With globalization being the radial element in international business, companies manage, collaborate, and involve several product planning partners. The focus is on creating a global adaption strategy that can be integrated simply into the existing system.

The collaboration brings the promise to develop a product that meets the demand. It comprises all the latest data and touch points which are incorporated in the development. The mindset and time have changed with these requirements; it has altered product life cycle service to ‘must-have’ over ‘good to have’.

While it has reasonable pros, there are a few cons/challenges in this segment too. Crealoons Innovations likes sharing thoughts through blogs. In this blog, we intend to address the challenges of coping with the increasingly complex nature of demands and engineering needs. To share a few following are the ones that we would like to bring on the table as perspectives-

  • Development process: It occupies a significant piece of the pie; there are areas where many improvements are to be made, making the development process slow. There are rounds of endless revision and updates. In this process, few parts also get missed, and as a result, the product development proves to be less efficient.
  • Complexity management: With too complex a designing framework makes the process slower & creates redundancy in development.
  • Sustainability: There are a few fantastic ideas, but sustainability is the question. And on the other hand, there are few ideas which are highly expensive & as a result, the target audience will not accept them.
  • Pricing alignment: Achieving objective as per the desired margins is quite a task for pricing. There is a genuine need to check on the product’s making price versus it being developed. For example, developing a pen drive versus a coffee maker has a different cost associated; both have many physical elements related to assembling.
  • Madness is in the method; the experience is a prerequisite: There is a difference in methodology when working with a partner who has created 1000 units in the launch phase over launching 10000 units. With methodology tools, time, production phases, everything counts. It is essential to choose partners who have executed the right set of projects in the past. It is the experience that too brings in the right perspectives to the existing innovation.
  • Communicate transparently: Communication is the key; finding the right partner and sharing the right expectations from day one is a crucial part of the process. It commences right from-
  • framing contracts
  • Managing NDAs
  • sharing who will be the stakeholders involved in the project
  • their role for the project execution, creating project milestone & phases

Ensuring partner are comfortable enough to interact with each other to execute the project timely. It avoids miscommunication and aligns deliverables timely.

  • Reality check from risk advisor: With the maturing market needs, an advisor can guide the product’s complexity, tooling, production options, and variants. Often, it happens that it becomes essential to know a few touchpoints where using different variants can help is the reduction of the overall cost. For example, reconsidering using complex steel production parts versus soft moulds as a substitute in making pill boxes permits identifying material at a very early stage.
  • Keeping track of physical and digital designs: Both digital and physical structure should sing the same song, and there has to be sync in the features and behavioural patterns. Digital patterns help in gaining onscreen interaction. It comes as great work when the exact product development team reinforces branding—the product in much impactful, flawless, and digitally compatible. For example- When launching a Baby Bluetooth speaker with rhymes and lullabies, it would be great to launch it with an app that showcases baby room temperature and the history of the baby’s sleeping pattern.
  • Early Alarms on DFM: Only mature partners will understand the importance of getting manufacturers to buy-in in the development stage. Post CAD development is vital to find

o if there is a sync in the manufacturing pattern

o or there is a need to change or make the edge of the product sharp

o or the amount of material has sufficient quantity

It is a consultative approach that validates the concept and possible improvisation at a very early stage with validation, buy-in, and acceptance of all stakeholders.

  • Sharing a vision with stakeholder: To understand the depth of the story, you have to get into the director’s mind. Similarly, it is essential to know and share the stakeholder’s vision; understanding the larger picture helps create the correct alignment and framework. Operating with him with a shared vision means tapping each area, including product cost, apt design, longevity, user acceptance, safety, manufacturing till the time it is launched at the right time. Each team member will have a defined role to play in this echo system like a stakeholder.

If we look at the holistic picture of the product life cycle, it is an exercise to continue gaining customer trust and loyalty, bringing in new product development.

In our experience, we have observed clients seek support in the areas where they intend to-

-Shorten product development cycle

-Reduce manufacturing attempts

– Increase focus on marketing.

Crealoons Innovation is a professional team that thrives on looking at possibilities from pause to offer cost-efficient solutions to product design, manufacturing and technical solutions with product development.

We are open to hear your concern and address the challenge.