Product Planning

Teaching materials to accompany:

Product Design and Development
Chapter 4
Product Design and Development
Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D. Eppinger
5th edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 2012.
Chapter Table of Contents:
1.Introduction

2.Development Processes and Organizations

3.Opportunity Identification

4.Product Planning
5.Identifying Customer Needs
6.Product Specifications

7.Concept Generation
8.Concept Selection
9.Concept Testing

10.Product Architecture
11.Industrial Design
12.Design for Environment

13.Design for Manufacturing

14.Prototyping

15.Robust Design

16.Patents and Intellectual Property

17.Product Development Economics
18.Managing Projects
Session Outline
 Product development opportunities  Sourcing ideas on a regular
basis

 Market competition  Planning products w.r.t competition

 Technology  The concept of technology S-curves

 Portfolio planning  The need for balanced portfolios; product-

process change map & aggregate product planning

 Mission statements  For each project

Objectives & Strategy
 Product development teams generally begin with a project mission
statement.
 This relates strongly to concepts of corporate strategy.

 A cross-functional planning process develops the product

development team's mission statement.

 Note: The multiple-product, multiple-project context of product

development in established firms.
 The ability to choose the right set of development projects and
to define the scope of these projects in such a way that they are
complementary
Product Development
Process

Concept
Concept System-Level
System-Level Detail
Detail Testing
Testingand
and Production
Production
Planning
Planning Development Design Design Refinement Ramp-Up
Development Design Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Four Phases of Product Development

The product planning phase precedes the product development process.

(i.e., before substantial resources are applied)

It considers the portfolio of projects that an organization might pursue

Product Planning
 Ensures product development projects support the broader
business strategy of the company.
Addresses:
 What product development projects will be undertaken?
 What mix of fundamentally new products, platforms and derivative
products should be pursued?
 How do the various projects relate to each other as a portfolio?
 What will be the timing and sequence of projects?
Product Development Teams
 Work on selected projects and start with a mission.
 The mission statement answers:
 What market segments should be considered in designing the
product and developing its features?
 What new technologies (if any) should be incorporated into the new
products?
 What are the manufacturing and service goals and constraints?
 What are the financial targets for the project?
 What are the budget and the time frame for the project?
The Product Planning Process

The product plan identifies the portfolio of products to be developed by

the organization and the timing of their introduction to the market
through proper allocation of resources.

The planning process considers:

 Product dev. Opportunities identified from various sources
 Suggestions from marketing, research, customers, current product
development teams
 Benchmarking of competitors
Inefficiencies
Some inefficiencies in organizations that do not engage in product
planning:
 Inadequate coverage of target markets with competitive products.
 Poor timing of market introductions of products.
 Mismatches between aggregate development capacity and the number
of projects pursued.
 Poor distribution of resources, with some projects overstaffed and
others understaffed.
 Initiation and subsequent cancellation of ill-conceived projects.
 Frequent changes in the directions of the projects.
 Xerox Lakes Project Example
Xerox’s Competitive
Strategy  Exploit
technological innovation
in a rapidly changing
market

DIGITAL COPIER
PLATFORM
(AS OPPOSED TO
EXISTING LIGHT
LENS )

Xerox Document Centre 265

 Concept of S-Curves
TQ-1: How might a portfolio of development projects differ for product technologies
at position A or B?

Draw S-curves of your choice. What are the disruptive technologies here? What
dimensions of performance are affected?
The Product Plan
The product plans developed by keeping in mind:
 Company’s goals
 Capabilities
 Constraints
 Competitive environment

The product plan is regularly updated to reflect changes in:

 Competitive environment
 Technology
 Info on successes of existing products
 Product Plan

Exh 3-2: The product plan identifies the portfolio of projects to be

pursued by the development organization. This plan divides projects into
four categories.
The Product Planning Process

1. Identify opportunities.
2. Evaluate and prioritize projects.
3. Allocate resources and plan timing.
4. Complete pre-project planning.
5. Reflect on the results and the processes.
Note: Selecting a promising project is iterative in nature
Step 1: Identify opportunities
Sources of product development opportunities:
 Marketing/Sales
 Research/Technology Development (Xerox PARC)
 PD Teams
 Manufacturing
 Customers
 Third party: Suppliers, Inventors, and business partners
 Other business groups (Xerox Supplies Division)
Some proactive approaches:
 Document frustrations and complaints
 Study Competitors’ products (Competitive benchmarking)
 Track the status of emerging technologies
 More…see text
Xerox
Some opportunity statements proposed at Xerox:
 Create a document distribution system in which a networked
printing, device resides on each office worker’s desk and
automatically drives mail and other documents.

 Create document delivery software that allows the digital delivery

and storage of most intra-organizational documents via a worker’s
personal computer.

