Lecture 1 - Introduction To Product Design and Development
Lecture 1 - Introduction To Product Design and Development
Marketing: mediates the interactions between the firm and its customers. Marketing
often facilitates the identification of product opportunities, the definition of market
segments, and the identification of customer needs. Marketing also typically arranges
for communication between the firm and its customer, sets target prices, and oversees
the launch and promotion of the product.
Design: plays the lead role in defining the physical form of the product to best meet
customer needs, in this context, the design function includes engineering design
(mechanical, electrical, software, etc) and industrial design (aesthetics, ergonomics, user
interfaces).
Products
Types of products: engineered, discrete and physical
Engineered: designed or create using the techniques or methods of engineering.
Discrete: all non-continuous process based finished products that are distinct items capable of
being easily counted, touched or seen
Physical: all tangible products; e.g. consumer electronics, sports equipment, scientific
instruments, machine tools, and medical devices
Development time (how quickly did the team complete the product development
effort?): Development time determines how responsive the firm can be to competitive
forces and to technological developments, as well as how quickly the firm receives the
economic returns from the teams efforts.
Product quality (how good is the product resulting from the development effort? Does it
satisfy customer needs? Is it robust and reliable?): Product quality is ultimately reflected
in market share and the price that customers are willing to pay.
Product cost (what is the manufacturing cost of the product?): This cost includes
spending on capital equipment and tooling as well as the incremental cost of producing
each unit of the product. Product cost determines how much profit accrues to the firm
for a particular sales volume and a particular sales price.
Development cost (how much did the firm have to spend to develop the product?):
Development cost is usually a significant fraction of the investment required to achieve
the profits.
Development capability (are the team and the firm better able to develop future
products as a result of their experience with a product development project?):
Development capability is an asset the firm can use to develop product more efficiently
and economically in the future.
The Challenges of Product Development:
Trade offs: a balance achieved between two desirable but incompatible features, a
compromise. E.g. weight vs manufacturing cost.
Details: the choice between using screws or snap-fits on the enclosure of a computer
can have economic implications of millions of dollars. Developing a product of even
modest complexity may require thousands of such decisions.
Time pressure: Product development must usually be made quickly and without
complete information.
Creation: The product development process begins with an idea and ends with the
production of a physical artefact. When viewed both in its entirety and at the level of
individual activities, the product development process is intensely creative.
Team diversity:
Team spirit: