PRODUCT PLANNING AND DESIGN

(By Dr. Donatus Mugisha R.)

1. Introduction
A product is anything that is useful to satisfy human
needs. A product can be divided into two main types;

 Goods – These are tangible products. Eg: A laptop

 Services – These are intangible products Eg: A lecture

Any product does not exist by accident. Existence of a

product is based on a careful plan with the intention of
responding to a particular human need. Examples below
will help to make this clear;
 The coming in of zoom is as a result of the need to
have online meetings and online classes……Thanks to
COVID-19.
 The coming in of Mobile banking wallet is to respond to
the need to have mobile payments which save time to
the busy people.
The planning process is commonly referred as the product
design and development exercise. This is divided into the
steps below;
i) Needs identification: This is also referred to as the
step of determining the problem in the community
that needs to be solved.
ii) Generation of possible solutions: This is a step
when the different experts in the industry of
concern/focus make suggestions of how to solve the
identified problems (or how to respond to the
identified needs). This step/phase is sometimes
referred to as brainstorming phase.
iii) Evaluation of the possible solutions: In this step,
the possible solutions (alternative ways to respond
to the needs identified) are evaluated to determine
the possibility of their implementation. This
evaluation focuses on;
 The financial capacity of a business/company
 The expected revenue to be generated (DD)
 The quality of the enabling environment

iv) Selection of the most viable solution: This is based

on the evaluation exercise conducted.
v) Implementation of the viable solution selected: AT
this point, the modalities to implement the selected
solution are considered. Thereafter, the selected
viable solution is implemented. In the process of
implementation, two things are done;
 Preparation of a plan for the product – In some
books, this is referred to as a prototype. It is an
artistic impression of how the final product will
look like.
 Preparation of a pilot product (sample product):
This is a real product produced (manufactured or
provided as a service) in a small scale. This could
be done publicly or involving only loyal customers.
 Consider feedback from pilot testing: This is
necessary to determine whether the new product
should be given to the general public as it is or
there is need to make changes before supplying
the product to the general public.
 Carry out production for the general public: At
this point, a product is expected to perform
 successfully in the market amidst competition, if
there is any.
vi) Monitoring and evaluation: This takes place at
every stage of product design and development
activities. The need to make a product better is
considered every other time.
Questions:
a) Consider a product in the Ugandan market today and
explain the needs it addresses. Further explain how
it could have gone through the “product design and
development steps”.

b) Assume you are the product manager of a new

company in the field of your choice (Eg: marketing,
IT, education, engineering etc.), explain how you
would design a new product. Give a name to that
product and the need it would be addressing.

Product life cycle (PLC) and production technologies: PLC

refers to the stages a product goes through from the time
its idea is conceived by management to the time its
demand/popularity disappears in the market area.
Disappearing of popularity is technically referred to as
product death.
At every stage of a PLC, there is a preferred production
technology that a business is expected to use. This
technology must be linked with the product life cycle stage
to ensure effectiveness in the production process and
realize economic benefits.
There are 5 stages in the PLC. These are;
 i) Product design and development: This is stage
when a new product idea is conceived and
implemented. Once the new product is good for the
public based on the results from pilot testing, the
new product gets officially launched in the market.
ii) Introduction: This is a stage when a new product
gets introduced into the market. It begins with the
event of product launching and proceeds with
customer awareness.
iii) Growth: This is associated with high increased in
product demand as well as high increase in the
production of a product.
iv) Maturity: This reflects a phase when a product is
known by almost everyone in the market. This
means that the product does not have new room for
growth. Majority of customers at this stage are
repeat customers.
v) Decline: This is when a product starts losing
popularity in the market. At this point, a product is
said to be heading to its death.
Note:
The existence of product death made it necessary for
innovation to take place from time to time. This innovation
enables a product to take a new shape before it becomes
obsolete and considered dead. This innovation is
technically referred to as product rejuvenation.
Production technologies
These are the different techniques that can be used to
make a product available for sale. They are therefore the
production techniques/strategies. These production
techniques can either be for physical products (goods) or
for non-physical products (services).
a) Production technologies for physical products
(goods)
These include;
i) Project production technology: This is a type of
production technology with the following
characteristics.
 It has a specific beginning time and end time
 It takes long for the product to be ready for use
 Products produced are most times unique
 This product can only be produced if a demand for
it is placed by a client.
ii) Job shop production technology: This technology is
identified by the following characteristics.
 Products are still on order though there could be
some similarities in the orders made
 Production time could be less as compared to the
project production technology.
 Though products are still largely unique in their
design, some form of standardization is expected
to be cropping up

