Pilot Factory
The development of new products is risky because there are usually still many uncertainties. The fundamental activity in product development under uncertain conditions, is going through feedback-loops with end users, to ensure the right product being developed for the right target group. This is done by converting ideas into products, measuring how end users react to this and determining the next step in development on the basis of this feedback.
For the generation of useable feedback, it is important that the product has exactly the right characteristics for collecting the necessary feedback. That is why it is important to clearly keep in mind what it is that you want to know and why. That is why in product development, the ‘know why’ is just as important as the ‘know how’.
Rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping enables swift and cost-efficient development and manufacture of products, which can help validate the feasibility of a product idea for the market. In the beginning, the product only needs to be able to deliver the essence of the intended value proposition (and nothing more). At the end, the product must also be able to demonstrate that it can be produced in good and constant quality with a stable manufacturing process. This is why the focus during product development gradually shifts from functionality to feasibility, but both go hand in hand from the very start.
Pilot runs
Witec has a pilot factory where new products are developed and manufactured together with customers. With the equipment at the pilot factory, basic functional models can be made that only have the minimum required functionality to be able to investigate the intended value propositions for end users. But the pilot factory is also equipped with high-grade machines that enable the manufacture of small runs of saleable products and with which production processes and tools can be developed and released for the further upscaling of production.
In product development under uncertain conditions, an open dialogue in which there is transparent communication about risk assessment is essential. For this reason, Witec places its rapid prototyping-equipment and experience in product innovation for co-creation at your disposal. This offers customers direct supervision of a rapid and reliable production development process: Innovating Together
