IE-PRO1 Lecture -8 - Product Planning

Product Design and Development Overview

Definition

Product design and development is a structured process of creating new products or modifying existing ones, focusing on meeting market needs and enhancing organizational capabilities.

Xerox Corporation and Mission

Company Profile

  • Xerox Corporation: A global leader in document-related products and services.

  • Mission Statement: Aims to lead the global document market by providing innovative solutions to boost business productivity and leveraging technological innovations.

Product Planning Process

Objective

Product planning considers a portfolio of project opportunities, deciding which products to develop and the timing of their market introduction.

Steps in the Process

  1. Identify Opportunities: Continuous collection and assessment of product ideas, such as enhancing existing products or creating new technologies.

    • Example: Developing a new digital, networkable document center called the Lakes project.

  2. Evaluate and Prioritize Projects: Select promising projects based on four perspectives:

    • Competitive Strategy: Emphasizing technology, cost leadership, customer focus, or imitation.

    • Market Segmentation: Mapping products against competitors in distinct market segments.

    • Technological Trajectories: Timing decisions on adopting new technologies through the S-curve analysis.

    • Product Platforms: Creating shared assets across product families for efficient development.

  3. Allocate Resources and Plan Timing: Determine necessary resources and timing for project execution, ensuring alignment with strategic goals.

  4. Complete Pre-Project Planning: Establishing mission statements that define product function, needed business goals, target markets, and stakeholder interests.

  5. Reflect on Results and Process: Review the effectiveness of product planning processes, ensuring alignment with business strategies and resource allocations.

Types of Product Development Projects

  1. New Product Platforms: Major developments to create families of products based on a new platform (e.g., Xerox Lakes project).

  2. Derivatives of Existing Platforms: Building on current platforms to develop new products (e.g., new copiers based on existing technologies).

  3. Incremental Improvements: Minor updates to existing products to keep them competitive.

  4. Fundamentally New Products: Involves radical technology shifts and addresses unfamiliar markets, though they carry higher risks (e.g., first digital copier).

Key Concepts in Product Planning

  • Opportunity Funnel: A tool for collecting diverse product opportunities.

  • Technology Readiness: Considering the robustness of underlying technologies in planning.

  • Market Readiness: Assessing how product introductions affect adoption rates among consumers.

  • Environmental Considerations: Developing sustainable products that minimize environmental impact.

Conclusion

Successful product design and development at Xerox hinges on a strategic and systematic approach to product planning, encompassing opportunity identification, resource allocation, and continual reflection on processes to ensure alignment with the overarching business goals.