Business Analysis
Estimate likely selling price based upon competition and customer feedback
Estimate sales volume based upon size of market and such tools as the Fourt-Woodlock equation

Estimate profitability and breakeven point

Beta Testing and Market Testing

Produce a physical prototype or mock-up

Test the product (and its packaging) in typical usage situations

Conduct focus group customer interviews or introduce at trade show

Make adjustments where necessary

Produce an initial run of the product and sell it in a test market area to determine customer acceptance

Technical Implementation

New program initiation

Resource estimation

Requirement publication

Engineering operations planning

Department scheduling

Supplier collaboration

Logistics plan

Resource plan publication

Program review and monitoring

Contingencies – what-if planning

Commercialization (often considered post-NPD)

Launch the product

Produce and place advertisements and other promotions

Fill the distribution pipeline with product

Critical path analysis is most useful at this stage

These steps may be iterated as needed. Some steps may be eliminated. To reduce the time that the NPD process takes, many companies are completing several steps at the same time (referred to as concurrent engineering or time to market).

Most industry leaders see new product development as a proactive process where resources are allocated to identify market changes and seize upon new product opportunities before they occur (in contrast to a reactive strategy in which nothing is done until problems occur or the competitor introduces an innovation). Many industry leaders see new product development as an ongoing process in which the entire organization is always looking for opportunities.

For the more innovative products indicated on the diagram above, great amounts of uncertainty and change may exist, which makes it difficult or impossible to plan the complete project before starting it. In this case, a more flexible approach may be advisable.
Because the NPD process typically requires both engineering and marketing expertise, cross-functional teams are a common way of organizing projects.

The team is responsible for all aspects of the project, from initial idea generation to final commercialization, and they usually report to senior management. In those industries where products are technically complex, development research is typically expensive, and product life cycles are relatively short, strategic alliances among several organizations helps to spread the costs, provide access to a wider skill set, and speeds the overall process.