The Stages in the New Product Development Process free essay sample

In business, New Product Development (NPD) is the complete process of bringing a new product into the market. The New Product Development process is also referred to as The Stage-Gate innovation process. It was developed by Dr. Robert G. Cooper as a result of his comprehensive research on reasons why products succeed and why they fail. The New Product Development Process is crucial and Companies follow different types of NPD system. New product development process has eight stages. These stages will be discussed briefly below. The first stage of a new product development process begins with an idea of the product. Ideas for new products can be obtained from basic research using a SWOT analysis. Market and consumer trends, companys Research and Development department, competitors, focus groups, employees, sales personnel, corporate spies, trade shows, or ethnographic discovery methods may also be used to get an insight into new product lines or product features. We will write a custom essay sample on The Stages in the New Product Development Process or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Idea Screening The objective of the screening stage is to eliminate unsound concepts prior to devoting resources to them. This process involves shifting through the ideas generated and selecting the ones which are feasible and workable to develop. Pursing non feasible ideas can clearly be costly for the company. Concept Development and Testing Organization may have come across what they believe to be a feasible idea; however, the idea needs to be taken to a number of prospective customers, what do they think about the idea? Will it be practical and feasible? Will it offer the benefit that the organization hopes it will? Or have they overlooked certain issues? We need to be aware that the idea taken to the target audience is not a working sample, but just a concept. Marketing Strategy and Development How will the product/service idea be launched within the market? A proposed marketing strategy will be written laying out the marketing mix strategy of the product, the segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy sales and profits that are expected. Business Analysis The business analysis stage looks more deeply into the Cash flow the product could generate, what the cost will be, how much market shares the product may achieve and the expected life of the product. The company has a great idea, the marketing strategy seems feasible, but will the product be financially worthwhile in the long run? Product Development At this stage the sample is produced. The sample will clearly run through all the desired tests, and presented to a selection of people made up of the target market division to see if changes need to be made. Test Marketing Test marketing means testing the product within a specified area. The product is mostly launched within a particular District so the marketing mix strategy can be monitored and if needed modified before national launch. Commercialization If the test marketing stage has been successful, then the product could go for national launch. There are certain factors that need to be taken into consideration before a product is launched nationally. These include: timing of the launch, how the product will be launched, where it will be launched, whether there will be a national rollout or it will be done region by region? I will conclude that, although the eight stages of product development may seem to be a long process, they are designed to save wasted time and resources.