Wrist Watch with Music - Designing New Product - Case Study Example

? Designing New Product Introduction New product development can be described as a process of developing a new product or service for the target market. New product development comprises of various stages of product or service development and involves the completion of each step before the product or service can be introduced into the market. New product development is essential for any business to be competitive with the ever changing market trends and demands. New products are a crucial component of business and are essential for the viability of a business. It has become more of a necessity than an option for any company. Organizations are faced with high intensity of competition within the industry and also from new entrants. There is even competition from the outside players as well. Every business has to innovate to stay ahead in the competitive market. No business can afford to offer the same unchanged product. This will lead to a decrease in sale and profits reduced. Hence new product development has become an indispensable strategy for any organization in order to build a competitive advantage and carry out its operations effectively in the market place. Discussion The advancement in information and communication technology, computes etc., is influencing almost all aspects of the business world, from networking to marketing, research and development. Understanding and effectively utilizing the advancements in this technology are vital for any business if they aspire to continuously grow their business and attract new customers and clients. Technology is transforming the core of innovation. With the help of technology, companies can now test new ideas with unimaginable speed and minimum prices. Online resources help a company to test market its product or service after the initial development, to assess or evaluate the viability of the product and make necessary changes according to customer feedback. Technological advancements have helped companies to launch their innovative initiatives within no time and with least amount they have ever imagined. As information technology becomes cheaper and available to public at large, the competition for continuously growing and developing innovative products and services for the customers is becoming a necessity for companies to thrive. This makes continuous use of advancement in information technology very crucial for companies for constant innovation and growth in the market. There are various ways by which market can be segmented such as demographic segmentation, geographic segmentation, psychographic and behavioural segmentation (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2011, p.343). The present generation of young people are tech-savvy. This generation want quick solutions for everything, starting from their daily requirements, likes and preferences, means of pleasure etc. Customers look for products with multiples features or products and devices which are multi-tasking. Considering the present trend of consumers, two products can be targeted. Wrist watch is a common accessory today, which is not only used as a time tracker but has become a status symbol, owing to the continuous developments in the design and features. People, especially college students and young working professionals also carry with them music players such as iPod and other music devices. These people are music lovers and like to listen to music during their free hours such as travelling and lunch and also sometimes during work. Sometimes it becomes tedious to take iPods or music players everywhere they go. They also forget to carry it sometimes, as it is not a regular accessory like a wristwatch. Looking at this opportunity the new product which has been planned to develop and launch in the market will be an innovative wrist watch with an embedded music system or music player in it. The music system will be equipped with a wireless Bluetooth. The watch will work as a touch screen for changing songs and folders. Wrist Watch with Music: A Brief Overview The new product which has been planned to develop and launch in the market will be an innovative wrist watch with an embedded music system or music player in it. The music system will be equipped with a wireless Bluetooth. The projected features of the product of the product are:- Embedded music player Hands free buds with operational Bluetooth Touch screen watch. New Product Development Process Nowadays organizations are facing increased level of competition within the industry (Monczka, 2000, p.1). Competition is coming across even from the foreign players as well, apart from the established domestic players. Hence it has become imperative for an organization to undertake new product development strategy in order to hold its market share in the industry and perform its operations effectively for continuous growth and development. The new product development process starts from idea generation and continues till commercialization of the product (Boone & Kurtz, 2011, p.395). The stages are briefly described below:- Idea Generation – In this step various ideas about the product is generated such as suggestion from customers, brainstorming sessions, employees and from the research and development team of the company (Coates et al, 1997). Market research can be conducted to find out the consumers preferences for technologically enhanced and multitasking watch (Sambandam, 2013). The company can engage in brain storming sessions with the managers from different departments to find out the viability of the product and the operational issues the company will be facing in the development of this product. To find out what competitors are offering, the company can keep a track on new products launched by the competitors and get feedback from the dealers and agents about the products and services offered by the competitors. Concept Screening – Based on the overall purpose of the company, the generated ideas are screened accordingly. Only those proposals are kept which are in context with the objective of the company (Smith, 2011). Here it is important to understand the necessity of the product. It is also important to understand and analyse the current resources and whether the existing plant and machinery are equipped for the manufacture of new product or not. The screening is also necessary to find out whether the new product can be sold through the existing marketing network. Concept Development and Business Analysis – Further screening takes place in this step. The primary areas of analysis in this stage include possible future sales, growth rate and issues related to the opportunities and threats (Queensland Government, 2013). Product Development – This is the stage where in reality the product gets its final physical form. All the necessary activities such as design, attributes and colour of the product are carried out in this step (Cannon, 1978). A product dimensions is also an important aspect of marketing strategy (Moghaddam & Foroughi, 2012, p.20). Thus it becomes very necessary to determine the product attributes. To carry out the product development, various departments will come into action. The production department will finalise the plans and implement them to produce the product. The marketing department will plan strategies to distribute the new product. The finance department will provide the necessary budget to finance the entire new product development process. The advertising department will structure the advertisements for the launch and promotion of this product. In the next topic a detailed discussion on the design and the operations of the new product development will be given. Five Primary Design Strategies Cost Advantage- To gain a cost advantage, the company can minimise the cost of production, components and assembly costs (Beheshti, 2004). In this case, the company cannot go for cost advantage, because the new product will be kept on a higher price band and will need absolute advanced technological equipments for the development of this product. Design Prominence Design prominence is a kind of strategy which focuses on presentations, packaging and innovative