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

An insightful development roadmap to help engineers and businesspeople successfully bring a product to market

In Product Development: An Engineer’s Guide to Business Considerations, Real-World Product Testing, and Launch, accomplished project manager, engineer, and business strategist David V. Tennant delivers a comprehensive walkthrough of the full scope of product development activities, from initial business considerations to real-world product testing and launch. The book covers key product development considerations like determining the target market, working with a product development team, management challenges, funding, user identification, ergonomics, product design, testing, and launch.

The distinguished author presents the material in the form of practical, hands-on tutorials with case studies featuring large corporations and small- and mid-size firms. He also includes team exercises and question-and-answer features to help early-career and aspiring engineers acquire the interdisciplinary and inter-department coordination skills they’ll require to successfully bring a new product to market.

Readers will learn about the critical roles played by the engineering, marketing, and finance departments, as well as each stage of the product development process. The book also includes:

• Thorough introductions to product development and the role of the marketing group in product development, including corporate strategy, product and business plans, and marketing leadership
• Comprehensive explorations of the role of the engineering group in product development, including functional areas led by engineers and engineering leadership
• Practical discussions of the core team and teamwork in product development, including executives’ roles, the role of the accounting department, and the identification of key stakeholders
• In-depth examinations of how to move forward with product development after project approval

Perfect for early- and mid-career engineers working in product-oriented companies, as well as marketers and other business professionals seeking to understand engineering best practices, Product Development is the ideal reference for use in upper-level undergraduate Product Development courses.

David V. Tennant, PE, PMP, MBA, is Founder of Windward Consulting Group, a firm that provides strategic planning, project rescues, and training to international companies in the power, electric, and manufacturing sectors. He holds engineering degrees from Florida Atlantic University and the Georgia Institute of Technology and is Chair Emeritus of the Atlanta chapter of PMI.

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 1^st P – Product 11

Example of Product Displacement 13

The 2^nd P – Promotion 15

The 3^rd P – Pricing 16

The 4^th 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

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

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

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