The product development process for any company has a lot of moving parts – it requires tremendous amounts of time, resources and manpower to move a device through the development cycle from concept to the user’s hands. By Owen Camden, C&K global director, director of product management & product marketing.
If any one of those parts – brainstorming sessions, project director meetings, overtime shifts, even employees involved – cause friction during the process, then the entire project can derail. The number one culprit leading to friction during a development process is a breakdown of communications between the maker of the end product and their suppliers, including the manufacturers in charge of assembling the individual product parts together.
It is essential then for all companies involved to follow some simple practices to avoid common communications mistakes to ensure the best chance for product development success.
‘Controlled’ improvisation and serendipity
Often, product designers and engineers need to create completely original designs with unique needs. They are wading into uncharted territory. Uncertainty arises when dealing with component suppliers because the designers have a general idea of what parts they will need for the device, but aren’t entirely sure how the end product should come together using those parts.
Invariably, the engineer’s description of the design makeup ends up being vague or incomplete, causing confusion and delays until everyone can get on the same page and all factors and parameters are clear.
Improvisation and serendipity can help in these situations by allowing all involved to share in an open dialogue about their wants, ideas and even concerns about how the product design should unfold. Discussing a set of like-minded questions before any work is done – such as what is the budget, where will the product be available, how many volts do you think the device will need, etc.? – can help get any first meeting of the minds off on the fast track to success.
Balance the ‘Sales Effect’
Salespeople are the revenue generators of their companies, but often are not technical experts. They may be prone to telling clients what they want to hear and making promises that can’t be kept because of time, price or capability.
For this reason, it’s best to temper the supplier ‘Sales effect’ side by paring Salespeople with someone with technical expertise. This balanced team will help evaluate the application, make informed recommendations and ensure client requests (and promises) are realistic.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
Many problems stem from time-crunched people trying to move too quickly, but one issue that seems to come up frequently is geniality. Both designers and their partners come to the table overly optimistic about the device and the capabilities of the components, eagerly saying “yes” to every question posed, and wanting to leave their meetings feeling great.
Positivity is certainly an admirable quality to have in any product development cycle, but it must be coupled with realism. The desire to please everyone can result in missed deadlines and unmet expectations.
Companies and their partners need to get comfortable making each other uncomfortable. A level of trust must be established from the onset so that each group can ask the difficult questions that expose potential hurdles and roadblocks. Both sides need to be critical, effectively leveraging each other’s knowledge and expertise – and neither should be afraid to ask the other for what they need within a realistic timeframe.
That’s not to say that the relationship between designers and components companies needs to be contentious, but in order to get the best outcomes, both sides of the table need to be free to voice concerns and keep the other group honest to ensure a smooth collaboration.
Utilise a product manager
Gaps in communication don’t end when the product heads to be manufactured. Companies have separate manufacturing and design groups. Product decisions are often made without input from manufacturing, leading to beautiful designs that are difficult to put together.
Product design must be considered outside of the CAD model. In order to do that, companies need to enable a system that fosters relationships between manufacturing and design, particularly if those operations are based in separate countries.
The best thing a company can do to coordinate the efforts of the product design and manufacturing teams is to utilize a product manager. Product managers are empowered with an overview of the entire process and can head off problems before they become crises. They will chair meetings between the two groups to make sure designs are truly ‘designed for manufacturability’ at a high-quality level.
Product managers also shoulder some of the load by not forcing engineers to take on responsibilities outside of their core skill set.
Communication is the foundation upon which all successful product development programs and launches are built. By following these four best practices, companies can rest assure that their product lifecycle will be a profitable success instead of one that never sees the light of day.