concepts which helps in delivering a higher customer value (Kuan et al, 2010). Enhanced product usability due to advanced product design and will result in higher customer loyalty and positive perception for the product. In this new product development, the company can use this strategy. The innovative product design will be its Unique Selling Proposition. Feature Leadership A design strategy follows feature leadership when the company delivers highly innovative and cutting edge solutions and then highlights how the features of its product can provide those innovative benefits (Pitta et al, 1996). The company can follow a future leadership strategy by providing a design strategy which is innovative and provides competitive advantage to the company Concentrated Application Concentrated application is a product strategy where the product design is tailor made according to the needs and demand of the target customer. The product is made the most appropriate item available to the target customers in terms of performance and fitting into the relevant criteria (Coates and Robinson, 1995). In case of the wrist watch with music system, the target customers are the music lovers who may be the regular college goers or the busy professionals who like to listen to their favourite songs while travelling or working without the hassle of carrying an iPod or music player with them. The features of this product will satisfy the exact requirements of this class of customers. Desirable Alternative This kind of product strategy is used when the product has features which can be used as a replacement or an alternative for an established product category. In this case of Wrist watch with music player embedded, it can be a popular alternative for the regular music player. The advantage of using this strategy is that the company can target those customers who are music lovers but do not want to carry too much of gadgets with them, every time they travel. The actions which a company apply to achieve the unique strategy chosen, will depend on the design situation. There are four main design situations which are used extensively. A renovative design situation is used when the existing products undergoes minor changes and updates (West and Purvis, 1994). A design situation is called adaptive when existing products or services are modified according to the changes in consumer’s demands or advancement in the technology. Evolutionary design situation occurs when new products are designed but with existing technology which gives similar or better offerings than the competitor products prevailing in the market (Rose-Anderssen et al, 2005). A design situation is known as discontinuous when breakthrough products are developed either by applying new technology altogether, or by using new technology in an existing commercial product. In this case, the company can follow a breakthrough marketing design as the product is completely new and innovative and highly advanced technologies are used for the design and development of this product. To utilise the design strategies to its full potential, the company can use various tools of operations management. It basically refers to the administration of business practices that are most efficient to the organisation. Six sigma and Lean Management are the two widely used theories in operation management. Six sigma is a strategy used to improve the quality of the output by minimising the error and variability during manufacturing and business process. Lean is the strategy which is more focussed on minimising the waste is decreasing the steps in the operation. The company can use Lean and Six sigma operation tools, to minimise the waste, and improve the quality of the process and maximise the profit of the organisation. Quality Assessment of the Product Quality assessment is an important process in the new product development process. It refers to the activities which ensure that the product is viable and the fulfilling the objective. Quality assessment is done by quality managers, product users, customers and employees. During quality assessment many factors are taken into account. The performance of the product is checked. The product is evaluated in terms of its reliability and durability, in this case the product life cycle and up gradation options are evaluated. Serviceability of the product is checked to find out the available repair and exchange options for the product. Primary review from the internal employees can be carried out to find out the aesthetics or perceived appearance of the new product. To find out the perceived quality and features of the product in the market, test marketing with a pilot sample is carried out. The company will also have to register its product in The International Organization of Standardization (ISO), which is very essential for the acceptance of the product in the mass market as well as the government. Thus quality assessment is an essential stage in the product development process for the proper standardization of product and minimization of any error or defect present in the product. House of Quality The house of quality matrix determines, whether a product is able to meet the requirements of the customers or not. However, in order to uncover it large amount of data is required. The matrix consists of product requirements and customer and both the variables are compared with each other. In addition, the matrix also consists of a triangular section that determines whether the product requirement and customer requirement has a positive or negative correlation. Relevance in the Sector The Watch industry is a mature sector. Almost all classes of people wear wrist watches. Many developments took place in the design and development of wrist watches. Today wrist watches are not only used for time, but they are a status symbol. Though the technological advancement in wrist watches have not been as advanced compared to mobile and laptops, customer are still looking for innovations and new designs in this category of accessories. The current new product, which is a wrist watch with embedded and portable music player exactly, fits into the category. The target customers for this product category will be college goers and young working professionals who are music lovers but either have limited time or do not want to carry too many gadgets while travelling. The new product will help increasing the overall sale of the company. The new product will not only target the existing customers who prefer new and innovative designs in wristwatches, but will also acquire customers who are regular users of iPods or other music players but are looking for a more portable device. Apart from capturing the regular wrist watch market, the product can be a popular alternative for iPod and music players. The unique design of the product will help in creating a brand value for the product. The product will be very portable and easy to operate which will reduce the hassle of using it and will increase the acceptance among majority of consumers. Conclusion New product development for a company has become a necessity more than being an option. Organizations are facing high intensity of competition from the industry as well as outside. Hence new product development has become an indispensable task for an organization in order to keep its positioning and growth in the market place. With this objective the company decided to introduce a completely new product in the market. The company planned to introduce a wrist watch with a portable music player embedded, targeted at college students and young professionals, music lovers. An efficient new product development process was followed. Once the concept was developed and screening was done with the help of reviews from customers and managers, product development started. For this design strategies were selected and the most efficient strategy was followed. For increasing the efficiency of the entire operations, operational management tools such as six sigma and lean management were used. Once the product was completed, proper quality assessment was done and the product was launched. References Beheshti, H. M., 2004. 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