Processes: New Product Development (NPD)

The New Product Development methodology is one of the main processes behind getting your product or service to market. It encompasses many of the previously discussed processes (CDR, ECO, FAI) and includes many others that may be included in future updates to this site. As this is complex, I tried to establish the logical order of events but it is possible that you may be familiar with steps happening slightly out of sequence or some documents not necessarily required as presented here. Also, since being in a startup mode, these documents can be simple for some and very detailed for others so keep in mind that you need to maximize the efficiency of your resources and be conservative with your finances as necessary to achieve the ultimate goal of getting your product to market. I have always preferred to have as much upfront documentation as possible as it will serve as the foundation for high volume production and the road map for future products.

New Product Development starts out with a concept that passes through many phases that eventually leads to high volume production.

There are objectives established within each phase or gate that need to be met before moving on to next the step of this process. Your core design and operations team would be the enabling body that manages this process through the various steps. The process does not move forward unless the team agrees to move it forward at each gate.

A) The first phase is establishing the team after your Marketing Requirements Document (MRD) and subsequent marketing analysis yield information to pursue the concept. A Product Requirements Document (PRD) is drawn up outlining what functionality is desired and agreed to.

B) The next step would be your design phase where system level specifications and documentation are generated. This would include the following:

Subsystems and top level defined; System architecture is outlined.
Preliminary BOMs, schematics, drawings well underway or near completion.
Research on parts and potential suppliers is moving forward at a fast pace.
Other functional groups working on their plans i.e. Manufacturing, QA etc.

C) Moving forward, strong focus would be put on the supply chain, as strategic partnerships would be established with preferred suppliers. An AVL is started and by now heavily populated with parts and suppliers. Single-source items would need to be justified. CDRs (Critical Design Reviews) are well underway on subsystem and component levels. Long lead-time parts are on order at this point and ‘risk’ purchases are being made.

D) Design Engineering is now fully engaged in DVT (Design Verification Testing) to establish if design meets the system performance requirements as the this phase progresses. Any design changes will be documented via the ECO and CCB process so the team is kept abreast of these and can adjust their plans accordingly.

E) The next step is team concurrence on performance of subsystem and system level testing to date so planning can take place for Pilot Production. Manufacturing, QA, Operations etc. readies their plans and are getting their equipment ready for pilot production and validation. The NPI (New Product Introduction) plan is being developed.

F) IRT (Initial Reliability Testing) has started and under review with Marketing and Sales. Overall Assembly and test times are being reviewed for capacity planning purposes (team has determined if pilot will take place at facility or CM and has made necessary preparations to commence at either location). Assembly Drawings, Test software, unit packaging, material handling are all being developed and reviewed.

G) Team reviews readiness of NPI/Pilot Production plan and makes adjustments as necessary based on previous testing performed. All pilot materials should be in place or near completion to move forward.

H) Pilot production commences with all fixtures, drawings, BOMs, packaging, material handling, software etc. in place and functioning. Completed units are validated against specification to see if they meet all performance criteria as well as overall manufacturing plan. Units undergoing IRT are validated against projections from Quality plan.

I) Team makes necessary changes to any process, part or subsystem that did not meet plan or specification. After review and consensus from team, unit is released for full-scale manufacturing. See sample Manufacturing Release Checklist form. View Manufacturing Release Checklist

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