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Generation 4 Product Design and Development

Mission Statement

 

Our mission is to collaboratively facilitate diverse infrastructures, pursue ethical content, and enhance mission-critical methods of product development.

About Us

Phone: 630-247-8851

Fax: 727-849-0497

E-mail: sales@generationfour.com
Text Box: Generation 4 is based upon implementing 4 major principles of product development. 1. UNDERSTAND CUSTOMER NEEDS AND MANAGE REQUIREMENTS. Better customer relationships, frequent communication, and feedback systems lead to better understanding the customer's/user's needs. Customer involvement increases the probability of the product meeting those needs and being successful in the market. Methodologies such as Quality Function Deployment aid in defining customer needs and translating those needs into specific product, process and quality requirements. Once customer requirements are defined, track and tightly manage those requirements and minimize creeping elegance that will stretch out development. 2. MANAGE COSTS FROM THE START. Develop a greater awareness of affordability and life cycle costs. Involve development team members in the plans and proposals for new products or programs to obtain their input and commitment. Establish target costs and manage to those targets. Use tools to project product and life cycle costs and consider these cost projections as part of decision-making to proactively manage costs. Manage non-recurring development costs by effective planning; incremental, low-risk development; and managing project scope. 3. INVOLVE SUPPLIERS AND SUBCONTRACTORS EARLY. Suppliers know their product technology, product application, and process constraints best. Utilize this expertise during product development and optimize product designs to the capabilities of the "virtual factory" which includes these suppliers. Reduce your supplier base to focus more attention on a long term relationship and incentivize early involvement. Maintain schedule stability and be open to improvement suggestions from suppliers to create better products at lower costs. 4. CREATE AN EFFICIENT DEVELOPMENT APPROACH. Form compact product development teams with highly experienced and motivated members. Minimize the number of development teams and the coordination required with skillful architecture and a minimum of interfaces. Create a "skunk works" environment by minimizing bureaucracy, empowering product development teams, and providing technical productivity tools. Align policies, performance appraisal, and reward systems to support these development objectives and team-based approaches.

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