PRODUCT DESIGN REVIEW /
PROGRAM ASSESSMENT

Assignment:

A small diagnostic company was developing an automated diagnostic instrument, built around their proprietary magnetic detection technology. Our client, a Fortune 100 company, was in negotiations to license the resulting new instrument for launch in an alternative market.

BMG was hired to perform a high level assessment of the design maturity and manufacturability of the diagnostic instrument platform, and to validate the timeframe built into the New Product Team’s business plan for the commercial launch of the alternative product

Approach:

BMG first conducted telephone interviews with the client’s New Product Team, to gain a clear understanding of their business plan, as well as the product requirements of their intended instrument application.

As an added level of complexity (and opportunity for details to be hidden), the diagnostic company was developing the core technology for the detector themselves, and was working with a third-party contract development firm to integrate the detector module into the instrument platform.

BMG made site visits to both the diagnostic company and the third-party developer, conducting intensive Program / Design Reviews with both design groups.

Results:

The instrument platform development process being followed by both design groups was sound, and the design work was solid. But the New Product Team’s business plan was built around an aggressive development and launch schedule, and the reality was that their timeline for full product realization could not be accomplished. Our assessment work also uncovered more elemental concern – an incompatibility between the product requirements of our client’s intended market and the original diagnostic application (which was actually driving the design of the platform).

Anticipating a negative reaction, BMG provided a preview of our findings to our project liaison. A verbal project summary report was delivered via teleconference followed by a comprehensive written report.

As anticipated, the New Product Team was not pleased by our reports. Additional program background information was provided, which lessened some of our identified concerns about incompatible requirements, but our basic findings concerning project schedule were unchanged, which ultimately had a negative impact at the client’s corporate level on the approval of the business plan.

Note: We decided it was important to include this case study as an example of our commitment to “not just tell a client what they want to hear…”

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