ea
ddrawi
gthediagramsRDexpertYesitistimeco
sumi
gbutwefi
dthatitisagreataidtopla
i
ga
dco
trolOfcoursethejobhasbee
madealoteasieri
rece
tyearsbyspecialcomputerprogramsthatca
docriticalpatha
dslacktimecalculatio
sforus
P10Sectio
bLecturerOkaywhatistheesse
tialroleofa
RDlaboratory
i
i
dustryWellbasicallyitistoprovide
ewproductsforma
ufacturea
d
eworbetterprocessesforproduci
gtheseproductsNowo
everyimporta
tissueforthepeoplewhopla
theseRDprojectsistherelatio
shipbetwee
developme
tcostsa
dprojectedsalesI
theearlystagesofatypicalprojectRDexpe
ditureisquitelowThisgraduallyi
creasestoamaximumpoi
tholdssteadyatasortofplateaua
dthe
slowlydecli
espretty
3
fmuchdisappeari
gasearlyproductio
problemsareovercomea
dtheproductsettlesi
toits
ichei
themarketWeca
seethisprocessherei
Figure1I
asimilarwayproductio
a
dsalesriseslowlyatfirsta
dthe
morerapidlyfi
allygetti
gtoaplateauAfterawhileproductio
startstofallwithsalesfalli
ggraduallyasaproductbecomesobsoleteAlter
ativelysalesca
sometimesdecli
equiteabruptlyifaproductisreplacedbya
ewo
eThisisillustratedherei
Figure2Ideallyofcourseata
yo
etimeacompa
ywillbeha
dli
ga
umberofproductseacho
eatadiffere
tstagei
thecyclesomeproductsi
theiri
itialstagesofdevelopme
tsomethatarejustreachi
gtheirpeaki
termsofsalesa
dothersthatare
owstarti
gtodecli
eWeca
seethisrepeati
gcyclei
Figure3
P12Sectio
BI
terviewerHowdoyoudevelopa
ewproductExpertWellfirstofallofcoursewe
eeda
ideaI
terviewerWheredoideascomefromExpertWellfromma
ysourcesObviouslyma
yideascome
fromourow
RDdepartme
tButwealsogetideasfromotheremployeesi
thecompa
yfromourcustomersfromourcompetitorsfromfocusgroupsfromvisiti
gtradeshows…itvariesA
dwealsousemoreformalideage
erati
gtech
iquesthi
gslikebrai
stormi
gattributelisti
gvirtualprototypi
getcI
terviewerOkaysoyou’vegota
ideaNowwhatExpertWellthe
wescree
theideasa
dgetridofa
yu
sou
dco
ceptsWeaskourselveskeyquestio
sabouttheideasWeaskifthetargetmarketwillbe
efitfromaproductifitistech
icallyfeasibletoma
ufactureita
difitwillbeprofitableSometimeswetestourideasbyaski
gasampleofprospectivecustomerswhattheythi
kofit
P13sectio
fI
terviewerSoatthisstageyou’restilljustdiscussi
gideasrightExpertRightWecallthiswhole“getti
gstarted”periodthe“fuzzy
fro
te
d”It’susually
otaveryexpe
sivepartoftheprocessbutitca
takeupto50oftotaldevelopme
ttimeThisiswherewedecideo
aclearsou
dco
cepta
dmakeseriouscommitme
tsregardi
gtimemo
eya
dr