Here is an essay on ‘Product Development’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Product Development’ especially written for school and management students.
Essay on Product Development
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Meaning of Product Development
- Essay on the Aspects of Product Development
- Essay on the Stages of Product Development
- Essay on the Factors Responsible for Product Development
- Essay on the Tools for Product Development
- Essay on the Techniques for Product Development
- Essay on the Necessity of Product Development
Essay # 1. Meaning of Product Development:
Product development is specialized activity, which may result in creation of new products or modifications in the production process to produce the same product. Development is necessary to fulfil old and new wants as well as to adjust with the changes in the consumer’s demand or with an object to achieve greater production efficiency and more profits.
In other words the aim of product development is to:
(i) Provide the goods the market demands with time,
(ii) Adjust with the variation in quantity required and
(iii) Charge the prices which the consumers willing to pay as well as under conditions that it may have net profit also.
In short, devising a product to meet the changing requirements of the markets is known as Product development.
Essay # 2. Aspects of Product Development:
The two main aspects of product development are explained below:
a. To Introduce a New Product:
There should be sufficient market research activities and development work before introducing any product in the market. It is essential because the chances of any new product may fail in the market are quite high.
The company should properly evaluate potential market for the product and for effective production planning behaviour pattern of the market viz. shift, change in technology etc. should be carefully assessed. The new product should have a capability to replace the existing products. This can be accomplished by proper designing and development of the product.
b. Improvement of Existing Product:
Change is the law of nature. Similarly every manufacturer continuously endeavors to improve his product e.g. around 1920 there were two wheel barkers like Sedans, Roodesters etc. which in a short period were replaced by four-wheel braker with self-starters with gradual changes from period in 1950’s power brakes and power steering and streamlining were introduced.
Over the years a number of developments in automobile industry took place. Air-conditioned cars with improved types came into use. Similarly refrigerators with larger freezing units, typewriters with quickly detachable bars and other electronic equipments developed with passage of time.
Probably the most important factor contributing towards product development is the functional demand of the ultimate consumer. In short, product development is the work contributing towards improvements in the existing product by way of improved ideas, systems, techniques etc.
Essay # 3. Stages of Product Development:
Product development activity of an enterprise should be conducted by a separate department within the organization, which should be technically sound to perform its duties.
The product development programme should be conducted in the following stages:
(i) Fundamental relationship between cause and effect involved in the manufacturing process of the designed product as well as the basic technology required in the systems should be established by conducting fundamental research.
(ii) Suitable ways and means are then devised to translate the technology and relationship between cause ad effects into practice.
(iii) Experimental work is carried on to develop desirable production system.
(iv) The formulated design, quality, performance and the marketability of the planned product is thoroughly tested and tried to locate shortcomings if any and then to suggest appropriate improvements, if any.
(v) Product engineering techniques are used to find improvement possibilities in the existing product.
Essay # 4. Factors Responsible for Product Development:
A properly co-ordinate and well planned product development activity stabilizes the developmental advantages of an enterprise. The successful implementation of product development plan leads to rise in living standards of the society as a whole and provides several other benefits to producers and consumers.
The utility and effectiveness of product development strategy effort can be judged by getting the answer to a series of questions. Product development effort is an expensive phenomenon and organization should satisfy itself about the feasibility of development effort by asking question about the related factors and there solution/answer.
The question/factors can be:
(i) Are the consumers satisfied with the size, colour, shape and other characteristics of the product?
(ii) Can the organization achiever economy in production costs, so that the price of the product may be suitable to the consumer.
(iii) Chances and scope for product protection.
(iv) Effect of product development programme on other products in line.
(v) Capability of the product to make purchasing easy, swift and satisfactory.
(vi) Can the organization ensure stable supply of the product?
(vii) Purchasing power of the consumer and the price of the product.
(viii) Durability of the product and chances of its spoilage till it reaches to a consumer.
(ix) Is the demand of the product is likely to increase due to improvement in quality?
(x) Is the product easy to handle during transportation or when in use?
(xi) Scope of using waste or other raw material left during the production process to some other by-product of utility.
(xii) Are the manufacturing and distribution facilities available with the organization easily adjustable to the new product?
