Product Development: An Engineer's Guide to Business Considerations, Real-World Product Testing, and Launch

234 Pages·2022·9.456 MB·English

by  David V. Tennant

Product Development

Product Development
An Engineer’s Guide to Business Considerations,
Real-World Product Testing, and Launch
David V. Tennant
Windward Consulting Group, Virginia, USA
This edition first published 2022
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v
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments viii
About the Author ix
1 Introduction to Product Development 1
Project Management and Product Development 2
What Is Product Development? 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
2 The Role of Marketing in Product Development 7
Corporate Strategy – Strategic Planning 7
Marketing, Sales, and the Four Ps 10
The 1st P – Product 11
Example of Product Displacement 13
The 2nd P – Promotion 15
The 3rd P – Pricing 16
The 4th P – Placement 17
The Business Case 18
The Roles of Marketing and Engineering in Product Development 19
Marketing Services 21
New Product Development and Market Economics:
The Future of Electric Trucks vs Costs and Public Policy 21
3 The Role of the Engineering Group in Product Development 35
Driving Products – the Engineering Perspective 35
Engineering Disciplines 37
The Engineering Process 39
Ergonomics (Human Factors Engineering) 45
Additional Design Considerations – Product Liability 48
Government Oversight – Consumer Protection in the United States 50
Discussion Case 3.1 – Lawsuit over Hot Coffee 52
Design Challenges – Product Misuse 53
Problems with Product Development 55
vi Table of Contents
4 The Core Team and Teamwork in Product Development 61
The Executive’s Role in Product Development 61
Working Within the Strategic Plan 61
Project Management Processes 62
Who Should Be Involved in Product Development? 63
Constraint on Product Development: A Note about
Sarbanes-Oxley and Publicly Held Companies 66
Essentials of Teamwork and Communications across
Functional Lines 67
Project/Product Communication 68
Budgets, Schedules, and Miscellaneous Small Tasks 70
Leadership in Product Development 73
How Do Leaders Go Wrong? 76
The Roles of Accounting and Finance 77
Decision Points and Net Present Value (NPV) 81
The Bigger Picture 84
Driving Product Development 85
Working in Silos and with Stakeholders 86
Identifying Stakeholders 87
5 Getting Started – Project Approved: Product/Project
Management and Engineering 95
Taking the Business Case from Concept to Reality 95
Basic Research 96
Applied Research 97
Project Management in Product Development 98
Why Do Projects Fail? 99
Traditional and Agile Project Management 101
Sample Project Plan – Detailed Table of Contents 103
A True Case Study - Company Dysfunction and a Lack of
Project Management 105
Developing and Controlling Scope – Using a Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS) 107
Developing a Budget and Cash Flows 108
Agile PM 112
The Vision Statement 113
Agile Hybrid in Action – Marketing Natural Gas in the
Southeastern United States: Gas South, A True Story 115
Discussion Case 5.1 – A True Story: Product Development
Without Project Management 117
6 Product Development for Small Firms and Entrepreneurs 125
Funding for Your Start-Up: A Necessary Ingredient 125
Loans from the Bank and Small Business Administration (SBA) 126
Funding from Venture Capitalists 127
Funding by Issuing Shares of Stock 128
Funding with Angel Investors 128
Table of Contents vii
Other Sources of Business and Financial Assistance 129
Summary on Product Development and Sources of Funding 130
Small Firm Challenges 131
Lack of Structured Planning 132
Marketing Message Not Strong or Clear 133
Legal and Regulatory Obstacles 133
Use of a Product Roadmap 134
Innovation 135
When (Or If) to Patent 137
7 Manufacturing the New Product 147
The State of Manufacturing 150
New Manufacturing Advances 156
8 Engineering Product Design and Testing 163
Managing the Approved Scope and Budget – Why Is This
Important? 163
The Project Lifecycle 164
A True Story: Ignoring the Warning Signs 166
Preventing Failure and Surprises: Performing a Risk Review 167
Two Types of Risk Review: Qualitative and Quantitative 168
Design and Status Reviews 171
Modeling – Speeding Product Development 173
Integrating Supply Chain and Manufacturing 174
The Role of Supply Chain in Product Development 176
Proposals, Pricing, Statements of Work (SOWs) 180
New Technologies – Identification and Adaptation 182
Alignment with Business Strategy 185
Using SWOT 186
Gates and Stakeholders 187
9 Successful Product Launch and Post Review 193
Pricing 194
Integrated Marketing 196
Product Development – Post Review 198
10 Summary – Connecting the Dots 205
A Logical Process Flow 206
Index 213
viii
Acknowledgments
No one person can succeed on their own. There are always people that help along the
way. Consequently, I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with a number of
exceptional and knowledgeable people during the creation of this book.
First of all, kudos and thanks to Gary Elliott, President, International Applied
Engineering. Over the years, Gary has provided significant insight into alternative
energy systems, along with engineering and business perspectives in what was, a few
years ago, a niche energy market. Gary continues to provide his expertise in clean
energy power generation.
Thanks also to Tim Jarrell, Vice President of Power Supply, Rates and Distributed
Generation at Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, for his thoughts on electric ser-
vice and the future of electric trucks and cars relative to costs and meeting electric
demand.
Along those same lines, David Jaskolski, Advanced Technology Vehicle Sales, Peach
State Truck Centers, provided a wealth of information about large electric trucks, their
applications, use, and future technology. David is truly a technical expert in this arena
as well as understanding the commercial and economic issues in electric truck
operations.
David Malone, Vice President of Marketing at Gas South, provided strategies for
obtaining customer preferences and the use of digital marketing. Further strategy in
this energy market was also provided by Kevin Greiner, CEO of Gas South.
Steven Lustig, Vice President of Global Supply Chain at East–West Manufacturing,
was instrumental in discussing manufacturing techniques, remote teams, logistics,
and global purchasing.
Roy Sequeira, Computer Systems Consultant, provided his perspective in develop-
ing and launching computer systems and products. His knowledge on planning and
avoiding problems was most helpful; especially his observations on why launches
sometimes fail.
Gerard Hill (retired), former Vice President of Consulting at ESI International and
later an independent consultant. Gerard, over the years, has mentored and assisted me
in project management techniques, methodologies, and practical applications.
Finally, to my wife and family who persevered through my absence while working
on this book. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
I want to express my sincere thanks and admiration to each of the above partici-
pants. All of today’s knowledge is built on the experience and knowledge of previous
pioneers. These gentlemen represent the leaders in today’s new thinking and product
development.
ix
About the Author
David V. Tennant has directed over $3.5 billion in projects, programs, and resources.
His expertise is in energy, utilities, telecom, manufacturing, and consulting. He has
had engagements worldwide and currently resides in the Atlanta area.
His 30 plus years of functional experience spans engineering, operations, marketing,
executive management, consulting, and he currently serves on two corporate boards.
He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Atlantic University, a M.S. in
Technology and Science Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and an
EMBA from Kennesaw State University. He is a registered professional engineer (PE)
and a certified project management professional (PMP).
His LinkedIn profile can be found at: www.linkedin.com/in/david-tennant-57075.