Benefits from comprehensive launch designs
A launch design focuses the efforts of all the contributors. This includes disciplines such as engineering, product management, manufacturing, purchasing, quality assurance, public relations, sales, support, advertising, trade show services, training development and delivery, industrial design, user interface design, multimedia production, web site development, compliance engineering, packaging, brand management, distribution channel management, project management, and the next-big-thing. In addition, an NPD project usually requires priority support from services such as shipping and receiving, IT, human resources, facilities, and legal.
Another detractor to NPD success is the significant responsibilities of NPD contributors to current products and duties to routine company activities. A well-crafted launch design clarifies which individuals are critical to the success of the NPD effort and other supporting roles.
Consider the challenges faced by many NPD team leaders. Sub-optimization occurs because of factors such as functional silos, matrix organizational structures, and inconsistent metrics. Internally, NPD project delays result from factors such as over-committing critical resources, learning curve issues, project communication problems between networked team members, and distractions from non-critical sources.
Launch design is complementary with other development popular techniques such as Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), Stage-Gate, Voice of the Customer, Lead User processes, House of Quality (QFD), and TRIZ.
Our approach to comprehensive launch design is called Launch Architecture. We advocate the inclusion of a launch architect as an NPD team member. In cooperation with a team leader or product manager, the launch architect develops the launch strategy and the design that harmonizes the efforts of all the development resources.
Benefits from NPD-tuned services
NPD-tuned services provide an enhanced version of a service in a collaborative new product development environment.
Because a "new" product is differentiated in some way, NPD-tuned services evaluate the characteristics of the newest techniques within their specialty and compare performance to more mature techniques to select the approaches that will provide the best contribution to launch success.
For NPD-tuned services, collaboration in a multi-disciplinary, networked environment is critical because it encourages innovation. For example, consider the development of a public relations strategy. Will interviews conducted by PR specialists be a distraction to the development team or a source of inspiration?
NPD-tuned services thrive on feedback obtained from the testing prototype deliverables. NPD-tuned services are differentiated by their knowledge of where and how to share feedback so that it lead to NPD innovation.
NPD-tuned services excel at maximizing adoption potential of a new product. Example benefits include:
- Improving the usability and desirability of your new product by refining your product concept by creating and testing prototypes and concept videos.
- Creating launch events [such as those for webcasts, training, and trade shows] that have maximum synergy with the empirical drivers of launch success across the value grid
- Reducing project costs by minimizing "getting up to speed" delays by providing the right expert from a network of specialists and service providers that are proficient at completing new product development tasks and orchestrating the work of other team members
- Maximizing return on investment by identifying opportunities and implementing innovative solutions that result in 2-20 times productivity improvements in specific new product development activities
- Training and mentoring your staff throughout development and launch activities
- Ensuring that milestones are achieved on time by temporarily expanding your staff's capacity so that development activities and other business functions are adequately staffed
Maximizing the probability of launch success
"Product commercialization often turns out to be the most expensive and risky part of the new product process, as well as the most poorly-managed." Crawford and Di Benedetto, New Products Management, 6th edition, McGraw-Hill Education, 2000, page 358.
In the last six years, we have completed projects that ranged from a one-day duration to more than a one-year duration. We have worked with companies whose size ranged from one person to more than 100,000. Regardless of the scope of the project or size of the company, our specialty is to design and implement solutions that ensure the maximum potential for launch success.
We know that when you are buying a service (such as ours) that you may consider doing the work yourself. When you have an imperative to improve new product development activities, your team may evaluate multiple claims. We encourage you to evaluate our experience, certifications, publications, and results as you select partners to maximize the success of your product launch activities.
OpLaunch founder, Mark A Hart, is a certified New Product Development Professional (NPDP) and immersed in NPD techniques. He is a frequent contributor to NPD publications.
Biography of OpLaunch founder Mark A Hart