(xiii) Is the product convenient to stock and can be effectively displayed?
(xiv) What is the relationship between expenditure on product development efforts both in planning and implementation and the return expected from the new strategy?
(xv) Does the newly developed product have an edge over the existing competitive products?
The answers of these queries should be assessed relatively in terms of utility and effectiveness before starting the product development process.
Essay # 5. Tools for Product Development:
The following are the various product development techniques adopted by different organizations:
a. Standardization:
This means fixation of some appropriate size, shape, quality, manufacturing process, weight and other characteristics as standards to manufacture a product of desired variety and utility e.g., manufacture of television sets of standard size of the screen using standard components and technology, shaving blades are made of standard size and shape to suit every king of razor.
The concept of standardization is applicable to all factors of production namely men, machines, materials and finished goods. These standards can become the basis to evaluate the performance of various components of production in a manufacturing process.
In the words of Behel, Smith and Stackman:
“A standard is essentially a criterion of measurement quality, performance, practice established by custom, consent or authority and used as a basis for comparison over a period of time. The setting of standards and the co-ordination of the industrial factors to comply with these standards and to maintain them during the periods for which they are effective is known as industrial standardization”.
According to Dexter S. Kimball “Standardization in the manufacturing sense is the reduction of any one line to fixed types, sizes and characteristics.”
Standardization becomes the basis of production control operations and works as catalyst in directing and operating the working of business enterprises. It identifies and compares various products, systems and performances in an enterprise.
It is the function of the department responsible for designing the product to provide the guidelines and infrastructure for standardization of the whole system keeping into consideration the requirements and specific wants of the customers. Any error committed at the designing stage towards standardization may be too expensive to be rectified.
For an organization designing of the product without considering standardization aspect is of no value or significance.
Franklin F. Folts has described the concept of standardization, as “Simplification of product lines and concentration on a restricted predetermined variety of output is one common application of the principles of standardization as found in industry Standardization may be extended to all factors in the production process“.
Standardization is an instrument to manufacture maximum variety of products out of minimum variety of components by means of a minimum variety of machines and tools. This decreases working capita’ requirements and reduction in manufacturing costs. Standardization also implies that non-standard items are not to be manufactured except when consumers order them specially.
Some standards are enacted by law viz. automobile windscreens must be made of safety glass. Usually there are institutions, societies and governmental; departments that regulate the standards. In a factory, it is best to have standardization committee drawing its members from sales, engineering, production, purchasing, quality control and inspection.
Sales department and engineering department have to work closely in effecting changes towards standardization because the older products that have been sold are affected for after-sales service spare needs. Within an organization, it is the engineering department who set standards for the materials to be produced and specifications of the end products and the mode of testing the products.
Advantages of Standardization:
(i) Standardization in designing, purchasing of raw material, semi-finished and finished goods and of the manufacturing process tries to eliminate wastage and reduces the cost of production. Reduction in varieties of raw materials means reduced investments in stock and less attention to stock control.
(ii) Standardize product components reduce tool costs, permits larger and more economical lot sizes of production, avoids losses for obsolescence and reduces capital requirements for work in process.
(iii) Production in large qualities can be planned which results in less set-up costs.
(iv) By minimizing the operations in production process it provides facility to introduce mechanization and use of more specialized tools and equipment’s.
(v) Service and maintenance costs as well as marketing expenses are reduced.
(vi) Encourages the manufacturer to products of new style, use and performance with and object to generate more customers.
(vii) The value of the standardized product lying in stocks or in transit can be easily evaluated for the purpose of advancing loans.
Disadvantages of Standardization:
Product standardization leads to some disadvantages also. These are:
(i) Too much standardization has an adverse affect on the efficiency and morale of the workers. They in the long run feel bored and fed up in doing the same routine again and again. The spirit of challenge and initiative vanishes with passage of time.
(ii) During the initial process of product development where frequent improvements and changes may be necessary to bring the product and the production process up to the mark, standardization may create obstacles in innovations.
(iii) For small scale enterprises standardization may not be advantageous.
b. Simplification:
In production, simplification can be done at two places namely:
(i) For product or
(ii) For work, Simplification in product development is used for predicts.
