Answer to Question #201934 in Management for Karabo

Question

2

(A) Your organisation wants to broaden its products portfolio by introducing a new product. In order to achieve that, you have requested your cross-functional team to evaluate and oversee the procedures to ensure the new product is effectively developed. 

In view of the presented case, provide a practical elaboration of how the following process will be carried out to develop your new product: (30 marks):

• Formalised process for selecting items for supplier integration (5 marks)

Answer 1

New Product Development

New product development or the product lifecycle is the process or the metamorphosis that a new product goes through from design all the way to launching the new product in the market. New product development follows a series of stages as discussed below:-

Generating the Concept

This is the first stage and it involves coming up with an idea about the new product and generalizing about it. It can be noted that the concept generation can be made up of several ideas which are then filtered to come up with the most practical idea that will eventually be chosen for mass production (Monsef et al, 2012).

Product Design

This involves making the prototype of how the new product will look like. The product designer will sketch prototypes until a perfect prototype is made which will be forwarded to management for approval.

Mass Production

After the management approves the prototype the manufacture stage starts and the product is manufactured in large quantities in readiness for the launch into the market.

Product Launch

This is the stage at which the product will be launched into the market. This stage will be characterized by huge marketing campaigns as well as advertising as the company tries to capture the attention of the would-be customers in the targeted market or pass information to them that there is a new product in the market that can suit their needs.

After Sales Services

This is the last stage of the new product development and in this stage the organization will get feedback from the targeted market in terms of how they feel the product is as well as what can be done to improve the product.

Supplier Selection

Suppliers play a critical role in the organization as they are directly involved in supply chain management and can be defined as individuals or organizations that provide raw materials for product and services production to an organization. Selecting the right supplier will be beneficial to the organization in fact he or she will help the company to be successful. Supplier selection process involves:-

Supplier Vetting

This involves assessing whether the supplier is capable of delivering the raw materials to the organization. Does the supplier have the means to ferry the raw materials to the organization? Does the supplier have the capacity to deliver the raw materials on credit and in large quantities as the company may require?

Supplier Signup

This is done to ensure that the supplier is insured.

 Supplier Assessment

This stage involves the organization doing background checks on the suppliers in order to confirm their reputation in the market by enquiring from other organizations that have worked with the supplier before (Safa et al, 2014).

Suppliers Bidding

After assessing the suppliers the organization asks for bids from the suppliers and when the bids are received the organization selects the suppliers that meet the quality standards and are within the organization’s budget

Supplier Contracts

This is the stage at which the selected suppliers are invited to sign contracts with the organization based on the terms agreed.

Supplier Performance Evaluation

This is the last step whereby none performing suppliers are removed and new ones are signed up.

References

Monsef, S. and Ismail, W.K.W., 2012. The impact of open innovation in new product development process. International Journal of Fundamental Psychology & Social Sciences, 2(1), pp.7-12.

Safa, M., Shahi, A., Haas, C.T. and Hipel, K.W., 2014. Supplier selection process in an integrated construction materials management model. Automation in Construction, 48, pp.64-73.