Opportunity statement: Lakes Project

 Develop a new black & white (B&W), digital, networkable, document
center platform for the office market, including scanning, storage,
fax, distribution, and printing capabilities
Step 2: Evaluate and Prioritize
Projects
Competitive strategies
 Technology leadership
 Cost leadership
 Customer focus
 Imitative
Market Segmentation
Technology Trajectories
Product Platform Planning
Evaluating Fundamentally New Product Opportunities
Balancing the portfolio
 Competitive Strategies
 Technology leadership  Basic R & D

 Cost leadership  Superior manufacturing methods; Design for

manufacturing to reduce costs

 Customer focus  Rapid development of derivatives through

carefully designed product platforms

 Imitative  Fast development process

Market Segmentation: Market Segment Map

Exh 3.4: Product segment map showing Xerox B&W digital products and the competition in three
markets (Segmentation based on number of users sharing office equipment) . Key performance
dimensions  pages per minute & networking capability
 Technology Trajectories
Exh 3.5: This technology S-curve
illustrates that Xerox believed digital
copier technologies were just emerging
and will improve product performance
in coming years. Xerox believed that it
could develop a full-featured digital
copier in the near future with
performance exceeding that of light-
lens copiers.

Q: How near or far is the ultimate performance limit?

 Product Platform Planning: Platforms vs.
Derivatives
Platform  Set of assets shared across a set of products (e.g. components & sub assys)
Derivatives  For different segments

Ex 3.6: A platform development project creates the architecture of a family of products.

Derivative products may be included in the initial platform development effort (Platform
A) or derivative products may follow thereafter (Platform B)
Product Platform Planning: Technology Roadmap
Ex 3.7: This technology
roadmap shows the life cycles
of several digital
photocopying technologies &
identifies which technologies
would be used in each
product. For Lakes
platform Higher speeds
and color capabilities
required of its derivatives.

Note: decisions about

product platforms are
closely related to the
technology development
efforts of the firm
Evaluating Fundamentally New Product Opportunities

Some criteria for evaluating fundamentally new product opportunities:

 Market size (units/year * average price)
 Market growth rate (percent per year)
 Competitive intensity (#competitors & their strengths)
 Depth of the firm’s existing knowledge of the markets
 Depth of the firm’s existing knowledge of technology
 Fit with the firm’s other products
 Fit with the firm’s capabilities
 Potential for patents or other barriers to competition
 Existence of a product champion within the firm
Balancing the portfolio
 Ex 3.8: The product-process change matrix
 The extent to which the project involves changes in the product
line and/or the production processes
 Helps identify projects  breakthrough opportunities as well as
incremental improvements
 Firms typically benefit from a diverse set of projects
 Firm’s choice of competitive strategy influences product
development portfolio:

(FIRM STRATEGY) (PORTFOLIO)

 LOW COST STRATEGY  MORE OF PRODUCTION
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
 HIGH PRODUCT VARIETY  DERIVATIVE PRODUCTS
UPON EXISTING PLATFORMS
 TECHNOLOGICAL SUPERIORITY  TECH DEV. &
BREAKTHROUGH PROJECTS
 Product-Process Change Matrix
Extent of Production Process Changes
Research and New Next Single Tuning and No
Technology Core Generation Department Incremental Process
Development Process Process Upgrade Changes Change
New Breakthrough
Core Development
Product Projects
Extent of Product Changes

Platform
Next Development
Generation Projects
Product
Lakes
Project
Addition
to Product
Family Derivative
Product
Minor Development
Product
Enhancement

Current
No
Product Product/Process
Change Support
Step 3:Allocate Resources & Plan
Timing
Resource Allocation
 Careful use of the limited development resources
 Avoid starting too many projects. May result in:
 Skilled engineers and managers stretching their capabilities
 Affects productivity, time-to-market, quality, and profitability
 Aggregate Product Planning (Ex 3.9):
 makes efficient use of resources within budgeted resources
Project Timing
 Timing of product introductions
 Technology readiness
 Market readiness
 Competition
The Product Plan (Exhibit: 3.2)
 Set of projects approved by the planning process and sequenced in time.
 Mix of: Fundamentally new product, platform and derivative projects.
 Updated periodically as a part of the strategic planning activity.
 Ca
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20%
40%
60%
80%
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100%
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Mechanical Design za
ti
on
Electrical Engineering

Manufacturing Engineering

Year 1
Software/ Firmware

Industrial Design

Mechanical Design

Electrical Engineering

Manufacturing Engineering

Year 2
Software/ Firmware

Industrial Design

Mechanical Design

Electrical Engineering

Manufacturing Engineering
Aggregate Resource Planning

Year 3

Software/ Firmware

Industrial Design
Ex 3.9: Aggregate
Resource Planning
 Product Plan
The Product Plan (Exhibit: 3.2)
•Set of projects approved by the planning process and sequenced in time.
•Mix of: Fundamentally new product, platform and derivative projects.
•Updated periodically as a part of the strategic planning activity.

