Phase 7: Pre-Production
Paragon Innovations’ Series:
12-Stage Product Development Process
From Start to Success
Now that you have successfully completed the tangible construction of your prototype in Phase 6 of our 12-Stage Product Development Course, it is time to begin pre-production of your product. The pre-production phase focuses on identifying and eliminating errors before a product enters the final manufacturing stages. Pre-production units aid developers in debugging small cosmetic issues, updating packaging requirements, finalizing marketing collateral, organizing logistics, and more.
Considerations In Pre-Production:
Our founder and CEO, Mike Wilkinson, comments that developers “need to start thinking about product packaging and how that is going to look” during the pre-production phase. It is important to consider how users will experience the packaging in which they receive a device and if the intended packaging will protect the device during shipping, stocking, etc. Inventors need to determine packaging requirements before entering the final production of their product.
The pre-production phase is also the stage where logistics must be organized. Developers should keep the following logistics consideration in mind during preproduction:
- SKUs
- Model Numbers
- Fulfillment
- Distribution
- Supply chain
- Preorder long lead components
- Domestic and international shipping taxes and requirements
“If your product contains a lithium battery, that is something you need to be concerned about very quickly and take very seriously,” Mike advises. Lithium battery regulations change daily and shipping requirements surrounding lithium products can significantly affect the successful distribution of your product. To mitigate delay Mike advises developers to “make sure your contract manufacturer is up to date on all the regulations so that you can safely ship products with lithium batteries.”
The Final Details
This phase also incorporates all required changes from prototyping to enable success in pre-production units. Any last minute changes or errors will be corrected on the next spin of the PCBE. Possible changes found in the prototyping stage of a product’s development process include:
- Schematic and mechanical CAD file changes/updates
- Resolve manufacturing issues
- Design change requests
Once pre-production units are built, shipping requirements have been met, lithium product handling requirements have been addressed, and beta customers are testing units, it’s time to begin the next process in Paragon Innovation’s 12-Stage Product Development Course: Production.
