New Product Development Process - Research Paper Example

Introduction Product development involves various procedures and steps. Product development contains several methods that have to be followed. An industry that manufactures products has to be careful in employing the methods in the development process. A company that manufactures cars has to go through various predefined operations. Any manufacturing company must satisfy the customer's requirements. The company must design and develop the product according to the needs of the customer. To achieve this, a company must conduct pre development study which involves the collection of requirements. Since customer's satisfaction is the main aim of any company, the company must concentrate on the development process. The new product development methodologies must be used. Product development Process Product development process is a collection of methods that assist in developing the product. These methods are implemented to develop a product according to the specifications. The customer's requirements are gathered and they are analyzed. The demand for a particular product must be known before developing the product. The manager is responsible for conducting a research that studies the requirements and expectations of the customer. (Annacchino, 2007).The frequency of the product's demand must also be studied since it will help in the development of the product. The product development process is a set of steps that are followed to design and develop a product. The various steps in the product development process are: Idea Generation. Screening the ideas and proposal. Requirements analysis. Design. Prototyping Development. Market testing. These steps in turn involve various sub modules and methods. If a new product is introduces in the market, it may have a positive or negative effect. It depends on the working of the product and the sales and service. The company has to decide on the rate of new product development. The rate of production includes the number of products that are introduced in a year. This can be identified by conducting a survey and study within the company. The new product development rate depends on the company's financial status and demand in the market. If the demand for a particular product is more, the company should first manufacture the corresponding and then concentrate on the design and development of a new product. The product development steps are carried out in order to develop a complete product that can stand in the market for a longer time. Market study is an important part of the development process. This market study will help the company to know about the current market status and the customer's demand for the company's product. New Product Development Methodology (NPD) New product development methodology provides a predefined framework that includes the steps for planning and developing the product. (Annacchino, 2007).The design, development, testing and implementation are the common processes in the product development methodology. Though several methods are used to develop a product, certain methods are popular among the companies. One among them is Stage-Gate process. This method is widely used in the manufacturing industries. This stage-gate process consists of various gates that act as the intermediary between each of the phase of development. This methodology contains various steps. They are: Discovery, Scope of product, business case, development, testing and validation, launch and review. Each phase of development consists of a gate which acts as a decision making system. The phases of development are outlined below. Discovery In this stage of development process, the idea is discovered. This idea is the base for the development of the product. The product's baseline and the concept are defined in this stage. Then the idea is tested for feasibility. This is achieved by a feasibility study that collects information regarding the product and financial status of the company. The resources required to develop the product are also examined. Scope of Product The scope of the product is studied in this development phase. The scope of the product includes the product's value in the market. The reputation of the company plays a major role in the market place. The product's working and the service provided by the company also decides the life time of the product in the market. The company must also check how well the company's products are received in the market. Prototyping Prototype is a working model of the proposed system. This prototype is developed to inspect the disadvantages and drawbacks of the product if any. The prototype is developed and tested for its efficiency. If the product is found to be satisfying, then the same procedure is followed and the original product is developed. If any disadvantages and problems are found out, then the required modifications are made in the design. This ensures that the developed product is free from problems. Development and Testing Once the prototype is successful, the product moves on to the next phase of development. Development is the important phase in the product development cycle. In this phase the product is developed based on the proposed design.(Annacchino, 2007). The development must include all the requirements specified by the customer. After the completion of development, testing is performed. This testing is done to check whether the product works well in the intended environment. The various types of product testing are applied to the product to check for its performance. Launch The product is developed and it is launched in the market. The period of launch must be decided well in advance. By doing this, unnecessary delays and problems can be avoided. The product must be launched at the appropriate time so that the product can stay in the market for a longer period. Gantt Chart: Product Development Process Task Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Idea Generation/ Proposal Requirements Analysis Investigation Feasibility Study Market Analysis Design Prototyping Development Testing Product Launch Review Problems in the Development Process The existing development processes concentrate only on the company's status and capability. Instead the company must select a process that gives more importance to the customers and their ideas. This will help in the development and will improve the product's position in the market. The methods have to be improved to develop a product in a better way. The methodologies must include options to modify the design whenever possible. If the customer specifies any requirement it must be included in the product so that the customers will be satisfied. Conclusion Product development process is a set of steps that are followed to develop a new product. New product development must be done by implementing a method that will guide the company right from the product proposal and till the launch of the product. A company must select a method that helps them in product development as well as improvement of the company's status. To improve the problems in the existing product development methods, the companies must modify the methods to suit the needs of the company. The company can include certain options so that the product development task becomes easier. Reference Annacchino, M., 2007. The Pursuit of New Product Development: The Business Development Process. U.S.A: Elsevier Inc. Read More