Editing New product development (section)

== Process structure ==
The product development process typically consists of several activities that firms employ in the complex process of delivering new products to the market. A [[Process management (Project Management)|process management]] approach is used to provide a structure. Product development often overlaps much with the [[engineering design]] process, particularly if the new product being developed involves application of math and/or science. Every new product will pass through a series of stages/phases, including [[Ideation (idea generation)|ideation]] among other aspects of [[design]], as well as [[manufacturing]] and market introduction. In highly complex engineered products (e.g. aircraft, automotive, machinery), the NPD process can be likewise complex regarding management of personnel, milestones, and deliverables. Such projects typically use an [[integrated product team]] approach. The process for managing large-scale complex engineering products is much slower (often 10-plus years) than that deployed for many types of consumer goods.

The development process is articulated and broken down in many different ways, many of which often include the following phases/stages:

'''PHASE 1. Fuzzy front-end''' (FFE) is the set of activities employed before the more formal and well defined [[requirements engineering|requirements specification]] is completed. [[Requirements]] speak to what the product should do or have, at varying degrees of specificity, in order to meet the perceived market or business need

''The fuzzy front end'' (FFE) is the messy "getting started" period of new product engineering development processes. It is also referred to as the "Front End of Innovation",<ref name="Koen 2001 pp.46-55">{{cite journal |last1=Koen |display-authors=etal |year=2001 |title=Providing clarity and a common language to the 'fuzzy front end' |journal=Research Technology Management |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=46–55 |doi=10.1080/08956308.2001.11671418 |s2cid=218755322}}</ref> or "Idea Management".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vandenbosch |display-authors=etal |date=2006 |title=Idea Management: A Systemic View |journal=Journal of Management Studies |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=259–288 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00590.x |s2cid=144597695}}</ref>

It is in the front end where the organization formulates a concept of the product to be developed and decides whether or not to invest resources in the further development of an idea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sukhov |first=Alexandre |date=2018 |title=The role of perceived comprehension in idea evaluation |url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-66479 |journal=Creativity and Innovation Management |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=183–195 |doi=10.1111/caim.12262 |s2cid=148625434}}</ref> It is the phase between first consideration of an opportunity and when it is judged ready to enter the structured development process (Kim and Wilemon, 2007;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=J. |last2=Wilemon |first2=D. |year=2007 |title=Sources and assessment of complexity in NPD projects |journal=R&D Management |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=16–30}}</ref> Koen et al., 2001).<ref name="Koen 2001 pp.46-55" />
It includes all activities from the search for new opportunities through the formation of a germ of an idea to the development of a precise concept. The Fuzzy Front End phase ends when an organization approves and begins formal development of the concept.

Although the fuzzy front end may not be an expensive part of product development, it can consume 50% of development time (see Chapter 3 of the Smith and Reinertsen reference below),<ref>Smith, Preston G. and Reinertsen, Donald G. (1998) ''Developing Products in Half the Time'', 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1998.</ref> and it is where major commitments are typically made involving time, money, and the product's nature, thus setting the course for the entire project and final end product. Consequently, this phase should be considered as an essential part of development rather than something that happens "before development", and its cycle time should be included in the total development cycle time.

Koen et al. (2001) distinguish five different front-end elements (not necessarily in a particular order):<ref name="Koen 2001 pp.46-55" />
# Opportunity Identification
# Opportunity Analysis
# Idea Genesis
# Idea Selection
# Idea and Technology Development
The first element is the opportunity identification. In this element, large or incremental business and technological chances are identified in a more or less structured way. Using the guidelines established here, resources will eventually be allocated to new projects, which then leads to a structured NPPD (New Product & Process Development) strategy.

The second element is the opportunity analysis. It is done to translate the identified opportunities into implications for the business and technology specific context of the company. Here extensive efforts may be made to align ideas to target customer groups and do market studies and/or technical trials and research.

The third element is the idea genesis, which is described as evolutionary and iterative process progressing from birth to maturation of the opportunity into a tangible idea. The process of the idea genesis can be made internally or come from outside inputs, e.g. a supplier offering a new material/technology or from a customer with an unusual request.

The fourth element is the idea selection. Its purpose is to choose whether to pursue an idea by analyzing its potential business value.

The fifth element is the idea and technology development. During this part of the front-end, the business case is developed based on estimates of the total available market, customer needs, investment requirements, competition analysis and project uncertainty. Some organizations consider this to be the first stage of the NPPD process (i.e., Stage 0).

