ABSTRACT
Technology has virtually changed some facet of production of every product that reaches today's markets. Not all products have had profound changes, but all products have been impacted. The approach developed here is an interdisciplinary approach using science/technology, management, and economics, as fields that aid and guide an invention through the process of becoming an innovation and finally into a marketable product. The transition from scientific discovery to a marketable product is fraught with time lags and dead end avenues that impede or delay the final product development. Entrepreneurs are on a never-ending search through innovations for different products that better perform the consumer task at hand. One of the most widespread applications of technology for product development has been in the area of computer-aided design (CAD). A variation of CAD is computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). There are various aspects and applications of CAM, but each aspect assists the efficient flow of marketable products to the eventual consumer.