iii) Batch production technology: This is categorized

into two technologies; batch to order and batch to
stock.
  Batch to order: This is characterized by;
 Higher level of standardization as compared to
the job shop production technology. This is
evidenced by products being produced
(manufactured) in bulk.
 Though produced in bulk, they are still made
only when there is an order.
 The production time (customer waiting time) is
shorter because products are produced in
bulk.
 Batch to stock: This focuses on products that are
in average to high demand. The technology is
characterized by;
 High levels of standardization
 Products produced even when there is no
immediate demand. This means that they are
produced and put in shelves.
 Waiting time for a customer is almost zero
because the products are already in the
shelves to be delivered to a customer whenever
there is a need.
iv) Mass production (Line and assembly): This
technology of production is characterized by;
 Very high levels of standardization. This means
that the manufacturer is sure that all that is
produced (manufactured) shall be sold out.
 The level of demand is extremely high
 Customer waiting time is zero.
 Production takes place continuously.
 The quantity of production is huge.
PLC stage Preferred technology
Product design and Project
development
Introduction Project, Job shop, Batch to Order
Growth Batch to stock and Mass production
Maturity Mass production
Decline Batch to order towards Job shop

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 ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE ATTRIBUTES
Stages Design Introduction Growth Maturity Decline
Customer Innovators Early adopters Early majority Late majority Laggards
types
Behavior Adventurous Adventurous Solution seekers Risk averse Fears change
Sales Low Low to Moderate to High and Declining
moderate high stable
Profit Negative Very small Moderate to High Take a
high declining
trend
Marketing Heavy/ Heavy/ Personal selling Cut down on Stop
strategy Persuasive Persuasive and referrals advertising advertising
advertisement advertisement (Loyal and and focus on completely –
and sales and sales repeat loyal focusing on
promotional promotional customers, sales customers selling out
campaigns campaigns personnel) the
remaining
output
Production Project Job shop, Mass Mass Project
technology technology batch system production production technology
(batch to (Commercializat (Commerciali
order and ion) zation)
batch to
stock)
Units of output Very small Small Small to large Large On order
produced
Competition No Very weak (if Moderate to High Declining
level competition it is there) high competition competition

b) Production systems for services

Services form a type of products which is not tangible in
nature. For instance, we have people offering hair dressing
services, teaching service, motor car repair services,
consultation services etc.
Like in the case of physical products, services also go
through steps or processes to make them available to the
user. These processes are referred as the production
systems for the service industry. They are also referred to
as the processes necessary to make a service available.
These are distributed based on the level of labor intensity
(automation) as well as the level of customer contact (high
or low). These are summarized in the chart below.
Linkage between labor intensity and automation:
Labor intensity Degree of automation
High – most work is done Low – less use of
using manual labor (human machines to do work
beings)
Low – there is less use of High – There is
manual labor to do work significant use of
machines to do work

Meaning of contact with client – the degree of association

between the client and service provider.
 How much do they know each other or
 How closely attached are they?

Mass service Professional services

D  Retailing  Doctors
eg Hi  Wholesaling  Lawyers
re gh  Schools  Accountants
e
 Retail banking  Architects
of
la
bo Service factory Service shop
r  Airlines  Auto repair
in Lo  Trucking  Other repairs
te w  Hotels  General hospital services
ns  Resort and recreation  Restaurant service
ity
Low High
Degree of interaction with clients

Figure 1: Summary of the service process matrix