Turning data into knowledge for competitive advantage - How to deliver smarter product development

Summary: Historically, product development has been very engineering-centric, starting with concept design and ending with release to manufacturing. Leading manufacturers, however, are questioning whether this is where product development should really start and end. While the engineering activity has typically focused on optimizing product functionality according to a given set of requirements, the question remains as to the origin of these requirements. In fact, if you can learn more about the specific requirements by better understanding customer sentiment and market trends, you can build a better product. If you can learn more about how your product actually behaves while in service, you know specifically about how it can be improved. And if you know more about how all the systems within your product work together, you can design it better. This podcast outlines how knowledge about customers, operations, and your development process can help you achieve smarter product development. Speakers, Steve Shoaf and Kimberly Gist.