In commerce, time to market is the length of time it takes from a product
being conceived until its being available for sale. TTM is important in
industries where products are outmoded quickly. A common assumption is that TTM
matters most for first-of-a-kind products, but actually the leader often
has the luxury of time, while the clock is clearly running for the followers.
Measuring TTM There are no standards for measuring
TTM, and measured values can vary greatly. First, there is great variation
in how different organizations define the start of the period. For example, in
the automotive industry the development period starts when the product concept
is approved. Other organizations realize that little will happen until the
project is staffed, which can take a long time after approval if developers
are tied up on existing projects. Therefore, they consider the start point
when the project is fully staffed. The initial part of a project—before
approval has been given or full staffing is allocated—has been called the fuzzy
front end, and this stage can consume a great deal of time. Even though the
fuzzy front end is difficult to measure, it must be included in TTM measurements
for effective TTM management. Next, definitions of the end of the TTM
period vary. Those who look at product development as engineering say the
project is finished when engineering department transfers it to
manufacturing. Others define the conclusion as when they ship the first
copy of the new product or when a customer buys it. High-volume industries
will often define the end point in terms of reaching a certain production volume,
such as a million units per month. Finally, TTM measurements vary greatly
depending on complexity –- complexity of the product itself, the technologies it
incorporates, its manufacturing processes, or the organizational
complexity of the project. New-to-the-world products are much
slower than derivatives of existing products. Some companies have been
successful in putting their products into categories of newness, but
establishing levels of complexity remains elusive.
Although TTM can vary widely, all that matters is an organization's TTM
capability relative to its direct competitors. Organizations in other
industries may be much faster, but do not pose a competitive threat, although
one may be able to learn from them and adapt their techniques.
TTM and quality A tacit assumption of many is that TTM
and product quality are opposing attributes of a development process. TTM
may be improved by skipping steps of the development process, thus compromising
product quality. For those who use highly structured development processes
such as Phase–gate model or Six Sigma, product development is often viewed as a
clearly defined sequence of steps to be followed. Skipping a step—due to
perceived time pressure, for example—may not only undercut quality but can
ultimately lengthen TTM if the organization must complete or repeat the
step later. Following this view, TTM is usually improved by following all of the
prescribed steps. Other organizations operate more
aggressively, recognizing that not all steps need to be completed for every
project. Furthermore, they actively apply tools and techniques that will
shorten or overlap steps, cut decision-making time, and automate
activities. Many such tools and techniques are available.
Types of TTM Organizations pursue TTM improvement for
a variety of reasons. Some variations of TTM are
Pure speed, that is, bring the product to market as quickly as possible. This
is valuable in fast-moving industries, but it is not always the best objective.
More predictable schedules. Rather than reaching the market as soon as possible,
delivering on schedule, for example to have the new product available for a
trade show, can be more valuable. In addition to processes such as Stage-Gate
or Six Sigma, project risk management is an effective tool here.
Minimizing resources, especially labor. Many managers figure that the shorter
the project the less it will cost, so they attempt to use TTM as a means of
cutting expenses. Ironically, a primary means of reducing TTM is to staff the
project more heavily, so a faster project may actually be more expensive.
Flexibility to make changes. Product innovation is intimately tied to change,
and often the need for change appears midstream in a project. Consequently,
the ability to make changes during development without being too disruptive
can be valuable. For example, one’s goal could be to satisfy customers, which
could be achieved by adjusting product requirements during development in
response to customer feedback. Then TTM could be measured from the last change
in requirements until the product is delivered.
These types of TTM illustrate that an organization’s TTM goals should be
aligned with its business strategy rather than pursuing speed blindly.
History The first recorded conference on
Time-to-Market was organised by Bart Hall of AiC and held on 25 and 26
October 1995 at the St James Hotel in London. It was chaired by Mike Woodman,
then of Logica and now with Coplexis Consulting, and Allen Porter of AIIT.
See also New product development
Flexible product development Six Sigma
Follow-the-sun References
Kenneth B. Kahn, Editor,The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development,
Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2004. Chapter 12, "Accelerated Product
Development: Techniques and Traps." Smith, Preston G. and Merritt, Guy M.
Proactive Risk Management, Productivity Press, 2002.
Smith, Preston G. and Reinertsen, Donald G. Developing Products in Half the Time,
2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1998.