Exh 3-2: The product plan identifies the portfolio of projects to be pursued by the
development organization. This plan divides projects into four categories.
Step 4: Complete Pre-Project
Planning
Product Vision Statement
Develop a networked, mid-range digital platform for imaging, marking, and
finishing
Mission Statements
 Brief (one sentence) description of the product
 Key business goals
 Target market(s) for the product
 Assumptions and constraints that guide the development effort
 Stakeholders
Assumptions and constraints
 Manufacturing
 Service
 Environment
Staffing and other pre-project planning activities
 Lakes Project Mission Statement
Product Description
• Networkable, digital machine with copy, print, fax, and scan functions
Key Business Goals
• Support Xerox strategy of leadership in digital office equipment
• Serve as platform for all future B&W digital products and solutions
• Capture 50% of digital product sales in primary market
• Environmentally friendly
• First product introduction 4thQ 1997
Primary Market
• Office departments, mid-volume (40-65 ppm, above 42,000 avg. copies/mo.)
Secondary Markets
• Quick-print market
• Small ‘satellite’ operations
Assumptions and Constraints
• New product platform
• Digital imaging technology
• Compatible with Centre Ware software
• Input devices manufactured in Canada
• Output devices manufactured in Brazil
• Image processing engine manufactured in both USA and Europe
Stakeholders
• Purchasers and Users
• Manufacturing Operations
• Service Operations
• Distributors and Resellers
 Lakes Project Mission Statement
Product Description
• Networkable, digital machine with copy, print, fax, and scan functions
Key Business Goals
• Support Xerox strategy of leadership in digital office equipment
• Serve as platform for all future B&W digital products and solutions
• Capture 50% of digital product sales in primary market
• Environmentally friendly
• First product introduction 4thQ 1997
Primary Market
• Office departments, mid-volume (40-65 ppm, above 42,000 avg. copies/mo.)
Secondary Markets
• Quick-print market
• Small ‘satellite’ operations
Assumptions and Constraints
• New product platform
• Digital imaging technology
• Compatible with Centre Ware software
• Input devices manufactured in Canada
• Output devices manufactured in Brazil
• Image processing engine manufactured in both USA and Europe
Stakeholders
• Purchasers and Users
• Manufacturing Operations
• Service Operations
• Distributors and Resellers
 Assumptions & Constraints
Some may ask:
 Why manufacturing, Service and Environmental strategies should be
part of the mission statement for a new product?

Some may even hold:

 Decisions about these issues should arise from customer needs for new
products and should not be determined in advance.
Why then do we have Xerox mentioning these in the project
mission statement?
Assumptions & Constraints (contd..)
 For complex projects (as in this Xerox example), the design of the
manufacturing systems are equally complex.
 Thus manufacturing facilities involved in the product need to be
identified very early in the process.

 Some product requirements cannot be derived strictly from customer

needs.
 Environmentally responsible design (as a Corporate Responsibility
of Xerox

Mission statements must reflect such corporate objectives and

constraints.
 Assumptions & Constraints (contd..)
For Lakes Project of Xerox
Manufacturing
 Capabilities, capacities, and constraints of existing manufacturing processes
 Which internal production facility to be used?
 What key suppliers to be involved and when?
 For Xerox: Input devises at Canada, Output devices in Brazil etc.
Service
 Note: Customer service and service revenue important in this business
 Strategic goals for improving service quality
 Designing components requiring few parts
 Designing for ease of serviceability (quick service)
Environment
 Design for environment
 Developing new products with environmental sustainability
 Xerox’s  “Zero to landfill” policy with an energy efficiency goal “most efficient machine in
its class”
 Remanufacture or recycle [no part should be disposed by the customer to end up in a
landfill]
Step 5: Reflect on the Results & the
Process
Some suggested questions:
 Is the opportunity funnel collecting an exciting and diverse set of product
opportunities?
 Does the product plan support the competitive strategy of the firm?
 Does the product plan address the most important current opportunities facing the
firm?
 Are the resources allocated product development adequate to pursue the firm’s
competitive strategy?
 Have creative ways of leveraging finite resources been considered…?
 Does the core team accept the challenges of the resulting mission statement
 Are the elements of the mission statement consistent?
 Are assumptions listed in the mission statement really necessary or is the project
over-constrained? Will the development team have the freedom to develop the best
possible design?
 How can the product planning process be improved?