This is the final post in our series on the New Product Development process. Let's assume you have your new product selling and business is established. It is time to review how well you have done. How is your progress compared to the original business forecast? What are the areas for improvement? Let's look at the final part of phase 8 here. Why it's vital to review the progress of your business To start with, you will be focused on the task in hand from a day to day operational point … [Read more...]

The commercialization stage of any New Product Development process is where the ‘rubber meets the road’ and the product you are manufacturing in China gets introduced into the market. This stage is actually the final stage of the development process. (Don't forget that you can see the whole series on developing a new product here). Commercialization requires proper planning Commercialization is broken into phases, from the initial introduction of the product through its mass production … [Read more...]

Let's say you have iterated successfully until you got a good prototype, and you have ensured production can run smoothly. Before making a large batch and "pushing it onto the market", it is highly advised to spend a little time on test marketing, phase 6 of our series on developing a new product. What is Test Marketing? Test marketing is a process for testing a product within a specific geographic area. It allows you introduce your product to the marketplace through different sales … [Read more...]

I wrote before about the importance of writing a product specification sheet. It is the bare minimum every importer should document. However, if you develop your own product and have it made in China, you should document additional technical data. And in some instances it is a requirement -- for example, all CE marking directives require the manufacturer of the product to create a technical file. As the importer, you are considered the manufacturer. You have to be able to demonstrate with … [Read more...]

Many companies develop a new product but totally overlook the safety and regulatory requirements that will apply to that new product. We have pulled some information from different sources to give you an idea of what to look out for here in phase 5.9. (Take a look at the whole series on developing a new product here.) Different countries have different regulations that must be met in order to sell a product within that country. Some other countries stipulate that getting your products … [Read more...]

Once a first assembly job has been completed, it is time to review the results. It is not only a matter of checking quality and giving feedback to the Chinese factory as you'll discover here in phase 5.8. (Remember that you can see the whole series on developing a new product here.) First, what is an assembly line? It is a manufacturing process in which interchangeable parts are added to a product in a sequential manner to create an end product. In most cases, a manufacturing assembly … [Read more...]

In phase 5.7 of developing a new product once a prototype has been tested, design iterations have taken place, and tooling is ready (if applicable), it is time to test whether quality products can be made at the right speed in the Chinese factory you have selected. (Don't forget that you can see the whole series on developing a new product here.) As  you will see, the new product development process we advise follows somewhat the same logic as the AQPQ (Advanced Product Quality Planning … [Read more...]

In many cases, manufacturing a new product necessitates the preparation of custom tooling. Therefore phase 5.6 is an important step. (Don't forget that you can see the whole series on developing a new product here.) The output from the design reviews should include a data pack with 3D CAD files and the relevant technical information for each part so that the Chinese supplier can produce tooling that will be able to produce production intent parts. For example, if we consider a product … [Read more...]

After building a prototype and subjecting it to functional tests, you will likely need to make revisions from both a functional standpoint in order to ensure the product actually meets the business goals as well as from a product specification standpoint, which could include cosmetic changes like shape, size, color, and finish. We're now at phase 5.5. Don't forget that you can see the whole series on developing a new product here. An iterative cycle would include a design review where … [Read more...]