Design, materials selection and marketing of successful products

There are many things that make products successful in the market place. This paper is a comprehensive tool for understanding how to develop products with special respect to integrated product development. Materials selection, marketing and design analysis in the form of a design manual are presented as a tool for the product developer. Many different methods for materials selection and design have been presented over the last couple of decades. However, most methods have been limited to the material as a physical entity to give shape for a product. The method presented in this paper is an approach to present a materials selection model that is an integral part in an integrated product development model, in which both physical and metaphysical properties are analysed for different types of products. The new integrated product materials selection (IPMS) model presented incorporates factors such as fashion, market trends, cultural aspects, aesthetics and recycling, as well as the target group. Interesting examples of successful product contra failures are presented, as well as examples of materials selection for different products. Different methods for materials selection are discussed and analysed with respect to the IPMS method presented. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.