Creating New Foods. The Product Developer's Guide

CREATING NEW FOODS
THE PRODUCT DEVELOPER'S GUIDE

CHAPTER 8
Summary: Bringing It Together

8.4 THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The product development project in many companies starts from the company's product development programme and finishes at the end of product commercialisation. But for major innovations in a company, it can include the whole Product Development Process from the initial building of the business strategy to the post-launch analysis. So the Product Development Process is the company framework on which are hung the individual product development projects according to their needs for knowledge.

The project always comes from the business strategy, either directly or indirectly through the general direction of the company. Its aim, objectives and constraints are developed from the business strategy, the company policy on the product development project and the decisions to be made by top management at the critical points in the project. At the core of the project aim are the type of new product and the target consumers. The outcome, what the product is to achieve for the company, is also stated, for example to encourage growth in a product area, to enter a new market, to extend a product line. The aim focuses the project while it does not restrict it.

The outcomes needed for decision-making by top management at the end of each stage are identified, and in large projects there may also be intermediate outcomes within the stages because of the risks and costs in the project. There are always constraints on a project: company, economic, social, legal and technical. These are recognised at the beginning of the project so that design time and resources are not wasted.

Important outcomes from the product strategy stage are the product concept and the product design specifications. The consumers, or in the case of industrial products the customers, are directly involved in building these from the original product ideas. The consumers identify the benefits they need and want from the product and combine them in a product concept. From this, the consumers describe a product profile, defining the important product characteristics which are developed, with product and processing knowledge, into quantitative technical properties in the product design specifications.

Food design is developing from an 'ad hoc' recipe-trying procedure to a systematic, knowledge-based design procedure.

The product design and the process development are integrated because the product characteristics are built from the raw materials and their changes in the process. Also there is a recognition that the consumers need to be involved in the testing of the product prototypes, to measure acceptance as well as changes in the technical qualities. During food design, the basis of the marketing strategy is also researched so that the product qualities and the production are related to the product image, the market channels and the promotional methods. There needs to be careful incorporation of any legal standards and also any ethical needs of the community. Costs are an important feature of the design from two aspects - the costs of the project and the predicted costs for the product as related to the targeted product price range.

In product commercialisation, these costs become even more important because the project costs increase markedly at this stage and the feasibility of going on with the project depends on the predicted costs and sales revenue. In commercialisation, the major factor is the coordination of the product, production, marketing and financial research. There are obvious areas needing coordination, for example between researching product preservation in the physical distribution system and researching the market channel needs in selling the product. But there are other areas for coordination in research: production costs with pricing, product and packaging qualities with the product image for promotion, production capacity with sales revenues. Finally all the production, marketing and finance operations for the product launch are coordinated in an operational plan, providing specific targets for the launch.

The product launch is a time of ending the product development project and beginning the absorption of the new product into the company's product mix. It is still experimentation, but using the company's whole operational system, or if this is a new venture, the new company's total system. To follow what is happening in the company's production and marketing, there should be monitoring of sales (where, how many), consumer and retailer reactions, costs, needs and shortcomings in the new product. The problems in the product launch can show up the company's weaknesses and strengths in knowledge, skills, organisation, finance, personal relationships and technology. Most importantly it can show strengths and weaknesses in the company's product mix, especially if it has been some time since the last product audit.

The product launch is a time to build up concepts, image, impact, momentum and enthusiasm in the company, which can be observed by the company's environment from the consumer to the banker to the politician.