ABSTRACT
A product begins with an idea and through engineering and scientific efforts, this mental concept turns into a physical reality. Should this embodiment of the concept fulfill a market need—be it real or imagined—it may become a financial success. Throughout the last six or seven decades, a number of approaches have emerged in order to organize the way products are developed; on the one hand, to bring a certain degree of efficiency and on the other hand, to ensure that the finished product is what the customer had asked for and wanted. The majority of these methodologies start with an effort to understand the market and/or customer requirements. And the last step in them ends with a litany of best practices to launch the product.
In this first chapter, a number of product development models are discussed with a focus on the V-Model and its interrelationship with both Design for Six Sigma and Agile methodology. Finally, it is shown that the proposed approach is applicable not only to electromechanical devices but also to disposables and consumable product as well.
