Hidden Failures in Management of Product Development

Modern development of technical products to be competitive for the market must take into account the whole life cycle of a product. The best opportunity to create inherent characteristics of a product is at an early stage of the product development. At this stage there is also the risk of making a mistaken decision or overlooking an important property of the being designed product. This paper describes the typical faults that can occur at the conceptual stage of the design of the product and its production. First, mistaken evaluation of market needs, next errors in design and production planning are described. Particular emphasis is put on the environmental requirements. Finally, some factors that contribute to excessive production cost are outlined. The paper can be of interest for academic teachers as well as managers and production engineers.