A process is a sequence of steps that transforms a set of inputs into a set of outputs. Most people are familiar with the idea of physical processes, such as those used to bake a cake or to assemble an automobile. A product development process is the sequence of steps or activities which an enterprise employs to conceive, design, and commercialize a product. Many of these steps and activities are intellectual and organizational rather than physical.
Some organizations define and follow a precise and detailed development process, while others may not even be able to describe their processes. Furthermore, every organization employs a process at least slightly different from that of every other organization. In fact, the same enterprise may follow different processes for each of several different types of development projects.
A well-defined development process is useful for the following reasons:
• Quality assurance: A development process specifies the phases a development project will pass through and the checkpoints along the way. When these phases and checkpoints are chosen wisely, following the development process is one way of assuring the quality of the resulting product.
• Coordination: A clearly articulated development process acts as a master plan which defines the roles of each of the players on the development team. This plan informs the members of the team when their contributions will be needed and with whom they will need to exchange information and materials.
• Planning: A development process contains natural milestones corresponding to the completion of each phase. The timing of these milestones anchors the schedule of the overall development project.
• Management: A development process is a benchmark for assessing the performance of an ongoing development effort. By comparing the actual events to the established process, a manager can identifY possible problem areas.
• Improvement: The careful documentation of an organization's development process often helps to identifY opportunities for improvement.
References and Bibliography
Many current resources are available on the Internet via
www.ulrich-eppinger.net
Stage-gate product development processes have been dominant in manufacturing firms
for the past 30 years. Cooper describes the modem stage-gate process and many of its
enabling practices.
Cooper, Robert G., Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to
Launch, third edition, Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA, 2001.
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