How to Develop a Product - The 7 Stages of the Product Development Process

Every product has a story, from simple everyday consumables to complex machines held together by dozens of custom interlocking parts. Every product is intentionally built from a series of hundreds of decisions; a carefully selected combination of materials, discerning design choices, and shrewd business decisions. If you want to develop a product, you will need many things, including at least a well-executed plan, intensive conversations between internal stakeholders, and the tenacity to overcome the problem-solving process.

In this article, we will guide you through the seven stages of the product development process. You will also find out how Xometry, the world’s largest digital manufacturing marketplace, is equipped to provide you with comprehensive manufacturing services and development guidance, no matter what stage you find yourself in. Finally, we will demonstrate how Xometry can help you in each stage of product development by highlighting relevant case studies from entrepreneurs, engineers, and designers like you. 

P.S: Want a quick tip? Click on the image above to find a story with relevant product development examples from a customer like you.

Before any product can be physically manufactured, it first must be built in the mind. While this stage of the product development process may require significantly less financial investment than any other step, it still requires a lot of mental resources. This first stage is not just about coming up with a unique product but taking the initial idea through a concept development process. 

This part of idea generation helps you weed out novel and valuable product ideas from those without a compelling value proposition. This process includes: 

• Brainstorming to create a pool of potential product or service concepts. E.g., what problem is your product solving?
• Performing customer research to target your ideal customer.
• Estimating the market potential for your product or service concept.
• Creating a prototype for your product.
• Devising a marketing strategy.
• Performing test marketing.
• Evaluating your results. (Source) 

After following these steps and laying out a clearly defined product roadmap, the development team should focus on developing a minimum viable product, or MVP, to test their product concept. Unfortunately, this can introduce a slew of difficulties:

• How will they manufacture the initial prototype? 
• What manufacturing process will be the best fit for their product?
• How much time and money will it take to test these product ideas?

In this stage of the product development process, a product development team moves beyond concept development and begins developing a physical minimum viable product. In this stage, concept testing occurs with a final product prototype. These prototypes provide critical information to engineers on the development team, helping them make crucial design choices before moving to higher fidelity models that will be used for functional testing and production.

Traditional manufacturing methods can require a considerable time investment before a product manager can get a physical prototype in hand. Thankfully, Xometry’s 3D printing service is particularly well suited to this task. One of the many advantages of 3D printing is its ability to rapidly manufacture prototypes. Xometry empowers product managers to design prototypes with speed, accuracy, and affordability. Our global supplier network can manufacture multiple designs of a prototype all at once, allowing for quick revisions. Rapid prototyping can test a variety of designs and materials, mitigating the risk that could occur if a project moved forward without this crucial early feedback.

A quick proof of concept test allows our engineers to quickly and affordably create a proof of concept for your idea. Some of the most commonly used manufacturing methods to provide an initial prototype include:

Many of these 3D printing processes can produce prototypes at low costs. When 3D printing isn't a feasible option, and proof of concept prototypes need to be created in materials that can validate physical properties like weight and surface finish, Xometry can use other manufacturing processes like CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and injection molding. Keep in mind that these manufacturing processes have higher costs due to their machine and tool set-up, and even the simplest will cost more than typical 3D printing projects.

Applied Ion Systems (AIS) is changing the aerospace industry by creating tiny electric propulsion systems that lower the barrier of entry for small teams looking to break into the market. AIS needed to find a way to source increasingly complex prototype parts while keeping costs low. 

By ordering CNC machined and 3D printed parts from Xometry, AIS dramatically lowered its prices and lead times. Xometry’s network capabilities empower companies like AIS, helping them with rapid prototyping projects and empowering them to move through the product development process more quickly.

In product development, some designs grow into successful products while other ideas never translate to a finished product. Product development processes can end for several reasons: impractical manufacturing requirements, high costs, or existing competitive products that already appeal to your target customers. Rapid prototyping using 3D printing allows engineers to evaluate product designs for functional tests or market research quickly. This helps to  save thousands of dollars by identifying needs and getting measurable feedback early before wasting time and money. 

Read on to discover how a group of engineers and medical experts joined forces to fight the first wave of COVID-19 by rapidly prototyping a medical device. Xometry manufactured 9 different prototype designs in under 3 weeks, offering expert advice and rapid production capacity that provided critical information for project engineers to decide whether or not to move forward with the designs.

