PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product or service to market.
There are two parallel paths involved in the NPD process: one involves the idea generation, product design, and detail engineering; the other involves market research and marketing analysis.
Companies typically see new product development as the first stage in generating and commercializing new products within the overall strategic process of product life cycle management used to maintain or grow their market share.
These steps may be iterated as needed. Some steps may be eliminated. To reduce the time that the NPD process takes, many companies are completing several steps at the same time.
Most industry leaders see new product development as a proactive process where resources are allocated to identify market changes and seize upon new product opportunities before they occur.
Many industry leaders see new product development as an ongoing process (referred to as continuous development) in which the entire organization is always looking for opportunities.
PHASES
Welcome to the world of New Product Development. The information and referrences available here should give any inventor the tools they need to succeed with any new product idea. Being able to think of a new product or invention not already created is hard enough. After the light bulbs turns on, what to do starts getting complicated. People may get lost and confused, or told "you need to do this first," "talk to this guy," "that\'s wayyy too expensive," etc. etc. Our extensive information on new-product-development should answer mostly all your question and put you in a knowledgable and comfortbable position to pursue your dreams...LETS GET STARTED!!!Each new product development project will follow slightly different paths depending upon the inventor\'s expectations and the nature of the product. Our Product Design and Development Process is outlined below to provide you with a guideline as to how a new product can go from an idea to reality. At times we are presented with a new product idea that has gone through several of these development phases but is stalled for one reason or another. We are able to pick up a partially developed project and take to any level in the Design and Development Process our client requires in a matter of weeks and months, not years. As a client, we can take your project, whether it\'s sporting equipment, a medical device, industrial apparatus, or a new power tool from concept to and phase of the design and development process that you desire.
Preface:
I. The Client
First and foremost the client\'s idea for a new product must be protected prior to any disclosure of the idea. The first step in our relationship with a client is to execute a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect the client\'s rights for intellectual property protection. A copy of our standard NDA form is available for the client\'s review and use or we will be pleased to use the client\'s NDA form. All notes, sketches, drawings, etc. describing the \'idea\' should be kept in a hard-bound note book by the inventor. Each page should be numbered and each entry dated and initialed. Discussions with others regarding the \'idea\' should be avoided if at all possible. If not, all individuals involved in these discussions should execute a NDA with the inventor. The inventor\'s note book and all executed NDA forms will greatly assist the patent application process and help to validate the originality of the inventor\'s idea. Once the NDA has been properly executed, GID will arrange for a telephone conference call (at no charge) to discuss the client\'s idea(s) with our CEO and Senior Designer. This conference provides us with the opportunity to learn about the inventor\'s expectations for their new product idea and for the client to better understand what GID has to offer them to bring their idea to reality. GID Design and Business teams will review the information gathered from the conference call and will meet to formulate a proposal specific to the client\'s expectations for their new product idea that is consistent with GID\'s 30 plus years of expertise. This proposal will be presented to the client with an itemized list of related fees for the recommended initial phases of the Product Design & Development Process as outlined below
II. Conceptual Design
One of our design/engineer team members will be selected to champion the client\'s project based upon both their technical expertise and intuitive grasp of the new product to bring a value added approach to the design and engineering efforts. The Conceptual Design is the first phase of the product development process and provides the assigned GID designer the opportunity to collaborate with the inventor on all details regarding fit, form, function, ergonomics and aesthetics. During this crucial phase consideration will be given to the tooling and manufacturing process requirements to ensure that the product can be cost effectively manufactured and packaged ready for distribution. These manufacturing considerations, coupled with a comparison of domestic versus off-shore manufacturing sources, will be continually evaluated throughout the entire product development process. Only when the client has approved the conceptual design will we move forward to the next phase of the development process. The entire conceptual design is developed in 3D computer aided virtual design, thus eliminating the cost of physical mock-ups. This also enables us to test the product virtually and make on the fly changes with you in real time. The conceptual design phase is crucial to the overall success of the project because it drives the remaining design & development processes.
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