Ideas for new products are mostly based on a set of unvalidated assumptions with regard to market need, earning potential and practicability. This is why the creation of new products is characterized by search and evidence. At Witec Development, the emphasis of project management is on the systematic removal of insecurities, with the aim of making the work plannable and controllable as soon as possible. Project work is the middle ground between improvising and routine work. When the work has become plannable and controllable it still needs project management, but this is a more routine form of working. In product creation, the focus lies on the systematic generation of new value through structuring work that is basically improvising in nature. The channelling of creativity, knowledge and knowhow for the creation of new value has become the essence of project management for Witec Development.
Witec Development helps businesses to realize product innovations by developing and industrializing new products. These are products of a mechanical engineering or mechatronic nature, which are manufactured industrially. Witec Development’s most important added value is the fast and accurate development of technically new functions, which lead to products that help customers distinguish themselves from their competitors. These customers are technology companies that have development speed as their competitive priority. In order to be able to offer the fast and reliable time-to-market that they require, Witec has a Pilot Factory with manufacturing machines and testing and verification equipment that enable rapid prototyping in the final material and the final production technique. This enables us to demonstrate in-house that critical parts of new products are functional and feasible. As soon as this has been demonstrated, the further development and industrialisation is plannable and controllable.
The production can be characterised as a line process in which one or several standardised products are manufactured in large amounts. This usually requires large investments in specific production means. This takes time as well as money. The way in which Witec Development minimalizes the time-to-market through project management, offers customers important securities with regard to investments, product price and launch date. As long as the work is not plannable and controllable, but aimed at search and evidence, the mantra is ‘risk first, work later’. This requires an open dialogue about risk assessment; not only within Witec, but primarily with the customer. By approaching product creation in this way, value creation is maximised and the long-term collaborative relationships that Witec aims for come about: Innovating Together