For those working toward full-scale production, Xometry’s injection molding service is a fantastic option, as it is the cheapest way to produce plastic parts at scale regardless of production stage. Xometry’s team of experienced engineers will manage the process for you, handling all the complexities related to prototype molding, bridge tooling, high-volume production, and everything in between! Leave the sourcing, tool design, fabrication, problem-solving, and logistics to the Xometry experts.

Xometry’s manufacturing network offers some of the fastest lead times in the industry, helping you hit milestones in weeks, not months. Xometry and its manufacturing partners incorporate scientific molding techniques and advanced processes using high-volume tooling. 

Once your project is kicked off, Xometry will build a high-quality injection mold. Once the mold has been created, the team will send out part samples, called T1s, for approval. After the samples are approved, Xometry moves forward with production and delivers final parts straight to your door. Best of all, you own your tool, which allows you to easily reorder parts past your pilot line as demand grows.

The chart below offers a quick comparison to  other Xometry tooling services and highlights some of the advantages typically associated with a tool designed for high-volume production.

In an effort to combat the rise of an invasive wild boar species spreading across America’s vast agricultural landscape, hunting enthusiasts needed to develop a light that gradually turns on to help avoid scaring their target and losing sight of them. The Slow Glow team needed to find a way to quickly and affordably manufacture parts to reduce their production time and meet ever-increasing demand. 

Slow Glow’s Murray Choate felt confident using Xometry’s injection molding services after consulting with the team of expert representatives, learning that the turnaround timeline for his project would take less than 30 days. With every step, the team at Xometry clearly communicated with Choate, monitoring the development of their new product development process and assuring a high standard of quality for their parts. “This was the largest investment our company had ever made,” Choate explained, “and Xometry fully delivered.”

While Point Sur Lighthouse’s historic Fresnel lens has since been replaced by an LED beacon, guides like Richard Ruh keep the history of the Fresnel lens alive through tours. To showcase what Ruh refers to as “the magic of Fresnel lens,” Ruh created multiple handheld setups for park visitors to try themselves. 

Before landing on a cell phone demonstration setup, Ruh wanted to test collimating another light source. Xometry’s CNC machining suppliers manufactured various iterations of CNC plates without a problem, even including threads to match the flashlight’s 35mm diameter thread and thru-holes ranging from 46-87 mm diameter.

X.Labs, a startup R&D firm specializing in advanced sensing technology, needed to fabricate housings and mounts for their contactless heat detection product called Feevr. They were looking for a manufacturing partner that could deliver a bespoke, sterilizable, and durable manufacturing solution. 

Xometry rapidly manufactured parts for X.Labs — moving through the full hardware development cycle from prototyping to production —- within just one month. Xometry met X.Labs’ strict manufacturing criteria for durable and medical-grade parts that deliver unique solutions for government entities across the globe.

At Xometry, you don’t have to be limited to local suppliers. The platform integrates seamlessly with over 10,000 Xometry-vetted manufacturing facilities across 46 U.S. states and 22 countries. A comprehensive quality system backs our network and helps to ensure your parts' fit, form, and function. After you place an order, suppliers provide updates for you while your parts are in process and will send you an inspection report upon completion of your order.

Xometry also offers various manufacturing technological processes to create high-volume end-use parts quickly and affordably. There are dozens of production options; Xometry engineers are ready to advise developers, letting them know which process and material will perform best in the final environment. Injection molding is a go-to choice for scaling up lightweight, durable plastic parts, while CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication technology are better suited to produce precision metal parts with strict material requirements. 3D printing technology is a solid choice for engineers looking for a way to quickly make parts with solid mechanical qualities and appealing affordability.

Alyssa Dittmar and her business partner Aaron Hsu, alongside a team of their fellow Johns Hopkins University alumni, created a fully transparent surgical mask to help those who rely on the ability to lip-read. The ClearMask™,a fully transparent, FDA-cleared surgical mask created by Maryland-based medical company ClearMask LLC, provides strong protection against airborne transmission while maintaining effective communication and human connection. ClearMask partnered with Xometry to scale up the production of their product, producing millions of masks and increasing the safety and quality of care for many during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When its time to launch your new product, remember that Xometry is prepared to guide you through every stage of the product life cycle, from idea screening and concept testing to full-scale production. The global network’s diversity and wide-ranging capabilities can help you access all the manufacturing services you need in one place. It’s all waiting for you in the Xometry Instant Quoting Engine. 

If you are interested in learning more about how Xometry can help you as you develop new products, or if you would like to iterate on existing products, download Xometry’s Complete Production Guide or listen to Xometry’s Path to Production with Injection Molding Strategies Webinar. And, if you would like to speak to someone on the Xometry engineering team, feel free to contact them here.