In fact simplification should be done before standardization.
In the words of F. Clark and Carrie, “Simplification in an enterprise connotes the elimination of excessive and undesirable or ‘marginal lines’ of product to hammer out waste and to attain economy couple with the main object of improving quality and reducing costs and prices leading to increased sales“.
W.R. Sprigel and R.H. Lansburg also defines, “Simplification refers to the elimination of superfluous varieties, sizes, dimensions etc,” Simplification can be advantageous to both producer and the consumer of a product.
These can be listed as:
(a) To the Producer:
(i) Eliminates surplus use of materials to provide economy in production costs.
(ii) More production increases the inventory size which avoids delays in supply.
(iii) Less obsolescence of materials and machinery.
(iv) Due to simplification in operation the efficiency of the production process increases and this leads to more production.
(v) Human efforts become more productive due to scope of better training and learning facility with simplified operation.
(vi) After-sales service prospects are minimized.
(vii) Production planning and control operations become easy and simple.
(viii) Reduction in cost of production leads to more sales.
(b) To Jobber-Wholesalers and Retailer:
(i) Increased turn over.
(ii) Sales effort on fewer items.
(iii) Reduction in storage space.
(iv) Less overheads and handling expenditures.
(c) To the Consumer:
(i) Gets the product of desired quality at cheaper rates.
(ii) Facilitates repairs, service and maintenance of the equipment.
(iii) Ensures regular supply of the product and its components.
c. Specialization:
Specialization implies expertise in some particular area or field. It is experienced that as the companies expand the range of their products, manufacturing system, involves more and operations for, transforming inputs into output. This often result an increase in operating costs and decline in profits.
The problem can be solved by identifying the products contributing to losses and then eliminating their production. This will lead to confine the production of profitable items only and consequently a reduction in number of operations required in the process.
The minimization of operations can lead to use of expert knowledge, skill and techniques in production system. The nature and the type of product, operations required to manufacture it and the nature of the market. Specialization implies reduction in the verity of products manufactured by the organization.
Advantages of specialization are:
(i) Specialization and standardization leads to higher productivity.
(ii) Increase in output and reduction in per unit cost of production.
(iii) Saving in purchase of raw material and improvement in the quality of the finished goods.
Disadvantages of specializations are:
(i) Less flexibility in adjustments to changed situations.
(ii) Monotony and boredom may adversely affect the efficiency.
d. Diversification:
It implies policy if producing different types of product by an enterprise. Thus it is reverse of simplification. The concepts of diversification, and simplification. The concepts of diversification, and simplification are associated with the nature of the industry e.g. in the case of capital goods industry simplification is more important as the customers give preference to economy, accuracy and performance of the product, whereas in an consumer foods industry diversification leads to produce variety of goods in terms of style, shape, colour, design etc.
The establishments facing tough competition are forced to diversify their activities to capture the market.
In general diversification can be adopted for the purpose of:
(a) Utilization of idle/surplus resources,
(b) Stabilization of sales,
(c) To cope with demand fluctuations and
(d) For survival of the organization.
Due care and precautions should be taken in the formulation of diversification policy. Proper and extensive market analysis at different levels of the quality and quantity of the products should be done to determine the level of profitability. This will help in selecting more appropriate diversification strategy under the prevailing circumstances.
Advantages of diversification are:
i. Increase in sales due to production of different kinds of products. This also leads to increase in volume of business.
ii. Needs of wider section of consumers are fulfilled.
iii. ‘Risk minimization’ in the case of quick and unpredictable demand variations.
iv. Uniform and balanced production programme can be chalked out without any consideration of stack or boom periods.
v. Elimination of wastage by producing by-products.
Disadvantages of diversification are:
(i) Due to increase in number of operations the production process becomes quite complicated and sometimes expensive.
(ii) Production planning and control operations become complicated and time-consuming requiring extra efforts.
(iii) The size and the variety of items in the inventory increases with diversification introducing more problems.
(iv) Workers of different type of skills and expertise are required.
