The Gates of Development

Neil Stolovitsky is a Senior Solution Specialist at Genius Inside.

  Decision Making   Leadership   Stakeholder Management   ProjectsAtWork  

On new development projects, the production stage can be the point of no return. Before it’s too late, a rigorous gating process can help to ensure that development activities, teamwide input and critical stakeholder priorities are all aligned with the overall project vision.

At the heart of every successful new product development (NPD) project are leaders with a vision of how a product has to turn out so it will stand a good chance of winning consumer acceptance. For projects to succeed, their vision must carry through every phase of development, where practical matters like design, material availability and cost can influence the vision, but should never obscure it.

This is especially important when the project arrives at the production planning stage of NPD projects, where working prototypes are created and perfected and the product eventually becomes available to consumers.

The production stage is where organizations make or lose their money. It’s where the concepts and ideas refined during the development process become reality.The production stage requires detailing of development, design and production processes across the supply chain, so it relies on extensive participation from all stakeholders. From engineering and marketing, to operations and production, the NPD project must pass multiple tests ensuring quality, cost and aesthetics to ensure the …

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