Five Solutions for Common Product Development Challenges

Editor's note: Mark Dohnalek is President & CEO of Pivot International, the Kansas-based global product development, engineering & manufacturing firm.
5 Solutions for Common Product Development Challenges

Engineering design is beautiful.

The prototype testing went well. The budget is going according to plan. The supply chain partners have a production and deliverable schedule mapped out to optimize sales. So why aren't we seeing profits? Because inevitably things happen. The only way to succeed is to be adaptable and prepared with alternatives in designs, teams, and realignments all within timeframes, budgeting, testing, partner selection and more. Below is a list of common challenges and ways to overcome them proactively for increasing chances of product development success.

1. Make sure what you are doing makes sense. Don't waste time creating a solution when there isn't a problem! Always take time to learn what needs to be fixed, improved or solved. From the beginning, determining the pain points of your customers should always be the core of your product development process. Based on your evaluation, you will have purpose and clarity on the direction of your next steps. While this may seem obvious, many companies operate in the opposite way: conducting consumer research after a product has launched. As you might expect, this becomes an extremely retrogressive, expensive, and time-consuming approach that will move you back and not forward.
2. Assemble the right team without redundancy. Product development is a team effort, but too many cooks in the kitchen could create lags vs. progression. Bring together the right project managers and hand-pick a team in which expertise levels and personalities mesh. If your internal team is lacking in any area, seek external skilled professionals but don't duplicate — stay lean. The key is to have a strong group who can follow plans and possess agility to monitor and move when changes are required.
3. Be ready when the global landscape changes. The imposed 25% China tariff (with the potential of 10% more) was the wake-up call needed for manufacturers to be ready with other offshore alternatives. If Asia continues to be the best location for a smooth alignment with the rest of your logistics and supply chain, then knowledge of the other countries should be known across your teams. For example, the Philippines is an excellent consideration, as 70% of the population is fluent in English and nearly six out of ten have secondary education. With a highly skilled and educated workforce, the Philippines is a reliable manufacturing alternative to China. If alternative locations are necessary, make sure you have a steady flow of information on the laws, culture, workforce, compliance and logistics.
4. Legal and regulatory matters. Never make decisions based on guesswork. From trademarks and copyrights to design and utility patents, every search and exploration should always be managed by outside experts or your team in conjunction with trained professionals. When resources and investments are involved in furthering product development, make sure you are working with authorities who will know how to conduct searches, timeframe for filing documents, and know who to ask if questions arise. The same holds true for regulatory and government compliance issues both domestically and abroad.
5. Product test & test & test. Product testing should happen early and often throughout development. Periodic and thorough testing will be your guide for fine-tuning functionality and execution to ensure profitability for you and affordability for your customer. Have scheduled testing times at different intervals and add more (or less) based on production progress.

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