Creating innovative products : a development process and educational guide

Many measures of industrial competitiveness reflect that many United States industries are no longer leaders in developing and manufacturing world-class new products. A significant portion of this difficulty can be attributed to shortcomings in the processes used by these firms to develop their new products.

Some U.S. firms, particularly those facing world-class Japanese competitors, have responded by greatly improving the processes that they use to develop their new products. Case studies of successful product development projects from these responding firms have been used to develop a nine-phase model of the product development process. The model is comprehensive, spanning from "Product Ideas" through to "Product Manufacture, Delivery, and Use." Some "essential elements" are identified for each phase to emphasize the "critical few" considerations that have the most significant impact on the outcome of that process.

The development process, essential elements, and other information gathered from this research project are organized and communicated through the Product Development Guide ("PD Guide"), a computer-based aid for product development. The 1400 information displays contained in PD Guide are organized and accessed from the nine- phase development process, which serves as the "home menu". A set of associated items, named PDG Tools, accompany PD Guide and assist users with specific product development tasks.

PD Guide has been utilized over two years to teach product development concepts to senior-level and graduate engineering students. It also has served as the basis for a half-day professional continuing education course exercise. Survey results and other feedback from these users indicate that PD Guide and PDG Tools can be used successfully to teach the principles of product development and to assist students with design project efforts.

An evaluation review by 14 expert product development practitioners confirms that PD Guide generally reflects sound product development practices. One small firm has used PD Guide as the basis for creating their firm's product development process.