Product Development - Entrepreneurship 101 (2012/2013)

A trusted supplier ofadvanced, highperformance, integratedbattery systems formission criticalapplications All images in this presentation ©2012 Panacis Inc. Tell us what you need. We thrive on challenges.

Company Background §  Founded in 2002 §  Privately owned by high-tech investor base §  Located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada §  R&D, prototyping, NPI, product design, and manufacturing §  Focused on Lithium ion rechargeable energy storage systems since 2007 §  Off-the-shelf products and custom/semi-custom development for demanding applications §  Global customer base §  Strong IP portfolio §  Covers multiple aspects of advanced energy systems including safety, manufacturing, control and applications §  Security clearance for international military contracts3

Role of the Visionary The Visionary drives the product idea at a high level. How do you get that vision to the market?4

Product Development Path It doesn’t matter how simple or complex the product is, the same basic path can be followed.5

Product Development Path It doesn’t matter how simple or complex the product is, the same basic path can be followed. §  Failure to have a PLAN will result in wasted time, effort and money (and possibly result in the loss of opportunity if the product fails) §  The PLAN will result in easier development of a quality product that meets the market expectations §  Additional benefits of a good PLAN are easier financing, recruitment and market entry.6

Unify the Team Every good product requires a team to bring it to market§  The team must have a COMMON VISION 7

Development Models There are many different product development models, software and planning tools §  Most plans have common steps, different names, different breakdowns, but the same basic goal of documenting the product development path V-Model Cycle Model Phase-Gate Model8

What Are You Trying To Do? Before starting the plan, ask a few questions about what you are trying to do. §  Who Wants It? §  Walmart, Road Warriors or Stocking Stuffer?9

What Are You Trying To Do? Before starting the plan, ask a few questions about what you are trying to do. §  Who Wants It? §  Walmart, Road Warriors or Stocking Stuffer? §  What Is It For? §  Serious Lighting or Fun?10

What Are You Trying To Do? Before starting the plan, ask a few questions about what you are trying to do. §  Who Wants It? §  Walmart, Road Warriors or Stocking Stuffer? §  What Is It For? §  Serious Lighting or Fun? §  Who Pays? §  Consumer, Industrial, Government?11

What Are You Trying To Do? Before starting the plan, ask a few questions about what you are trying to do. §  Who Wants It? §  Walmart, Road Warriors or Stocking Stuffer? §  What Is It For? §  Serious Lighting or Fun? §  Who Pays? §  Consumer, Industrial, Government? §  What is YOUR Capability? §  Distributor, Designer, Manufacturer?12

What Are You Trying To Do? Before starting the plan, ask a few questions about what you are trying to do. §  Who Wants It? §  Walmart, Road Warriors or Stocking Stuffer? §  What Is It For? §  Serious Lighting or Fun? §  Who Pays? §  Consumer, Industrial, Government? §  What is YOUR Capability? §  Distributor, Designer, Manufacturer?13

What Are You Trying To Do? We are going to DESIGN a flashlight for ROAD WARRIORS for SERIOUS LIGHTING. This will be bought by the CONSUMER directly. We will outsource the manufacturing and distribution. §  How do we communicate this vision to our team?14

Your Product in 4 Easy Steps Four planning documents can encompass the entire product development in a form that is appropriate for the audience. §  Customer / Market Requirements §  Functional Requirements §  Product / Engineering Specification §  Test and Verification Specification15

Your Product in 4 Easy Steps Four planning documents can encompass the entire product development in a form that is appropriate for the audience. Most Important §  Customer / Market Requirements §  Functional Requirements §  Product / Engineering Specification §  Test and Verification Specification16

Your Product in 4 Easy Steps When a product development effort is launched with only one or two of these documents in place, the end result is usually dissapointing §  With ONLY Customer / Market Requirements document, the engineering team will tend to iterate “forever” trying to hit the technical points that make the vision match the reality §  With ONLY Functional Requirements documents, the product may perfectly match every technical goal but will often lack the “special something” that grabs market attention, it will be a “me- too” product §  Without the Product / Engineering Specification there will be nothing to measure against to know the design is done §  Without the Test and Verification Specification there will be nothing to measure agaisnt to know that volume production matches the design17

Customer / Market Requirements Focus on what the end customer wants in terms that use emotion, comparisions to other products and qualitative adjectives. §  Generally NOT technical §  Can be used to test the market §  What would YOU say to a CUSTOMER and what would customers say to each other about the product? §  Rarely has quantitative measurements §  Example: A road warrior wants a flashlight that is incredibly durable, it can’t fail when repeatedly thrown in their luggage.18

Customer / Market Requirements The Visionary and the Sales or Marketing leader (or business development, distributors, customers, other stakeholders etc.) use this document to come to a common vision for the product. Describe the product “sales pitch”19