Essay # 6. Techniques for Product Development:
a. Standardization Technique:
This means fixation of some appropriate size, shape, quality, manufacturing process, weight and other characteristics as standards to manufacture a product of desired variety and utility e.g., manufacture of television sets of standard size of the screen using standard components and technology, shaving blades are made of standard size and shape to suit every king of razor.
The concept of standardization is applicable to all factors of production namely men, machines, materials and finished goods. These standards can become the basis to evaluate the performance of various components of production in a manufacturing process.
In the words of Behel, Smith and Stackman:
“A standard is essentially a criterion of measurement quality, performance, practice established by custom, consent or authority and used as a basis for comparison over a period of time. The setting of standards and the co-ordination of the industrial factors to comply with these standards and to maintain them during the periods for which they are effective is known as industrial standardization”.
According to Dexter S. Kimball “Standardization in the manufacturing sense is the reduction of any one line to fixed types, sizes and characteristics.”
Standardization becomes the basis of production control operations and works as catalyst in directing and operating the working of business enterprises. It identifies and compares various products, systems and performances in an enterprise.
It is the function of the department responsible for designing the product to provide the guidelines and infrastructure for standardization of the whole system keeping into consideration the requirements and specific wants of the customers. Any error committed at the designing stage towards standardization may be too expensive to be rectified.
For an organization designing of the product without considering standardization aspect is of no value or significance.
Franklin F. Folts has described the concept of standardization, as “Simplification of product lines and concentration on a restricted predetermined variety of output is one common application of the principles of standardization as found in industry Standardization may be extended to all factors in the production process“.
Standardization is an instrument to manufacture maximum variety of products out of minimum variety of components by means of a minimum variety of machines and tools. This decreases working capita’ requirements and reduction in manufacturing costs.
Standardization also implies that non-standard items are not to be manufactured except when consumers order them specially.
Some standards are enacted by law viz. automobile windscreens must be made of safety glass. Usually there are institutions, societies and governmental; departments that regulate the standards. In a factory, it is best to have standardization committee drawing its members from sales, engineering, production, purchasing, quality control and inspection.
Sales department and engineering department have to work closely in effecting changes towards standardization because the older products that have been sold are affected for after-sales service spare needs. Within an organization, it is the engineering department who set standards for the materials to be produced and specifications of the end products and the mode of testing the products.
Advantages of Standardization:
(i) Standardization in designing, purchasing of raw material, semi-finished and finished goods and of the manufacturing process tries to eliminate wastage and reduces the cost of production. Reduction in varieties of raw materials means reduced investments in stock and less attention to stock control.
(ii) Standardize product components reduce tool costs, permits larger and more economical lot sizes of production, avoids losses for obsolescence and reduces capital requirements for work in process.
(iii) Production in large qualities can be planned which results in less set-up costs.
(iv) By minimizing the operations in production process it provides facility to introduce mechanization and use of more specialized tools and equipment’s.
(v) Service and maintenance costs as well as marketing expenses are reduced.
(vi) Encourages the manufacturer to products of new style, use and performance with and object to generate more customers.
(vii) The value of the standardized product lying in stocks or in transit can be easily evaluated for the purpose of advancing loans.
Disadvantages of Standardization:
Product standardization leads to some disadvantages also. These are:
(i) Too much standardization has an adverse affect on the efficiency and morale of the workers. They in the long run feel bored and fed up in doing the same routine again and again. The spirit of challenge and initiative vanishes with passage of time.
(ii) During the initial process of product development where frequent improvements and changes may be necessary to bring the product and the production process up to the mark, standardization may create obstacles in innovations.
(iii) For small scale enterprises standardization may not be advantageous.
b. Simplification Technique:
In production, simplification can be done at two places namely:
(i) For product or
(ii) For work, Simplification in product development is used for predicts.
In fact simplification should be done before standardization.
In the words of F. Clark and Carrie, “Simplification in an enterprise connotes the elimination of excessive and undesirable or ‘marginal lines’ of product to hammer out waste and to attain economy couple with the main object of improving quality and reducing costs and prices leading to increased sales“.
W.R. Sprigel and R.H. Lansburg also defines, “Simplification refers to the elimination of superfluous varieties, sizes, dimensions etc,” Simplification can be advantageous to both producer and the consumer of a product.
