Product Commercialization
Successful introduction of new products into the production operation is a key to the success and continued growth of any business and the satisfaction of its customers. Many companies either do not have the manufacturing experience or depth of knowledge needed or are not of sufficient size to plan and execute a formal product commercialization process. This guide to the production transition process will assist in understanding the process and help guide an organization in understanding and implementing the process by using some or all of the tools provided.
Product introduction involves many groups and disciplines, i.e. quality, process engineering, manufacturing engineering, operations, maintenance, tooling, etc. and therefore requires coordination of the activities of many people and teams. Meeting cost and quality expectations and key dates are crucial to success, to this end; all launch activities should follow a predetermined time line and checklist of critical items. Visibility of progress and regular progress checks will assure hitting timing goals.
The depth to which an organization may decide to utilize the production transition process will depend on several factors. The size of the organization, the level of risk associated with the new product, level of manufacturing technology required for the product versus what is currently available inside the organization, competitive position, skills available, etc. All such factors should be considered prior to determining which segments of the process to use. Some of the sections are listed below:
- Business systems review
- Project planning
- Design for manufacture
- Product costing
- Inventory control
- Supplier quality / supplier development
- Quality systems
- Failure modes and effects analysis
- Employee training
- High impact work teams
- Lean manufacturing
- Production processes
- Continuous improvement
- Safety, health and environmental
- Packaging and logistics
Production Transition Process
