New Product Development

Innovation is vital to a company’s performance and should be an essential component of any business. One of the most important elements in enabling innovation is to have in place a formalised New Product Development (NPD) process, also known as Integrated Product Development.

All too often, novel and imaginative product ideas fall far short of expectations, or fail altogether, because one or more tasks do not receive the necessary level of attention, which can be minimised by implementing the NPD process.

From innovative start-up companies to world-leading organisations with a global reach, NPD can benefit the development process.

Key benefits of implementing NPD are:

• Detailed evaluation of product, market potential and customer needs
• Reducing time to market
• Increasing return on investment
• Reducing risk
• Promoting best practice
• Defining robust product strategies

We recognise that many companies are employing existing development processes, but having external advisors examining your current practices, within the framework of NPD, can offer your company numerous benefits.

By ‘new product’ we are not just referring to something that is manufactured, it can also relate to services. Developing a new service should also follow the same processes as NPD. Companies in the service sector can benefit from using NPD just like those who design and manufacture products.

The end result of the NPD process is a ‘pilot product’, (also known as a ‘prototype’) that is ready to enter the manufacturing phase and volume ramp-up. In terms of a service, it is one that is fully ready to be offered to customers.