Customer / Market Requirements Examples of market requirements: §  Durable for situations the road-warrior faces §  Light weight and small to fit anywhere §  Bright, even light §  Good battery life §  Price is a moderate consideration (not cheap) §  Should have an appealing look and feel20

Customer / Market Requirements Examples of market requirements: §  Durable for situations the road-warrior faces §  Light weight and small to fit anywhere §  Bright, even light §  Good battery life §  Price is a moderate consideration (not cheap) §  Should have an appealing look and feel §  What about your “special sauce”, what do you add to this product that makes it really special (integrated USB storage, rechargeable battery, different colors…)21

Customer / Market Requirements What are your competitors doing: §  As durable as competitor X §  Lighter than competitor Y §  Price similar to competitor Z §  These market requirements will often feel obvious to you, the Visionary, but they are often not obvious to the people that will help you realize the product §  YOU are the expert in this market, do not make assumptions of other people’s knowledge22

Customer / Market Requirements A good plan inspires confidence in your team: §  Everyone wants to do a good job §  It is a great feeling to hear your team quoting the vision: “we are going to be the lightest, the brightest… the best”23

Functional Requirements Puts QUANTITATIVE goals on the QUALITATIVE statements of the marketing requirements? §  This document does NOT give details of how all the goals are achieved (but it can give guidance) §  Provide goals for each requirement §  Provide stretch goals for as many of the market requirements as possible §  Some requirements may be difficult or impossible to quantify (example: look and feel) but these requirements can often still be addressed (example: rubber coating on handle to make the flashlight feel great in your hand)24

Functional Requirements The Engineer works with the Visionary and Marketing to define appropriate goals for the development team: §  Market requirements said “lightweight” §  Functional Requirements would define “less than 50 grams, with a stretch goal of 40 grams”25

Functional Requirements Beware of feature creep: §  It is easy to put these goals on paper, but they must be achievable or you will never make it to market and your team will be discouraged §  It’s OK to ask for the impossible, but do it in the stretch goals26

Product / Engineering Specification Now you know what you want the product to be, how do you get there? §  Provides technical details and guidance on how the goals (and/ or stretch goals) will be achieved §  Allows Marketing and Visionary to start formulating bullet points of the product brochure27

Product / Engineering Specification Balance and Compromise will be required – iteration against the Functional and Market requriements my occurr. §  Example: We will achieve light weight by using AAA Batteries AA AAA 23 grams 12 grams28

Product / Engineering Specification Balance and Compromise will be required – iteration against the Functional and Market requriements my occurr. §  Example: We will achieve light weight by using AAA Batteries AA AAA 23 grams 12 grams §  AAA Batteries will help hit the light weight stretch goal, but may cause us to miss the battery life goals29

Product / Engineering Specification The sum of the parts will also be summarized. §  AAA batteries §  Use of Titanium housing to reduce weight §  LED bulb to extend run-time §  Results in XX grams total weight, YYY minutes of run-time and a cost of $$$$$$$. Iteration may be required if the Visionary ultimately feels the balance isn’t quite right It is MUCH better to iterate at this stage than waiting until a prototype is completed30

Product / Engineering Specification The Visionary and the Engineering team will now be aligned. §  Design can begin §  Test and Verification specification can also be started31

Test and Verification Specification How do you know the product being designed meets the Quantitative goals set? §  Prove it! §  Each measureable parameter is tested §  Design is tested via the prototypes §  Can be as simple as “weight it” §  Anticipate variation, set allowable limits32

Test and Verification Specification This specification has long-term usefulness that goes beyond a first prototype §  A subset of this document may be used in production testing §  The tests can be run on new revisions of the product §  The tests can be run on products manufactured by a new sub-contractor (or due to obsolete parts) §  The tests can be used as part of a regression test strategy for new software versions33

A Unified Approach34

Other People, Documents, etc. There is a lot missing in this presentation, your team members will add their own details and processes. §  How does QA / QC Fit? §  What about Budgeting? §  How do you choose an Engineering partner? §  How do you choose a Manufacturer? These topics become easier once you have the foundation of the four documents outlined but are beyond what can be addressed in a single session Know your strengths, work with people who will fill out your weak- spots and together, with a unified vision, you will be able to take on the world35

A Final Word on Complexity. Even something as simple as a flashlight has many parts. Each part has to be designed or specified, located, bought, tested, integrated and tracked. Each component may be a project by itself!36

Powered by PanacisThanks for your attention, time to wake up! Contact: Steve Carkner Founder and CTO Panacis 613-727-5775x727 cell 613-286-2072 skype & twitter: “scarkner”

Product Development - Entrepreneurship 101 (2012/2013)

by MaRS Discovery District on Nov 08, 2012

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