My formal academic training began as a student of mechanical engineering. Simultaneously, I worked part-time as a designer to pay for my education. In this case, my work allowed me to see how products were developed to the lower level where I was doing the technical drawing. And my engineering education helped me learn the limits of materials, think about product technical features, and how to apply mathematical formulas to solve technical problems.
However, nowhere did I learn about how products are really developed. What drives a company to success? How do companies know which products will be accepted in the marketplace? What is a marketplace or a market segment? As a result, my education and early work experience taught me a lot about applying engineering principles, but I had no knowledge of marketing, sales, business finance, C-level executive support, or how R&D (research and development) and the other areas are supposed to all work together. I simply (and naively) believed that new products were developed and launched by the engineering department. The product that had the better design would always be preferred by consumers.
Since those days in college, and my early career in engineering, I have come a long way to understanding that product development is a multi-faceted effort involving many diverse groups and talents. It is so much more than R&D or engineering.
Similarly, I have noticed that other disciplines – marketing, sales, etc. – do not always understand the engineering or R&D process in product development, which can be equally frustrating for those on the business side of a company.
The underlying purpose of this book is to serve as a bridge between the various groups that are responsible for developing and launching new products and services. It will assist engineering students, marketing professionals, R&D scientists, and product developers in how to effectively plan and launch new products.
This does not mean your future projects will all be successful: the market determines who survives and who doesn’t. However, the techniques, methods, and studies in this book can help you determine which projects should go forward and how to best plan and execute a flawless development and launch. And which projects should be scrapped early in the development process. Half of the key is knowing which projects have a greater chance of success vs. those that don’t. To illustrate important points, case studies will be provided that illustrate real-life failures and successes that reinforce the principles in this book. This book is very practical and does not dwell on theory or untested ideas.
Figure 1.1, Core Team in Product Development, illustrates some of the various functional areas and their interaction in product development. This figure is dynamic, so the participants will change depending on the type of product, its complexity, and it’s corporate visibility or priority.
Figure 1.1 Core Team – Product Development.
It should also be noted that product development will require market research, data analytics, realistic objectives, project management, and leadership.
Project Management and Product Development
A part of this book will introduce the reader to key concepts of project management which can be useful in bringing a product to market in a timely and efficient manner. Of course, the project manager, or leader, plays a key role in planning how the work will be accomplished, how it will be executed, and by whom. Further, this book will provide insights and processes in developing new products. It is not a book about project management; however, because project management (PM) is such a core skill needed to successfully launch new products, the reader will find key PM concepts detailed throughout the book. This will offer a good grasp on how to manage a project using these techniques and the reader is encouraged to pursue further reading on the topic of project management. It will be apparent that “product management” and “project management” are used interchangeably.
It should be noted that product development requires a multi-discipline approach, with each participating department understanding their role and responsibility. Many times, people have described PM as similar to herding cats. Product development will have similar challenges.
Through research, my own experience, and discussions with product development professionals, it is clear that project management plays a strong role in staying focused on the scope, budget, and schedule for the new product’s development. Successful companies have recognized over the last 20 years that project management processes are a huge competitive advantage. It has always been the author’s perspective that successful product launches require two ingredients: technical excellence and managerial excellence.
In recent years, there has been a drive to embrace an agile project management philosophy. This is much more suited to software and IT projects and certainly has its place in that industry. The primary differences between traditional and agile project management will be presented in Chapter 5.
What Is Product Development?
We first need to ask ourselves, what is a product? A product is simply an item or service that brings value to the customer in exchange for a price. You may find it odd that a “service” can be considered a product, but it is. A service can be a utility providing electricity to its customers. It can be an insurance policy that you purchase for your car, or the lawn service that keeps your company’s green spaces looking nice. Services can also be developed and sold similar to “hard” products. While services can be considered a product, marketing services is different from marketing a hard product. Further, think about apps that are developed for your smartphone. Are these a product or a service? Sometimes the line can be blurry.
It is appropriate to consider that products can originate from a variety of sources. Perhaps your R&D group has developed a new smart widget. It is most likely now the engineering department’s mission to determine how to commercialize it and manufacture it in a cost-effective manner.
The marketing group will need to determine the channels necessary to distribute the widget, how to develop a sales and marketing strategy, and determine estimates for pricing, profit, breakeven point, etc. Essentially, there are many moving parts to successfully launching a product. Where do products come from? Figure 1.2 shows some (but not all) of the points whereby ideas for new products are generated.
Figure 1.2 Types of optimization models.
How This Book Is Organized
It is suggested the reader go through each chapter in sequence. This is because each chapter builds on concepts presented in the previous chapters. Also, developing products should have a structured approach and this book provides this in the correct order.
In many chapters, there are “Tabletop Discussion” questions. These are provided for group discussions and should have about a 30-minute time frame. These should encourage students or product teams thinking about key topics and how to address them.
Case studies are included to reinforce the concepts presented in each chapter. While there are one or two “hypothetical” cases, most of the cases presented are real-world examples. The author has had significant experience in rescuing projects (or product developments) that were in deep trouble. In these instances, it would be in poor taste
