Product Development

What Is the Product Development Process?

Product development is a process for translating customer needs into product design and
manufacturing. A broader view of product development involves managing mutual dependencies
between all stages of the product life cycle, including the design, manufacturing, distribution, technical
support, and disposal or recycle stages. The product development process provides a roadmap to team
members for the activities and deliverables required to design, develop, and manufacture the product.

Reasons for Product Development

Product development activities are undertaken to increase market share and create growth in the
company. Following are the main reasons for launching a new product.

1. To find new business opportunities and market shares

2. To add features and benefits over and above a competitor’s product to increase market share

3. To retain customers, continuous product improvements are made

4. To attract more customers, new features are added

There are so many features that can be added to a product, but all such features cannot be incorporated
because each feature costs money. Moreover, every customer’s requirements are different and they are
not willing to pay for all the features. Therefore, every supplier needs to supply a different mix of
features for different groups of customers. The following list will help the reader get a good combination
of product features to meet customer’s need.

• List all buying concerns of customers.

• Separate the list into three categories: (1) must have, (2) important to have, (3) nice to have.

• Rate each feature on a scale of 1 to 10 and quantify the information.

This analysis will help to get a blend of features that will be best for various groups of customers
 Concurrent
Engineering
Concurrent
engineering
implies the
simultaneous use
of various engineering disciplines, such as design, manufacturing, marketing, packaging, reliability, etc.,
during product development activity. This branch of engineering is becoming popular because it has a
significant effect on reducing development cycle time and cost.

The conventional way of developing a product involves serial activities from various groups such as
design, manufacturing, packaging, service and maintainability, reliability, and marketing.

The current market demand is to perform product development activities in a concurrent engineering
environment.

Product Life Cycle

Every product, depending on its value and need, has a life from birth to death. In general, product
inception takes place in the product design phase, where market needs and requirements are
transformed into a three-dimensional shape and size. In most cases, the idea for a new product comes
from the customer.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
FMEA is performed during PDP to determine the potential failure modes a product can experience
during operation and to evaluate the effect and consequences of those failure modes on the functions
and performance of the total system. The purpose of FMEA is to improve quality, reliability, safety, and
durabilty. The net effect of this is to reduce product life-cycle cost. FMEA can be applied during product
design as well as process design.

• It establishes a list of potential failure modes in the product. The PDT goes through the list and
develops a design and manufacturing plan to avoid these failure modes. Thus, the quality of the product
improves significantly

.• It ranks the failure modes according to their effects on the overall system. PDT develops priority lists
and test plans for design improvements according to failure mode rankings

.• It provides future reference for analyzing field failures and establishes guidelines for design changes

.• It serves as a tool in the selection of process and product design alternatives.

Questions

1. How can the manufacturing engineer assist the design engineer in developing a manufacturable
product?

2. Why is it important for the manufacturing engineer to begin working with the design team very early
in the product development stage?

3. What are the benefits of concurrent engineering?

4. What are the important elements of the product development phase?

5. What is FMEA? How does it help in coming up with better product design?

6. Why is it necessary to follow a systematic product development approach when making a product?

Answer.
1.

because Product development is a process for translating customer needs into product design and
manufacturing. A broader view of product development involves managing mutual dependencies
between all stages of the product life cycle, including the design, manufacturing, distribution, technical
support, and disposal or recycle stages. The product development process provides a roadmap to team
members for the activities and deliverables required to design, develop, and manufacture the product. It
is a systematic approach for the successful launching of a product, from concept initiation to marketing.
Product development consists of material selection, product design, selection of the right manufacturing
and assembly techniques, prototyping, testing and validation, and successful launching of the product
into the marketplace.

2.

because, There is greater need for strong interaction between the manufacturing engineer and the
design engineer because manufacturing decisions are directly related to product design. It is required to
simultaneously consider the requirements of manufacturing, assembly, packaging, service, distribution,
and disposal right in the design phase to reduce the per-unit cost of production, reduce the lead time,
and improve quality.

3.

1. it encourages multidisciplinary collaboration

2. It makes the design process faster

3. it reduces costs and increases quality by supporting the entire project life cycle

4.It increases productivity by stopping mistakes in their tracks

5. it gives you a competitive advantage

4.

1. Market Research and Conceptualization

2. Testing the Idea for Feasibility

3. Improved Processes and adhering to Best Practices

4. Define the Minimum Viable Product

5. Product Development Lifecycle – Conceptualization, Designing, Testing and Deployment

6. Pre-Launch and Post Launch Testing, and Maintenance

7. Digital Media Marketing Services

8. Gather Feedback and Improvise

5.

FMEA is performed during PDP to determine the potential failure modes a product can experience
during operation and to evaluate the effect and consequences of those failure modes on the functions
and performance of the total system. The purpose of FMEA is to improve quality, reliability, safety, and
durabilty. The net effect of this is to reduce product life-cycle cost. FMEA can be applied during product
design as well as process design.

• It establishes a list of potential failure modes in the product. The PDT goes through the list and
develops a design and manufacturing plan to avoid these failure modes. Thus, the quality of the product
improves significantly.

• It ranks the failure modes according to their effects on the overall system. PDT develops priority lists
and test plans for design improvements according to failure mode rankings.

• It provides future reference for analyzing field failures and establishes guidelines for design changes.

• It serves as a tool in the selection of process and product design alternatives.

6.

1. In order to avoid failure of a product. Failure is the loss of function or ability to perform tasks specified
in a predetermined manner