Product Development

Product development is the complete process of delivering a new product or improving an existing one for customers. The customers can be external or internal within a company. And it can support many different types of products from softwar​e to hardware, to consumer goods and services.

IES’’s success has been dependent on staying relevant to the needs of our customers.  We realize that all products have a limited life cycle.   We understand that new, innovative products need to keep pace with the current market and we need to get to market in short time frames so we keep up with those needs. 

A little history lesson:  Our PD Team has undergone this development process their entire experience. They had to take their ideas, concepts and the real customer need to the entire development process and get the final outcome as a product using tools such as Concept Selection Matrix (CSM), DFMEA and DVPR. 

We @IES with a “Stage Gate” process.   By following this gate process we ensure the established protocols for new product development are followed.  The result is a quality product we are proud of.  There are 5 stages in the process: 

Ideas for new products come from everywhere.  Our Product Team (PD Team) are continuously evaluating their ideas and processes.  Many of our ideas come from the professionals themselves – the pros that are using our products every day.  Pros are one of our best resources – they know what they need to make their installations easier.  Through field events, shows, forums or simply phone calls with the pros, our product managers listen to the needs of our customers and develop products that meet those needs. 

Speed-to-market requires the proper technology, as well as policies and procedures relating all development operations.  Using this well-defined yet scalable process allows for a consistent and repeatable approach to product development and for getting to the market quickly.   The advent of technology such as 3-D printing has allowed us to quickly produce prototypes and has enabled us to transform and tweak product models quickly, easily and more cost-effectively. 

Our customers rely on our commitment to quality.   Testing is a critical component before we launch any product.  We stand behind our approach because we understand that product reliability and the professional’s reputation matter, we don’t skip or skinny on any of the testing protocols.  Every product we produce allows the professional to be confident in our more than 100+  years of industry experience. 

For most new product development projects, a dedicated team is formed with a collection of personnel from various functional areas to support the design, development, product and launch of our new products. 

@IES,. we know product development is an ever-evolving and fluid process.  To ensure we are meeting the demands of our customers, we remain focused on introducing new and innovative ideas and evaluate and improve our new product development process.