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Executive Education > Courses > New Product Development (NPD)

New Product Development (NPD)

Day 1

Strategy, structure and process

Repeatable success doesn’t just “happen”—it requires you to create and use an effective framework. During our first day, you’ll learn fundamental structure and process elements and discover why a cross-disciplinary view is essential.

Strategy and structure

  • Business planning, product strategy and roadmapping
  • Identifying key leverage points: suppliers, capacity, global standards, sales allies
  • Assessing co-development opportunities
  • Structuring product families, platforms and portfolios to reduce risk
  • Life cycle charting and product line pruning
  • Cultivating an innovation culture and facilitating collaboration

Introduction to the new product development process

  • Assessing your current procedure
  • A standard framework: processes, techniques and metrics
  • Aligning the framework to the needs of dissimilar product or company types
  • Differences between tangible products and services

Day 2

Building a business case for your product

Move from ideas to results with our detailed tools and reusable templates.

Fact capturing

  • Ideation techniques
  • Identifying product and market opportunities and forecasting sales
  • Competitive positioning and evaluation
  • Techniques for capturing the voice of the customer
  • Translating customer requirements into realistic specifications and a concrete product definition

Building the business case

  • Defining the elements and role of a business case
  • Evaluating inherent trade-offs and conducting cost-benefit analyses
  • Financial valuation of the new product investment
  • Preparing and presenting your business case

Day 3

Development and launch activities

These timely, proactive planning tips provide the tools you need to eliminate much of the stress traditionally associated with the launch process.

Development and pre-launch

  • Implementing the new product development process: marshalling the best resources
  • Creating the new product team: tapping into member competencies
  • Running more effective meetings
  • Managing gate meetings with senior management
  • Using virtual teams in a global environment
  • Meaningful concept and product-use testing
  • Preparing for the launch: structuring the plan
  • Brand development and marketing communications

Implementing the launch and initiating post-launch efforts

  • Determining launch readiness
  • Defining successful product rollouts
  • Preparing for the launch meeting
  • Mechanisms for rapid commercialization
  • Sales and channel training: specific how tos
  • Strategies for late launch or re-launch circumstances
  • Post-launch monitoring, tracking and control
  • Responding quickly to unanticipated developments
  • Process review

Schedule

Evening before course — 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Optional dinner for those arriving early
Days 1 & 2 — 8:15 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Session
Day 3 — 8:15 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. Session

The University of Wisconsin–Madison, as a member of the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), authorizes this course for 2.1 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or 21 hours.