Practical Project Management

Product Installation and Aesthetics:

A short section pertaining to how the product is to be installed can be helpful in identifying additional expenses seldom thought about on smaller projects. Unforeseen details such as hardware to install the product can add significant cost to a product and disrupt schedule because of acquisition problems.

A clear understanding of the installation the customer plans for the final product, covers for manufacturing errors as simple as a misplaced mounting hole. It may be helpful to ask the customer for a written specification detailing the complete installation. Some products such as software intensive products may require installation to multiple sites and may include extensive travel or training. All aspects of the installation must be discussed with the customer and planned into the project schedule.

A concise installation description in the Product Development Specification will keep the project team from missing small details that could jeopardize cost and schedule at the time of delivery. Ask the customer about aesthetics for the product. Do not assume the customer will accept the product in the same form, fit and function as your firm did it in the past. Colors, finishes, markings, and value added components may be important to the customer and can easily be documented in the specification to add clarity and detail.

Paying attention to finer details to aide in things such as operator handling or details such as adding lubrication in certain areas of the product to facilitate installation will impress and delight your customer.

Agency requirements and or Special Product Approvals:

Details such as Regulatory Agency approvals or special permissions are often forgotten or are addressed too late on small projects. Thinking ahead for these types of details can save project time and avoid missed schedules.

Agency approvals can take unprecedented amounts of preparation time for approval requests, sample submission and testing. Generally drawings of the product are required along with the operating parameters for example; ambient temperature, voltage, frequency, current or wattage, water pressure and temperature etc. When you are looking at European approvals, a constructional data form is required to be filled out, which can be quite lengthy.

This along with a drawing package, information on any insulating materials and any other components that are used to prevent a shock or fire hazard are required. If you are dealing with a new agency there will be agreements that need to be signed and in place before a project can be completed. These agreements will need to be reviewed by your legal department then returned with requested changes, these will need to be agreed upon and signed by both parties. This process can take several weeks to complete and needs to be considered in the project schedule.

In the case of European approvals on your products, consider agencies that can do domestic and European approvals all at once. This can again save time and money since some of the testing can be combined which reduces sample submissions and testing time. One may also consider whether or not the customer will accept consolidated markings i.e. the cUL mark of the cCSAus mark. These marks can be obtained by one agency testing both their standard and the standard of the other agency simultaneously. By doing this you can save time, money and the logistics of maintaining more than one agency file on the same control.

Often customers require certifications or copies showing proof of approvals. An example may be copies of CB documents for IEC approval. Many such documents require documentation of specific model numbers of the product being approved and specific electrical and material details requiring extra time and care in the preparation for the approval on the product.

By asking questions about the exact approvals your customer requires, the schedule will be more accurate and expectation will be clear to both parties in the development. Perhaps you may want to consider a special customer joint meeting to determine all of the special approvals necessary for the project and to put focus on getting the documents ready for submittal. This attention to detail in the development specification will show professionalism to the customer and let him share in the details that will eventually guarantee his satisfaction.

Manufacturing Details:

Aside from critical characteristics for the product, a section dealing with the manufacturing details would be advisable. General details about how the product will be manufactured will give the customer the confidence that your firm is the right choice for him. The intention here is not to give away process trade secrets or company intellectual property, but to capture the manufacturing rates necessary to meet the customers needs for cost and quality. Certain new processes and equipment may be required that the provider may not be familiar with or in some cases the customer may dictate certain vendors for prescribed machinery and/or automation.

Costs associated with unfamiliar equipment could add uncertainty to the project scope and schedule. Experience from the voice of the customer can be invaluable if they have key manufacturing experience over that of the contractor. Teach your project teams how to capture this information and make sure it is added to this section of the document. Customers may also provide the opportunity for benchmarking other vendors for special processes, which is a great opportunity for learning.

Another tool that may help add organization and clarity to the manufacturing section may be use of a general process map. A process map can help get the provider and customer on the same page in terms of order of operations. Large misconceptions can be avoided concerning the sequence of events that the manufacturing process map can provide.

Product and Manufacturing Safety and Quality Targets:

Safety is an important factor in manufacturing today. Aggressive goals are mandated from management keeping expenses for safety related issues and insurance rates in budget. Capturing and documenting safety considerations for the project will help the organization meet long-range goals by incrementally keeping safety and health related issues in line for all programs.

Quality targets are just as important as Safety. In fact, separate sections are recommended because each of these items cannot be ignored in successful cost competitive manufacturing. Quality expectation from the customer point of view is the single most important item to successful acceptance of the product of the project.

