Product design and development is at the fundamental core of any innovative business. You will never stand out to customers if you are offering standard goods and designs. Building a brand is much easier when you have some unique features that no one else has. The necessary new product development process for these novel products includes conceptualizing, creating, manufacturing, introducing, and delivering a new product to the market or the improvement of the old products.
The success story of often business relies on how good the product design and development plan is executed. Collecting ideas is usually the easier part. The efficient implementation of product strategies takes the business to the next level. Industrial product designs fill out gaps and occupy niches in the current market. Really innovative designs can even create their own new markets.
Manufacturing facilities, especially in China and other Asian countries, are more accessible than ever. However, most products do not stand out because they are based on standard (white label/ODM) designs that the factories there offer to their clients. Taking it a step further and is the way to go to build a brand that people remember and for being able to escape the price competition that is caused by everyone selling similar products.
Advantages of Implementing New Product Development Strategies
There are many concrete advantages that come with developing your own custom product. They reach from customer satisfaction to economic benefits for your company and even for the entire economy. Innovation is the main driver of economic growth.
- Open growth opportunities for the company
- Values the needs of the customers
- Keep the company up to date with technology
- Provide a competitive edge in the market
- Plays a positive role in the progress of society and economy
- Increase the profit margin of the firm
- Innovation enhances the chances of business success
- Product diversification minimizes the chance of failure
- More variety of products increase the revenues
- Improve the reputation and performance of the company
The product manufacturing process is a combination of creation, innovation, enhancement, and improvement. Product development road map includes the setting of goals, assigning tasks to the team, monitoring & adjusting of the plans, and starting a template.
Step by Step Process of Product Design & Development
The product design and development process can be broken down into several steps that can serve as a road map for your product development project. Please note that these steps and their order can differ depending on the industry and type of product.
- The generation of ideas
- Screening and selection of best ideas
- Development of concept and feasibility analysis
- Market and competitor research
- Development of marketing strategies
- Product engineering
- Prototyping and customer testing
- Mass production and scaling
The lifeline or journey of the company depends on the quality of product development lifecycle strategies. Firms invest a huge amount of time and money to build the perfect concept for a new product. The whole process works in a well-structured manner with the help of management support and a good research and development budget.
Several industrial product design consultancy firms are working to provide give the best strategic plans to the business community. Pininfarina, IDEO, Digital Scientists, etc. are the most famous product development companies in the world that usually only work with multinationals are that are very expensive. However, also smaller company can afford to develop their own products product development companies such as Intrepid Sourcing. They offer structured solutions that are feasible also for smaller quantities and budgets that are in the thousands rather than millions.
Product Development Company Tasks that You Can Do Yourself
Some of the tasks that are of the taken over by product development companies can actually done by yourself. This saves you money for getting help with the actual manufacturing implementation and prototyping:
- Conducting market research
- Making an effective project plan
- Executing economic analysis
- Creating a well-defined product development strategy
- How to use agile methodology to stay flexible in the development
- Documentation of functionalities
- Choosing of right software, components and materials
- Provide cost reduction ideas
- Check for prototyping and pilot testing options
Product design companies can help with the finalization of these tasks. However, every field has a slightly different development process. This article we highlight the steps included in product manufacturing of the three most important industrial segments that are electronics, garments, and plastics.
Electronics Industry Product Development Process
Electronics is one of the most innovative industries in the world. Technological advancement is transforming electronic appliances at a rapid speed. Large innovations are observed in the electronics machinery during the last decades.
A new product development cycle is fast in the electronics sector. From consumer electronics and industrial application to IOT (internet of things, the innovation potential is gigantic. New product development for electronics includes:
- Understanding the need of the target market
- Coming up with an innovation or new features
- Creating hardware design of appliances
- Working on the software design/UX
- Product prototyping with PCB
- Requirement verification & validation
- Product citification (FCC/CE etc.)
- Mass production & distribution to retailers
Garments Industry Product Development Process
We all are aware of the significance of clothing in our lives. Due to the huge demand for garments, the textile industry is expanding globally. The outfit designs and trends in the fashion industry keep on changing according to consumers’ needs and wants. The garment industry makes new designs at least every season to meet the expectations and demands of the people.
The fashion product development activities involve;
- Clothing line planning and research
- Apparel blueprint and sketching
- Creating pattern and cut sheets
- Analyzing target costing
- Pre-production planning and optimization
- Choosing of materials and fabrics
- Printing, Dyeing and embroideries
Plastic Industry Product Development Process
Plastic is a very versatile man-made material that has been produced for decades. Plastic comes in numerous sizes, designs, and, shapes. Many modern approaches are now being utilized in the new product development of plastic objects for various consumer and industrial applications.
To produce plastic parts, the manufacturers must have knowledge of raw materials, designs, molding machines, and production techniques. The plastic product development process comprises of following things;
- Developing ideas of plastic product shapes
- Study of plastic materials
- Production molding process selection
- Using tools like 3D prints for making a prototype
- Estimating the cost of production
- Expert engineering and analysis
- Sampling and review
- Finish and coating of surface
- Mold creation
Concluding Remarks
Product development and design are a significant part of any business. The new product development brings favorable outcomes to any industry and market. Working on product development requires design skills, strategies, methodology, engineering knowhow and good project management so that the outcome makes a business more profitable and the consumer happier.
