Design for Manufacturing
Understanding the New Product Introduction Process
The right NPI delivers a range of benefits, including a better understanding of the market and target audience, improved product quality and durability, lower overall development costs, enhanced risk management plans, quicker speed to market, and improved manufacturability. No matter what your company produces, improving your NPI process can help enhance brand loyalty and boost your bottom line.
Introducing any new product to the market can be daunting. It involves careful planning, collaboration across different teams, continued customer feedback, and different iterations. In today’s competitive market, an idea's success or failure is often determined by its new product introduction (NPI) program. This includes all the steps that are planned and executed to develop, refine, and bring a new product to market.
What Is the New Product Introduction Process?
New product introduction (NPI) is the step-by-step process of taking an idea from the concept stage through a working prototype and into mass production and commercialization; a process we refer to as ‘design-for-manufacturing’. NPI focuses on the product from a manufacturing viewpoint, which differs from product development life cycle management. Though often associated with new product development (NPD), NPI specifically addresses the stages after initial product development.
A well-defined NPI process is crucial for significantly improving the chances of your product's success. Whether launching something entirely new or adding features to an existing product line, introducing new processes into your operations can be stressful. The NPI process involves various steps that ensure all teams communicate effectively and follow necessary rules and regulations.
The NPI process can be found across various industries, such as consumer electronics, medical devices, and more. For example, it is very common for smartphone manufacturers to release a new version of their flagship product on an annual basis. As each new iteration of Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy launches, product designs may change, internal components are upgraded, etc. As a result, the manufacturers’ systems and processes adapt to accommodate these changes.
Why Is NPI Important?
Utilizing NPI establishes a framework that helps organizations turn an initial concept into a finished product. It also allows businesses to enhance their manufacturing efficiency, lower overall development costs, accelerate the time to market, and enhance the product’s quality. Effective NPI processes involve close collaboration between team members, allowing for comprehensive risk assessments and identifying potential issues before they become a larger problem. Engaging contract manufacturers early in the process can also contribute to a smoother transition from development, further reducing costs and risks.
It is crucial for companies aiming to stay competitive in their market. By accelerating the time to market, the organization gains a competitive edge over others, expanding its market share and increasing its revenue. It also empowers these companies to efficiently meet the ever-evolving needs of their target market while leveraging technological advancements. More importantly, NPI is crucial in material forecasting, ensuring supply chain management and inventory control are optimized for the production line. It helps minimize waste while ensuring companies remain flexible and responsive to fluctuations in market demand.
The Steps In the New Product Introduction Process
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Step 1: Define (Initial Idea)
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Step 2: Feasibility/Product Definition
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Step 3: Develop
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Step 4: Validate/ Detailed Design
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Step 5: Manufacturing Ramp/Pre-Production (Validation/Testing)
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Step 6: Evaluation/Manufacturing
When creating a new product, many moving components must be managed simultaneously. Every step should be carefully monitored, beginning in the design stage and continuing through the initial launch of the product. NPI helps streamline these operations.
The exact steps involved in new product introduction vary from business to business and project to project. However, the goal remains the same: to minimize waste throughout the process, avoid miscommunications, improve production speed, and save money.
Multiple steps are involved in taking a product to the market. This can be anywhere between five to seven stages. Teams track their progress and perform assessments at regular intervals to make sure the project is headed in the right direction. At the end of each step, a senior management team or critical stakeholders make an up-or-down decision in a formal review, often called a gate. The typical NPI approach has six steps, with five gates. These are:
Step One: Idea Generation
The first stage of NPI is where a new product idea begins. This step involves generating ideas for new products or product improvements. Ideas come from various sources, such as customer feedback, market research, or brainstorming sessions.
Getting the concept wrong at this early stage can waste time and increase opportunity costs. Making the wrong sourcing decisions, including when sourcing a contract manufacturer, can lead to problems later, such as cost overruns, schedule delays, or product quality issues. This is why risk assessment should also be included in this stage to better grasp what may happen in later stages. Once these are in place, a company can then move forward to the next step.
Step Two: Initial Product Conceptualization And Feasibility
The next step is to define a product's parameters and determine its feasibility, culminating in a design brief deliverable. This may also be called “scoping” or concept development. A dedicated team digs deeper into customer needs, creating a detailed assessment of the new product’s technical, market, and business aspects and determining its core functionality.
Often, this stage is a make-or-break process for ensuring a successful product, so it is vital that a company does not rush through this stage. This is where adhering to Design for Excellence Practices, such as Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Quality (DFQ), can help reduce the potential for issues later in the process.
Developers and managers, especially the project manager, explore and define critical points of differentiation for the new product and get customer feedback on the potential design. If done incorrectly, this second step can increase time to market or cause misunderstandings between the product developers and the market they are designing for. Product development cost is also estimated at this stage, and the design specifications are fixed.
Though it might seem early, now is the time to line up a contract manufacturer or several before the ramp-up period. The company should also have a design brief that outlines the exact specifications, considering all the parameters explored earlier. The more detail included in this brief, the easier it is for the design and manufacturing team to produce a working prototype and the final product. Once the product is deemed feasible, the concept moves into the next stage.