In today’s hypercompetitive market, the success or failure of an idea or concept is often influenced by its new product introduction (NPI) program. So if you want your new product to be successful, it’s important to understand and follow the essential steps of a new product introduction!
This article will discuss the new product introduction and the six essential steps to follow.
What is a New Product Introduction?
New product introduction (NPI) is the process of bringing a new product to market. This encompasses all the planned and executed steps to develop, refine, and bring a new product to market.
An effective NPI program is critical to the success of any new product. Following a new product introduction’s key steps can increase your chances of success and avoid common pitfalls.
Why is the NPI Program Important?
NPI is important because it sets the stage for the success or failure of a new product. By carefully planning and executing each step of the process, you can give your new product the best chance for success. Other reasons why NPI is important to include the following:
- It helps you assess and mitigate risk: By planning and executing each step of the process, you can identify and mitigate risks before they become problems.
- It helps you understand your customers: A well-executed NPI program includes market research and customer feedback, which helps you understand your customers’ needs and wants.
- It ensures that your product meets customer needs: By following the steps of a new product introduction, you can ensure that your product meets customer needs and exceeds their expectations.
- It allows you to track and measure progress: By tracking progress and measuring success at each stage of the process, you can identify areas for improvement and adjust your plans accordingly.
- It helps you save time and money: Following a structured process can avoid costly mistakes and delays.
The 6 Key Steps of New Product Introduction
As part of your NPI program, you should follow these six essential steps: define, feasibility, develop, validate, implement, and evaluate.
Define
What exactly are you trying to make? When it comes to defining the concept, be as specific as possible, and ensure your team is on the same page. Once you clearly understand what you want to make, you can move on to the next step.
Here are some possible areas that will cover the first step:
- Design specification support: work closely with your internal team to provide engineering and design consulting
- Risk assessment: include manufacturing and industry-specific risks in your comprehensive risk management analysis.
- Material specifications: based on your design and specifications, recommendations of material specifications can be provided. Make sure to source from leading material suppliers.
Feasibility
Is this idea possible, and does it make business sense? This is where you assess the viability of your idea. You will need to answer three important questions:
- Can we make it?
- Do people want it?
- Can we make money from it?
If the answer to all three questions is “yes,” you have a viable idea and can move on to the next step.
Here are some possible areas that will cover the second step:
- Design for manufacturability support: early planning to progress from development to production.
- Options testing: evaluating multiple designs and material options to support the decision-making process.
- Technical feasibility: test and recommend customer converting and printing techniques.
Develop
How can we make and refine this idea? Now that you clearly understand what you want to make and that it is feasible, you can start developing your product. This is where you take your idea and turn it into a reality. During this phase, you will finalize your design, choose your materials, and create a prototype.
Here are some possible areas that will cover the third step:
- Prototyping: building initial samples of your product to test its feasibility. Prototyping will accelerate testing with high-quality, functional prototypes or multiple versions in a single run.
- Validation plan: establish protocols that will be used to test and validate the product, including environmental, mechanical, and electrical testing.
- Design for assembly: streamline your product’s design to make it easier and more cost-effective to assemble.
Validate
Does this product meet our quality standards? This is where you put your prototype to the test. You will assess whether your product meets your quality standards and performs as expected. This is also where you will identify potential issues and make necessary changes.
Here are some possible areas that will cover the fourth step:
- Performance testing: put your product through a series of tests to assess its performance.
- Environmental testing: subject your product to extreme temperatures, humidity, and other conditions to ensure it can withstand real-world conditions.
- Electrical testing: test your product’s electrical components and systems to ensure they meet safety standards.
Implement
How can we get this product to market? Now that you have a finalized design and a prototype that meets your quality standards, you are ready to start production. This is where you will develop your manufacturing process, create your marketing materials, and launch your product.
Here are some possible areas that will cover the fifth step:
- Process development: create a manufacturing process that is efficient and cost-effective.
- Production support: provide engineering and technical support during production.
- Launch support: help with the planning and execution of your product launch.
Evaluate
What is successful, and what can you do differently in the future? After you have launched your product, it is important to take a step back and assess your results. This will help you determine what was successful and what you can do differently in the future.
Here are some possible areas that will cover the sixth step:
- Post-launch support: provide support after your product has launched.
- Customer feedback: Gather customer feedback to assess your product’s experience.
- Product evaluation: assess your product’s performance and make changes as needed.
Use DATAMYTE for Your NPI Programs
To make your NPIs more effective and efficient, make sure to use DATAMYTE and its Digital Clipboard. The DataMyte Digital Clipboard is a workflow automation software that can streamline your new product introduction process by automating workflow creation, data collection, and analysis.
Using our intuitive drag-and-drop feature, you can create a comprehensive workflow that documents and implements all six steps of your new product introduction program. You can also customize data collection forms to collect the specific data you need, and our software will automatically generate reports that you can use to evaluate your results.
If you want to learn more about how DATAMYTE can help with your new product introduction process, book a demo with us today!
Conclusion
New product introduction is an important process for any company that wants to bring a new product to market. Following these six steps can increase your chances of success and bring your product to market quickly and efficiently.
And by using the DataMyte Digital Clipboard, you can streamline your new product introduction process and make it even more effective. So if you want to improve your NPIs, book a demo with us today!
