New product development is hard work and requires a system or process to provide guidelines or a framework. If you are developing only incremental product improvements, then consider two things; 1) you don’t need a technology delivery system and 2) you won’t be in business for the long haul! No matter how big or small your company is, you need to have a robust technology delivery system. So what does this mean? Let’s jump right in and have a look.
New product development activities can be divided up into a couple of different types;
- Product enhancements (small incremental “tweeks” of current products like a faster curing epoxy)
- Product line extensions (halogen free plastic or epoxy with environmentally friendly flame retardants)
- New to the company products (adding formulated products like thermoset adhesives if you are primarily a raw resin manufacturer)
- New to the world products (brand new polymer molecules)
If you are focused on only product enhancements, then you will need to be proficient at product development and incremental technology improvements. When your strategy includes product line extensions and new to the company products, then you must have a well-defined Technology Delivery System. The process is outlined at a high level below:
In order to deliver new product line extensions, this is most easily done if your process is focused on the development of Product Architectures. The process begins with Basic and Applied Research. Most companies today only conduct applied research, specifically focused on developing the required Technology Platforms. Using Open Innovation is a good strategy to get access to basic and applied research at universities, government labs, industry consortia, etc. Technology Platforms contain the key technologies required to build Product Architectures. A key part of the new product development process is building Product Architectures. From Product Architectures, it is easy to develop both line extensions and product enhancements in a fraction of the time. The work flow in the process above typically starts at Technology Platform development if you have access to internal applied research capabilities. One of the key aspects of developing high margin new products is to have differentiated technologies in your products. In the next series of posts we will discuss in more detail Technology Platforms and Product Architectures and the management required to effectively navigate the Technology Delivery System.
If you need to develop a new technology or need an independent assessment of your technology delivery process, visit the InnoCentrix website or contact us at 877-887-6596.
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