

What does the Product Development Process look like?

The Product Development Process is outlined below.

1. Idea Generation is often called the "fuzzy front end" of the NPD process
   • Ideas for new products can be obtained from basic research using a SWOT analysis (OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS), Market and consumer trends, company's R&D department, competitors, focus groups, employees, salespeople, corporate spies, trade shows, or Ethnographic discovery methods (searching for user patterns and habits) may also be used to get an insight into new product lines or product features.
   • Idea Generation or Brainstorming of new product, service, or store conceptsidea generation techniques can begin when you have done your OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS to support your ideas in the Idea Screening Phase (shown in the next development step).
2. Idea Screening
   • The object is to eliminate unsound concepts prior to devoting resources to them.
   • The screeners must ask at least three questions:
     • Will the customer in the target market benefit from the product?
     • What is the size and growth forecasts of the market segment/target market?
     • What is the current or expected competitive pressure for the product idea?
     • What are the industry sales and market trends the product idea is based on?
     • Is it technically feasible to manufacture the product?
     • Will the product be profitable when manufactured and delivered to the customer at the target price?
3. Concept Development and Testing
   • Develop the marketing and engineering details
     • Who is the target market and who is the decision maker in the purchasing process?
     • What product features must the product incorporate?
     • What benefits will the product provide?
     • How will consumers react to the product?
     • How will the product be produced most cost effectively?
     • Prove feasibility through virtual computer aided rendering, and rapid prototyping
     • What will it cost to produce it?
   • test the concept by asking a sample of prospective customers what they think of the idea. Usually via Choice Modelling.
4. Business Analysis
   • Estimate likely selling price based upon competition and customer feedback
   • Estimate sales volume based upon size of market and such tools as the Fourt-Woodlock equation
   • Estimate profitability and breakeven point
5. Beta Testing and Market Testing
   • Produce a physical prototype or mock-up
   • Test the product (and its packaging) in typical usage situations
   • Conduct focus group customer interviews or introduce at trade show
   • Make adjustments where necessary
   • Produce an initial run of the product and sell it in a test market area to determine customer acceptance
6. Technical Implementation
   • New program initiation
   • Resource estimation
   • Requirement publication
   • Engineering operations planning
   • Department scheduling
   • Supplier collaboration
   • Logistics plan
   • Resource plan publication
   • Program review and monitoring
   • Contingencies - what-if planning
7. Commercialization (often considered post-NPD)
   • Launch the product
   • Produce and place advertisements and other promotions
   • Fill the distribution pipeline with product
   • Critical path analysis is most useful at this stage

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What Types of New Product Introductions are there?

There are several general categories of new products. Some are new to the market (ex. DVD players into the home movie market), some are new to the company (ex. Game consoles for Sony), some are completely novel and create totally new markets (ex. the airline industry). When viewed against a different criteria, some new product concepts are merely minor modifications of existing products while some are completely innovative to the company.

• Changes to Augmented Product
• Core product revision
• Line extensions
• New product lines
• Repositionings
• Completely new

These different characterizations are displayed in the following diagram.

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We already have a Product Development Program, we dont want to start a whole new process now, is this right for us?

Absolutely. We understand you have invested a lot of time developing your processes. The last thing we want to do is add time and cost to your operations. Our team of experts will evaluate your current process and develop a seamless integration of our tools. Each company is different, that is why you want to hire somone that has worked extensively in these environments and will not hamper your progress. Transformation Partners has the expertise and experience to develop a non-invasive and concurrent plan to transform your existing process into a super-charged product development process.

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References:

• ^ Ulrich, Karl T. and Eppinger, Steven D (2004) Product Design and Development, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2004
• ^ Kim, J. and Wilemon, D. (2002), Sources and assessment of complexity in NPD projects. R&D Management, 33 (1), pp. 16-30.
• ^ Koen et al. (2001), Providing clarity and a common language to the ‘fuzzy front end’. Research Technology Management, 44 (2), pp.46-55
• ^ Smith, Preston G. and Reinertsen, Donald G. (1998) Developing Products in Half the Time, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1998.
• ^ Koen et al. (2001), Providing clarity and a common language to the ‘fuzzy front end’. Research Technology Management, 44 (2), pp.46-55