A universally acceptable definition for Fuzzy Front End or a dominant framework has not been developed so far.<ref>Husig and Kohn (2003), Factors influencing the Front End of the Innovation Process: A comprehensive Review of Selected empirical NPD and explorative FFE Studies, Brusell, Juni 2003, p.14.</ref>
In a glossary by the [[Product Development and Management Association]],<ref>{{cite web |year=2006 |title=The PDMA Glossary for New Product Development |url=http://www.pdma.org/npd_glossary.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321075449/http://www.pdma.org/npd_glossary.cfm |archive-date=2009-03-21 |publisher=Product Development & Management Association}}</ref> it is mentioned that the fuzzy front end generally consists of three tasks: strategic planning, idea generation, and pre-technical evaluation. These activities are often chaotic, unpredictable, and unstructured. In comparison, the subsequent new product development process is typically structured, predictable, and formal.
The term ''fuzzy front end'' was first popularized by Smith and Reinertsen (1991).<ref>Smith, Preston G., Reinertsen Donald G. (1991) Developing products in half the time, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York</ref>
R.G. Cooper (1988)<ref>Cooper, R.G. Predevelopment activities determine new product success, in: Industrial Marketing Management, Vol.17 (1988), No 2, pp. 237–248</ref>  it describes the early stages of NPPD as a four-step process in which ideas are generated (I), subjected to a preliminary technical and market assessment (II) and merged to coherent product concepts (III) which are finally judged for their fit with existing product strategies and portfolios (IV).

'''PHASE 2: Product design''' is the development of both the [[High-level design|high-level]] and [[Detailed design document|detailed-level]] design of the product:  which turns the ''what'' of the requirements into a specific ''how'' this particular product will meet those requirements. This typically has the most overlap with the [[engineering design]] process, but can also include [[industrial design]] and even purely aesthetic aspects of design. On the marketing and planning side, this phase ends at pre-commercialization analysis{{clarify|date=April 2015}} stage.

'''PHASE 3: Product implementation''' often refers to later stages of detailed engineering design (e.g. refining mechanical or electrical hardware, or software, or [[consumer good|goods]] or other product forms), as well as [[verification and validation|test process]] that may be used to validate that the prototype actually meets all design specifications that were established.

'''PHASE 4: Fuzzy back-end''' or commercialization phase represent the action steps where the [[manufacturing|production]] and market launch occur.

The front-end marketing phases have been very well researched, with valuable models proposed. Peter Koen et al. provides a five-step front-end activity called front-end innovation: opportunity identification, opportunity analysis, idea genesis, idea selection, and idea and technology development. He also includes an engine in the middle of the five front-end stages and the possible outside barriers that can influence the process outcome. The engine represents the management driving the activities described. The front end of the innovation is the greatest area of weakness in the NPD process. This is mainly because the FFE is often chaotic, unpredictable and unstructured.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://web.stevens.edu/cce/NEW/PDFs/Koen%20Fuzzy%20Front%20End%20Chapter.pdf|last1=Koen|first1=Peter A.|chapter=The fuzzy front-end for incremental, breakthrough and platform products and services|title=The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development|date=November 2007|doi=10.1002/9780470172483.ch6|issue=1|publisher=Consortium for corporate entrepreneurship|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418172345/http://web.stevens.edu/cce/NEW/PDFs/Koen%20Fuzzy%20Front%20End%20Chapter.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-18 }}</ref> Engineering design is the process whereby a technical solution is developed iteratively to solve a given problem.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=P. Robert|last2=Eppinger|first2=P. Steven|title=Identifying controlling features of engineering design iteration|journal=Management Science|date=1997|volume=43|issue=3|pages=276–293|doi=10.1287/mnsc.43.3.276|hdl=1721.1/2376|url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/1721.1/2376/1/SWP-3348-33836441.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

The design stage is very important because at this stage most of the product life cycle costs are engaged. Previous research shows that 70–80% of the final product quality and 70% of the product entire life-cycle cost are determined in the product design phase, therefore the design-manufacturing interface represent the greatest opportunity for cost reduction.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Yan-mei|first1=Zhou|title=Cost-benefit of interface management improvement in design-manufacturing chain|journal=Chinese Academy of Science and Technology Management|date=2009|volume=14|issue=3|pages=380–384}}</ref>
Design projects last from a few weeks to three years with an average of one year.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hargadon|first1=Andrew|title=Technology brokering and innovation in a product development firm|journal=Administrative Science Quarterly|date=1997|volume=42|issue=4|pages=716–749|doi=10.2307/2393655|jstor=2393655}}</ref> Design and commercialization phases usually start a very early collaboration. When the concept design is finished it will be sent to manufacturing plant for prototyping, developing a Concurrent Engineering approach by implementing practices such as [[Quality function deployment|QFD]], [[Design for manufacturability|DFM]]/[[Design for assembly|DFA]] and more.
The output of the design (engineering) is a set of product and process specifications – mostly in the form of drawings, and the output of manufacturing is the product ready for sale.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Adler|first1=S. Paul|title=Interdepartmental interdependence and coordination: the case of the design/manufacturing interface|journal=Organization Science|date=1995|volume=6|issue=2|pages=147–167|doi=10.1287/orsc.6.2.147|s2cid=62164671|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2521/6f029aa4edbde9cb15abc6da47c482fef19c.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209054610/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2521/6f029aa4edbde9cb15abc6da47c482fef19c.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-02-09}}</ref> Basically, the design team will develop drawings with technical specifications representing the future product, and will send it to the manufacturing plant to be executed. Solving product/process fit problems is of high priority in information communication design because 90% of the development effort must be scrapped if any changes are made after the release to manufacturing.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>