Exhibit 9.3 New product development process.
As depicted in Exhibit 9.3,
broadly, there are four phases to new product development (NPD): ideation, concept development,
product development and product launch. The activities and information needs listed
for each of the phases in this exhibit are covered in detail in the succeeding
sections and chapters.
From a team perspective, a cross-functional approach
where some activities can progress concurrently is strongly recommended as it
improves the speed-to-market. It also improves communication across departments.
Manufacturing for instance needs to translate the soft descriptors they hear
from marketing into hard technical specifications and would be better equipped
to do so by being involved throughout the NPD process.
