Whether you’re in a fast-paced technology market or a more moderate one, these are appropriate strategies. There is not a single tactic that fits all approach.
Fast-Paced Technology Markets
When you’re late to market you lose more than the upfront lost sales. The typical bell curve associated with a products’ revenue life-cycle gets compressed in length and height. This life-cycle loss of revenue comes from:
- Being late to market
- Competitive encroachment
- New technology advancements
Being first on the scene with anything new is critical. As soon as you begin shipping your product, a competitor will be deconstructing units from your first production run. As the saying goes, “imitation is the highest form of flattery.” While the competition is developing their knock-offs, you should be collecting user data for your next generation. When timing works in your favor, you’ll be introducing your next generation product rendering obsolescence to the competition’s introductory knock-off. Speed may mean the difference between success and failure.
It was reported that General Electric sponsored a study to determine how other multinational companies were able to introduce so many new products and be successful. It was also reported that the number one thing to do was to establish a design aproach/spec. and stick to it. Bring the product to market per the spec. This would indicate that it’s better to introduce a new technology quickly, well in advance of competitors rather than insert delays in the schedule with changes (creeping elegance) from the marketing department as they gain new tidbits and preferences of intelligence from the field.
Moderate-Paced Markets
Where product life-cycles are longer or production runs are shorter, it may be prudent to take an extra breath along the way. In these cases, hitting the market with the exact right product, without the ability to follow it with a newer technology product in 9, 12,18 months, may be in order. Nevertheless, with well conceived and structured product design architecture, we can still move briskly. – See Custom Enclosures – The Process.
Maintaining On Track
There are plenty of distractions that could arise. Program Management can play a key role in constraining creeping elegance influences as well as managing resources to stay on target.
Trade publications frequently wave the flag over something new and novel that they’ve discovered. What would you expect . . . it builds readership, buzz and sells advertising. These publications are a major way engineers maintain awareness of evolving technologies. We’ve seen numerous companies lured in thinking that what the trade publications are reporting is mainstream when in actuality is a process developed by a single supplier to solve an otherwise overwhelming design issue.
We know the differences between the latest industry manufacturing hype and what is mainstream. We keep you out of the trap that leads to very limited manufactureability, higher costs and longer lead-times. This plays very heavily into the approach we take in designing your custom electronic enclosure and manufacturing. Utilizing the best mainstream and appropriate manufacturing methods and materials enables us to get you to market quickly and cost effectively.
Our many years of experience in design and manufacture of all kinds of electronic enclosures is one of your best benefits as we’ve likely done what you need many times before. There’s no lengthy discussion or analysis to decide should it be done this way or that. Having our roots in manufacturing, a strong background in thermal dissipation methods and regulatory compliance, these decisions are clear practical common sense for us. We push through the design very quickly and then right into manufacturing.