India: The Next Decade

As the sole country with a substantial surplus of talent, India must develop a clear strategy to become a leader in exporting both physical goods and digital services. Since growth in any sector leads to competition, Indian companies should prioritize ongoing innovation and the launch of new products, whether they are tangible items or services. In the current competitive landscape, change is inevitable, making new products and innovations essential.

In both business management and engineering, New Product Development (NPD) involves the comprehensive tasks required to introduce a new product to the market. It is considered one of the most impactful yet demanding activities in business. Prominent companies such as Apple, Samsung, and 3M are well-known for their significant investments in new product development. NPD aids managers in planning every detail, from the initial concept creation to the product's launch, encompassing marketing efforts and product risk assessment.

"Put people first." Center your business system around individuals instead of processes or technology. Whether it's your customers (the reason your business), your team (who generate value), or your community (suppliers, neighbors, and stakeholders), they are critical to your success in new product development.

In their study, ‘Collaborative and lean new product development approach: a case study in the automotive product design,’ Tuli and Shankar (2015) examined two scenarios in the automotive manufacturing industry: one using a standard development method and the other applying a New Product Development approach with a ‘collaborative and lean’ (C&L) strategy. They concluded that combining Lean Practices with NPD provided substantial advantages in reducing waste and cycle time, while improving the efforts and value-stream mapping of the activities involved.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a collection of tools designed to support engineers during the early stages of product development. This method helps in assessing various options for defining new products by aligning competing customer requirements with potential technical solutions. "QFD tools allow us to understand and shape the product's intended form. It is a blunder to leave this decision solely to marketing or design."

QFD should be among the first tools employed to improve your new product development process. When your project encounters uncertainty, using a suitable QFD matrix can provide an edge by bridging this knowledge gap. With focused application, the time spent is quickly offset by improved project and product performance. Once you understand its advantages, you'll likely want to incorporate it into future projects to enhance engineering productivity and overall execution. Introducing QFD into your project management process early will give you a significant competitive advantage.

The Kano Model, developed by Professor Noriaki Kano in the 1980s, serves as a framework to evaluate and prioritize customer needs based on their impact on satisfaction. It helps product teams make informed decisions by balancing the customer value of a feature with its implementation cost. The core idea of the Kano Model is that:

• Features do not equally affect customer satisfaction — some merely meet expectations, while others delight users and offer a competitive edge.

• In product management, the model is a valuable tool for determining which features truly boost customer happiness, guiding prioritization efforts, and supporting data-driven, customer-focused decision-making.

• It classifies product features into five categories, each indicating a different level of influence on customer satisfaction.

The global export market, valued at 33 trillion USD, is expected to surpass 66 trillion USD in the next decade. India should aim to capture 10% of this market, amounting to 6-7 trillion USD. To reach this target, there must be an emphasis on innovative products, prioritizing people, and integrating Quality Function Deployment and Kano Analysis at the beginning of the new product development process. However, it's essential to remember that "Rome was not built in a day," as significant accomplishments require time and effort.