Project Management of New Product Development (NPD) or New Product Introduction (NPI)

New Product Development is a key process within the life cycle of products and services which needs to deliver products of the right quality at a competitive cost and within market time scales i.e. Time to Market.
Many companies have developed a New Product Introduction Process based on a 'Stage - Gate' or 'Phase-review' model which seems to engender discipline in the tasks. However, sometimes these processes do not result in shorter Time to Market.

The Time to Market approach for excellence in New Product Development (NPD) and Time to Market (TtM) uses a mixture of practices drawn from: Project Management, Time to Market Compression and Lean Product Development to achieve success:

Project Management of parallel phases to encourage multi-tasking and minimise delays.

Focus on decision making - as Decision Points vs 'gating' or 'reviewing' - essential questions and answers to provide crisp decisions.

Early and continuing capture and use of Voices of Customers in the B2B and B2C value chain

Cross-functional team working and stakeholder management to streamline information flow and 'buy-in'

Process as a 'framework' for guidance rather than something to follow slavishly.

Tools to tailor and tune tasks and information for the type or 'scale' of development e.g. Novel Product, Updated Product, ……

Direct linkage to project planning and Project Management using Milestone Tracking and layering of detail

Embedded Reward and Risk analysis tools to help with project tradeoffs (Probability/Impact; Base Case and Sensitivities)

Digital Metrics Dashboard or 'scorecard' for tracking project metrics and resource

Market Launch and Introduction to Operations as an ongoing activity rather than an 'event'. It culminates in a Decision Point relating to launch performance and incorporation of Lessons Learned and Taught.

Toolkits and software to support practical and common sense implementation.

From our wide experience of product marketing and management in different international markets and industries, such as:

• Electronics; Telecoms;
• Software and High Technology
• Engineering and Manufacturing
• Food and Beverages
• Chemicals
• Ceramics and Building products
• Financial Services
• Retailing

we can turn 'generic' best practices and methods into those best suited to a specific company, business unit, market or industry.

Product Development Framework and practices can be tailored for: physical products and associated services; non-physical products and services; Business to Business (B2B); Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to End-User (B2E) applications.

Framework, Roadmap or Processes
An example is shown below:

However, in most cases we help tailor the framework and toolkit to a client's situation in terms of the mix and complexity required.
In many cases some Strategic Marketing activities can be included.

Toolkits:
The Time to Market approach utilises an advanced set of tools to achieve time to market, customer delight, quality and cost objectives. These include:

Stakeholder Map
Milestone Plan
GANTT CHART
Network chart
NPD Framework Diagram
Concurrency of Phases and Tasks Charts
Critical Path
RACI Matrix
PERT Three point estimating
Resource Histogram
Process Management Templates (Document Standards)
Communication Plan

Project Dashboard
Decision Points (presentation/mtgs)
Essential Questions
Out of Bounds decisions
Six Tradeoffs
Base case and sensitivity analysis
Metrics Digital Dashboard

Software Packages and Templates
Many of the tools are provided with Excel or Web based software packages or templates to facilitate practical use and ease of learning.

Implementation Programme
Each programme is tailored to the client's situation, but typically comprises the following deliverables: roadmaps and models; toolkits, facilitated workshops and software.
A typical programme comprises:

An assessment of current product ranges and product development and management processes

Agreement of programme deliverables

Tailoring of roadmap, toolkit and software for client's specifics

Facilitated workshops, 1:1 and 1:n coaching

Off-line telephone and e-mail support

Skills transfer to blackbelts and product design and development folks.

We can also provide a formal in house training programme on the above topics, tailored to your specific needs. For more details click below:

Product Development Training Programme

Free Proposal
We can provide a free proposal, including programme outline with costing, to meet your requirements - please contact us.

Other aspects can be accessed by clicking below:

Product Marketing and Management
Product Strategy and Product Portfolio Strategy: framework and tools
Product Definition (PD) and pragmatic Quality Function Deployment (pQFD)
Voice of Customer (VoC) and Market Research
Competitive Analysis and Competitor Analysis
In Life or In Market Management of Current Products
Product Value Proposition and Value Propositions Portfolio
Product Development, Marketing and Management Software Applications
Product Management and Product Manager Training