The Challenge of Product Development

Companies that outsource their product development programs as part of their R&D

strategy are often faced with a choice between the type of partner with whom to work.

That leads to one of two options; hire an industrial design firm or a contract

manufacturer. Experience has found that neither choice is optimal because product

development is not a core competency of either organization.

Many providers claim to deliver a complete level of services for the project, basically a

“one-stop-shop” for services. On the surface, this seems like a low-risk, high payback

option, but the reality is quite different.

Often, the choice of provider is an industrial design firm or a contract manufacturer.

While both play important roles in the product development process, their expertise

creates a chasm between design and manufacturing.

A successful product development outcome requires a bridge between design and

manufacturing.

Who are the Industrial Design Firms?

An engagement with an industrial design firm involves the preparation of product

recommendations based on customer input. An industrial design firm’s deliverables generally

include initial sketches of an idea that go through various iterations as they develop from idea to

prototype. The ISDA highlights nearly 30 various steps that a design can take during this

process.

Industrial designers are highly mechanically orientated with expertise

in designing products for human factors and ensuring the product has

the right look and feel in the market place. An industrial design will

confirm that a product, for example is the right height or size based on

the demographic of the intended end user of the product. Industrial

designs consider form factors to ensure aesthetics as well as usability

of the product. Industrial designers have strong creative teams that

can offer many options to their customers leveraging customer input,

industry input and other themes.

Consider the father of industrial design, Raymond Loewy. Without his creativity, many iconic

products, such as the classic Coca-Cola bottle, the Greyhound Bus, and the blue and white

livery for Air Force One may look much different today. There is no question that design is

important.

However, industrial designers struggle in taking concepts and transforming them into products

that are robust and manufacturable. Much like an architect, industrial designs may not consider

practical aspects such as the cost of features or the ability to manufacture at an acceptable

level.

It would not be unusual in a meeting with an industrial design firm to hear a pragmatic member

of the client team say, “Great, I have a pretty picture NOW WHAT?”

This is the question that companies struggle with when working with industrial design firms

alone. As part of the product development process, the industrial design must be tested

against the real world. How much will it cost to make, can it be manufactured at the appropriate

levels for the appropriate costs? To solve this, an ID firm will sub-contract to a product

development company to fill the gap.

It would not be unusual in a

meeting with an industrial

design firm to hear a pragmatic

member of the client team say,

“Great, I have a pretty picture

NOW WHAT?”

Who are the Contract Manufacturing Firms?

In contrast to the industrial design firms, contract manufacturers are focused on

supporting production of the final product design. Contract manufactures are experts in

building and maintaining a product over its life cycle. Selecting the right contract

manufacturer is critical to ensure that the product is well built at scale and meets market

demand.

Contract manufacturers rarely have R&D engineers as part of their organization.

“Engineering expertise” for a contract manufacturer is manufacturing expertise, not

development expertise.

Product development services are a regular component of a contract manufacturer’s

overall service offering. As mentioned above, those services are rarely part of the core

competency of the contract manufacturer. To fill this gap the contract manufacturer will

sub-contract to a product development services company. This creates risk that the

subject matter expertise associated with the product development is lost when the 3rd

party leaves the project. In any case, the R&D project is being run by a manufacturer,

not an R&D organization.

In our experience, many clients that have gone to contract manufacturers for product

development services have made significant dollar investments that did not result in a

launch-ready product.

‘Many clients that have gone to contract manufacturers for product development services

have made significant dollar investments that did not result in a launch-ready product.”

Product development is the bridge between industrial design and contract

manufacturing.

To ensure a successful outsourcing strategy, business must understand that for each of the four major

phases of product development (industrial design / concept development, product development [R&D],

transfer to manufacturing, and manufacturing) the right partner must be engaged. This is as true today

as it was in the early days of manufacturing. Successful Fortune 500 companies prove this time and time

again. Companies that have successfully launched complex products have realized the importance of

aligning the right partner with the right processes to bring their product to market.

Without product development, companies would have designs on paper and no clear way to

manufacturer those designs, or would create products that do not comply with UL, CE, IEC 60601, IEC

62304, ISO 13485.

Product Development Bridges Industrial Design

Product development (R&D) takes industrial design work and creates functional prototypes and the go-

to-market product. Product development combines the concepts of industrial design with good

engineering practices and manufacturing trade-offs to deliver a product that meets or exceeds the

customer’s needs regarding form, fit, functionality, quality, cost and market suitability.

Product development is about taking a concept and turning it into reality. Quite simply, product

development executes on a design concept.

Product development takes the ideas and gives them life.

Product Development Bridges Contract Manufacturing

R&D and manufacturing are two separate functions, and hiring a contract manufacturer to do complex

product development--including hardware software, and mechanical requirements—has a high likelihood

of failure. The functional prototypes that come from product development are critical to the contract

manufacturer for successful creation and execution of the production process.

Innovative, outsourced product development requires core expertise in mechanical and hardware design,

embedded programming and FPGA development, software development and vision integration.

Product development companies like Resolution excel at transferring concepts to products.

About Resolution Development Services

At Resolution, we understand the different phases of product development and partner with leading

industrial design firms and contract manufacturers. Our best-of-breed strategy lets companies do what

they do best to deliver clients the product they envisioned to the marketplace.

Resolution provides services such as:

Program & Project Management

Vision Integration

Hardware Design

Embedded Programming

Firmware

Software (Linux & Windows)

DSP & FPGA Development

System Development

By connecting design with manufacturing, product development services like those provided by

Resolution help lower costs and the time to bring a new product to market.

No matter where you are in your development cycle, Resolution can act as the bridge between industrial

design and contract manufacturing. Uniquely positioned and vendor agnostic, Resolution is uniquely

qualified to overcome the common obstacles associated with launching a medical device in today's

marketplace.

To learn more about Resolution Development Services, visit www.resolutiondev.com

Resolution Development Services

500 West Cummings Park, Suite 4050, Woburn, MA 01801

Ph+1.978-203-4820 | F +1.781-694-0472

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