ABSTRACT
Product development (PD) is the sum total of all activities that are undertaken to identify the need for a product, determination of its functional and aesthetic shape, successful production, and commercialization. Product development has many facets that need to be understood by an engineer before the technical engineering design can begin. Formal understanding of the entire PD process is therefore very important. In Chapter 2, we established that the arrow of causality flows not from technical engineering design, but to it from the financial goals of the company. Engineering design, fortunately or unfortunately, is almost never an end in itself. It is done to achieve a larger goal, which most of the time is maximization of profit for a firm in the short or long term by developing profitable products. Consequently, engineering design knowledge coupled with understanding of business aspects makes for a very successful engineer. An engineer who understands product development is more successful as part of a company or even as an entrepreneur.