Quality also displays the level of work and the reputation of the contractor. From the data of the voice of the customer, quality targets for each aspect of the product characteristics and manufacturing steps should be carefully and realistically planned and documented.

Product Characteristics can be listed, and then the team should apply realistic goals for the quality expectation for each item.
From the process map or the manufacturing section of the document, the quality goals for each process or special processes can be considered.

Shipping and Handling of the Final Product:

The shipping of the product or service is very important from a cost perspective to the final outcome of the project. The shipping and handling is most often the last organized part of the project, which takes careful planning and execution.

This step is often forgotten or overlooked at the beginning of the project and therefore, deserves attention in the Product Development Specification. This section should contain information on the specific packaging so that costs can be considered as well as full consideration to the final destination of the product. Flow charting can be a helpful tool for this exercise, since it encourages all types of questions between parties, increasing the level of detail required to be comprehensive.

Consider the travel and possible handling problems the product may encounter in terms of possible environmental conditions the product may see. Storage temperatures for example, may be important and may need to flow down to the product-testing portion of the document. As was discussed earlier, when considering the installation of the product, consider whether the packaging and shipping methods are convenient for the receiver. Significant cost can be avoided for both parties when the product flow smoothly and conveniently into the manufacturing location and it can be de-packaged quickly with minimal handling.

For service or software oriented products consider and probe into details of the exact format the product will require for proper final presentation. Ask details about electronic as well as paper formats that will be important and necessary to convey or address the customer's audience. Also, determine if certain archives are going to be needed to store and protect the product. These items may need special resources and hardware your planning group may not have considered.

Reliability and Final Testing Requirements:

Reliability is very important in products today. This section of the document requires very specific information, so that the customer receives the overall reliability in the product that he expects. When discussing reliability with the customer, it is best to have a person present that understands reliability.

The team should focus on the steps necessary to achieve a good reliable product from a design and manufacturing standpoint, throughout the course of product development.
After the reliability and quality sections are completed the team needs to determine the testing requirements needed for the product. If high reliability is designed into the product, testing may be limited to some type of low cost final lot check or AQL verification. If there are items in the design that are highly critical and key characteristics are identified, SPC or other methods may be necessary at specific points in the manufacturing process. Testing cannot replace good reliable design or good manufacturing processes. Testing in quality is never a way to improve product DPM.

The other aspect of product testing is to be sure to discuss with your customer how you plan to test for product acceptance in the Production Phase of the project. The product characteristics that are determined in the beginning of the design phase should be reviewed and specific tests determined that could be realistically implemented during Design Verification and/or Production Verification. This testing consideration can then be expanded into the final production in process or end of line tests for the product. This information should all be documented in this section of the Product Development Specification.


The use of a very well organized and detailed Product Development Specification Document can help your project progress fast yet contain the detail necessary to be on budget and cover aspects occasionally missed on small projects.

The details covered in this article can serve as a template for the document and create a good starting point for your firm toward keeping world-class documentation for short duration projects. Remember that the template can also be used for larger programs as well. With the use of a lessons learned improvement system, the document can emerge into a very sophisticated documentation tool. In review, the sections that are most important to remember are Scope of the project, Performance Requirements of the Product, Critical Characteristics, Agency Requirements, Manufacturing Details, Quality Targets, Shipping Requirements and Reliability.

I hope this article brings new focus to the Product Development Specification Document and as a program manager, you can find important use of the techniques and aspects described in this article.


Sources:

Kemp, Sid. Program Management Made Easy. Canada: Entrepreneur Press, 2006.

Kerzner, Harold. Project Management 8th Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sobs, 2003.

Lewis, James P. Fundamentals of Project Management 3rd Edition. New York: Amacom, 2007.

Lewis, James P. Team Based Project Management. New York: Amacom, 1998.

Richman, Larry. Improving Your Program Management Skills. New York: Amacom, 2006).

Thomsett, Michael C. The Little Black Book of Project Management. New York: Amacom, 2002.

Kevin Engler (c) 2008

About the Author

Kevin Engler is a graduate from Illinois State University where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Industrial Engineering focusing in Plastics Processing. Kevin's own career as a Senior Design Engineer has spanned 23 years at Honeywell International in their Sensing and Control Division and now works for Invensys Controls in Chicago. Kevin has been a project manager for the last 12 years specializing in New Product Development and has lead teams that brought many products to reality using a structured Product Development Process.

Kevin gained his PMP certification in 2005 and is dedicated to bringing his project management skills to the field of Program Management through his writings and teachings. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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