These can be listed as:
(a) To the producer:
(i) Eliminates surplus use of materials to provide economy in production costs.
(ii) More production increases the inventory size which avoids delays in supply.
(iii) Less obsolescence of materials and machinery.
(iv) Due to simplification in operation the efficiency of the production process increases and this leads to more production.
(v) Human efforts become more productive due to scope of better training and learning facility with simplified operation.
(vi) After-sales service prospects are minimized.
(vii) Production planning and control operations become easy and simple.
(viii) Reduction in cost of production leads to more sales.
(b) To jobber-wholesalers and retailer:
(i) Increased turn over.
(ii) Sales effort on fewer items.
(iii) Reduction in storage space.
(iv) Less overheads and handling expenditures.
(c) To the consumer:
(i) Gets the product of desired quality at cheaper rates.
(ii) Facilitates repairs, service and maintenance of the equipment.
(iii) Ensures regular supply of the product and its components.
c. Specialization Technique:
Specialization implies expertise in some particular area or field. It is experienced that as the companies expand the range of their products, manufacturing system, involves more and operations for, transforming inputs into output. This often result an increase in operating costs and decline in profits.
The problem can be solved by identifying the products contributing to losses and then eliminating their production. This will lead to confine the production of profitable items only and consequently a reduction in number of operations required in the process.
The minimization of operations can lead to use of expert knowledge, skill and techniques in production system. The nature and the type of product, operations required to manufacture it and the nature of the market. Specialization implies reduction in the verity of products manufactured by the organization.
Advantages of specialization are:
(i) Specialization and standardization leads to higher productivity.
(ii) Increase in output and reduction in per unit cost of production.
(iii) Saving in purchase of raw material and improvement in the quality of the finished goods.
Disadvantages of specializations are:
(i) Less flexibility in adjustments to changed situations.
(ii) Monotony and boredom may adversely affect the efficiency.
d. Diversification Technique:
It implies policy if producing different types of product by an enterprise. Thus it is reverse of simplification. The concepts of diversification, and simplification. The concepts of diversification, and simplification are associated with the nature of the industry e.g. in the case of capital goods industry simplification is more important as the customers give preference to economy, accuracy and performance of the product, whereas in an consumer foods industry diversification leads to produce variety of goods in terms of style, shape, colour, design etc.
The establishments facing tough competition are forced to diversify their activities to capture the market. In general diversification can be adopted for the purpose of – (a) utilization of idle/ surplus resources, (b) stabilization of sales, (c) to cope with demand fluctuations and (d) for survival of the organization.
Due care and precautions should be taken in the formulation of diversification policy. Proper and extensive market analysis at different levels of the quality and quantity of the products should be done to determine the level of profitability. This will help in selecting more appropriate diversification strategy under the prevailing circumstances.
Advantages of diversification are:
1. Increase in sales due to production of different kinds of products. This also leads to increase in volume of business.
2. Needs of wider section of consumers are fulfilled.
3. ‘Risk minimization’ in the case of quick and unpredictable demand variations.
4. Uniform and balanced production programme can be chalked out without any consideration of stack or boom periods.
5. Elimination of wastage by producing by-products.
Disadvantages of diversification are:
(i) Due to increase in number of operations the production process becomes quite complicated and sometimes expensive.
(ii) Production planning and control operations become complicated and time-consuming requiring extra efforts.
(iii) The size and the variety of items in the inventory increases with diversification introducing more problems.
(iv) Workers of different type of skills and expertise are required.
Essay # 7. Necessity of Product Development:
Product development is a continuous and dynamic process. In reality it is an unending process of manufacturing system.
There are two main objectives programme, namely:
(i) Immediate objective and,
(ii) Ultimate objective.
Immediate objective of the product development programme is immediate satisfaction of consumer’s want, utilization of available resources viz. material, labour and equipment sales generation and to explore for further improvements in the product design and it’s utility.
Ultimate objectives are of permanent nature and implies generation of consumer’s confidence in the product on long-term basis so as to capture the market. This can provide economies of large-scale production resulting in reduction in price to the benefit consumer.