By Steffen Weck

As product life cycles continue to shorten, windows of opportunities to introduce new products have become increasingly more elusive and difficult to identify. However, if and when it can be accomplished, getting a new product to the marketplace and in the hands of the consumer ahead of the competition is a tremendous advantage. A new product that is first to market often sets the stage for consumer expectations, and sometimes even creates new segments of larger categories when true innovation is present.

Competitors’ products that follow often are viewed as “me-toos,” consequently forcing the second or third entrants in a category to spend valuable time and resources to figure out ways to set products apart from the original. They must deliver something that the consumer will believe is a competitive point-of-difference, either perceived or real.

So how does a brand owner improve its ability to speed up the new product development cycle and capture this valuable first-to-market position?

Team Sport

It starts by realizing that product development is a collaborative partnership between research and development, marketing, manufacturing, packaging, regulatory affairs, engineering, and every department with something meaningful to add at any step in the process. Teamwork must be the name of the game in this environment – successful new product development must be a team sport. And with so many levels of participation, it helps prevent many problems and subsequent rethinking, which can cause significant delays to a launch and add cost.

For the absolute best results, fully integrated product development groups must learn to work hand-in-hand. Each member should participate in highly effective ideation sessions and consumer focus groups, and help determine product and process feasibilities vs. a product protocept – and much of this should happen very early in the process.

Manufacturing and engineering resources need to be engaged early on so that the proposed project gets full attention and commitment from the groups that will ultimately be responsible for successful day-to-day manufacturing.

Independent Participants

Due, in part, to stagnant R&D budgets, downsizing of R&D staffs and marketplace demands, many innovative companies, looking for competitive advantages, are increasingly turning to independent research facilities to augment product-development efforts.

Technical centers foster close interaction and collaboration among the various groups, thereby reinforcing a team environment. A well-designed pilot plant can achieve a full-scale simulation of actual production-plant conditions. With a dedicated pilot facility, developers can work on several projects simultaneously. Productivity and efficiency increase, while variable costs are contained.

In the absence of a pilot facility, a product-development team must travel to a manufacturing plant to run trials. Drawbacks include travel expenses and time, lost production time, and under-utilization of resources dedicated to a single project.

A centralized facility for product development brings together all elements and the ability to quickly scale-up prototype products without using valuable production time in a plant.

Collaboration is King

The efforts to develop a new idea and deliver the finished product to the consumer require a great deal of skill, hard work and often frustrations. However, like all worthwhile endeavors, the scale-up from concept to the marketplace can be made more satisfying and much easier with collaboration. A well-coordinated team approach can help to ensure that coveted first-to-market position, and a place in the mind of the consumer.

Steffen Weck is founder of consulting firm Food Business Consulting, a full-service, concept-through-commercialization resource based in Kansas City. He can be reached at weck@foodbusinessresource.com