Successful Product Development

About this Publication

Despite all the effort companies have put into new product development (NPD), studies show that for the majority of companies, NPD productivity is actually in decline. Speaking at Pure Insight's 2006 seminar "Lean, Rapid and Profitable New Product Development", Dr Robert G Cooper observed that in spite of claims to be ahead of their peers, "most companies are still failing to master the basics of NPD".

Some key competences, such as Portfolio Management and Customer Focus, have already been addressed in Pure Insight reports. This report will looks at the key principles that have to be addressed if companies are to create an efficient and productive NPD culture and process.

The Successful Product Development report provides practical insights into.

1. Front End Loading
Due diligence in the early days of a new product project pays off! A good dose of right up front homework pays for itself ten fold in terms of saving time and higher success rates.

2. Structured Process
Many businesses’ "idea to launch" process are loaded with bureaucracy, time wasting and make-work activities, rigid procedures, endless meetings and committees. Smart companies have streamlined their processes, removing waste and inefficiency, have make them flexible scaleable and adaptable.

3. Internal and External Collaboration
A further source of resources that can be effectively deployed to reduce time to market, or radically improve the product offering are external partners.

4. Design Techniques and Tools
There is now a growing move for leading companies to actually bring the Voice of the Customer into the heart of the NPD through user centred design practices. For many products, manufacturing and in particular service and support are vital ‘customers’, and failing to take account of their needs can just as easily result in a product failure.

5. Spiral Development
Companies are finding that their markets are now a lot more unstable and dynamic, and that they can no longer have a rigid linear process. With a spiral approach, teams do not wait until the final testing phase to get feedback on the product.

6. Metrics
Another very weak area for many companies, with few having effective development metric systems in place.

Table of Content

Chapter 1 - Introduction
                         a. Key processes
                         b. Key techniques
                         c. Key tools

Chapter 2 - Before Design starts
                         a. Project and product scoping
                         b. Building a business case
                         c. Customer focus
                         d. Design re-use

Chapter 3 - Structured NPD processes
                   
Chapter 4 - Process improvements
                          a. DFSS
                          b. Lean product development

Chapter 5 - Internal and External collaboration
                         a. Teams
                         b. Cross-borders
                         c. Outsourcing development/design

Chapter 6 - User-centred Design

Chapter 7 - Design for X
                          a. Design for manufacture and assembly
                          b. Design for serviceability and support

Chapter 8 - Spiral Development

Chapter 9 - Risk Management

Chapter 10 - NPD Metrics

Key Insights

By reading this report you will be confident of putting the right resources and tools in your NPD process in at the right time.

Successful Product Development: from Concept to Prototype is packed with:

• expert views and real examples
• tried and tested frameworks
• methodologies
• metrics and tools

all aimed to ensure that your team is optimising its process from concept to prototype.