Product Introduction

Product introduction is a fundamental business process, moving into sharper focus as product lifecycles continue to shorten and innovation becomes yet more critical to continued competitiveness. Time to market is of the essence since each day’s delay reduces the overall profitability of the product.

New products - which often involve the integration of many technologies - must meet, and exceed, customer expectations for quality, cost, function, styling, delivery and respect for the environment. We enable our clients to improve their product introduction through:

Concept to Customer

Using the principles of Concurrent Engineering, multi-functional teams are formed to identify all design and manufacturing constraints at the earliest possible stage in the development of a new product. Solutions are developed that satisfy all interest groups before serious financial commitment is made.

Additional aspects of Concept to Customer include Quality Function Deployment (QFD), which captures ‘the voice of the customer’, project management and resource allocation, Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA), modularity and configuration, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and rapid / virtual prototyping.

Ecodesign

Environmental concerns mean that manufacturers are increasingly being required to dispose of their products at the end of their working life, putting emphasis on designing products that can be easily dismantled and recycled.

Products should also require the lowest possible energy costs, create minimum pollutants during their production and have minimum lifecycle cost of ownership. Ecodesign provides an awareness of these, and related issues, and offers a set of tools to address them.

A well-managed product introduction process is equally important for products across all market sectors. The life-blood of a successful business, it is essential to long-term survival and profitability.