Transforming the seeds of inspiration into a tangible reality, designing and bringing a product to market requires a multitude of skills, expertise, and resources. In this article, we’ll explore the power of the partnership between product design and procurement, and how this alliance can lead to successful product development.
Breaking Tradition
The traditional approach of sequential product design and procurement processes is outdated. We’ll show you how merging these processes can unlock fresh value, reduce costs, enhance sustainability, secure supply, and ultimately contribute to a brand’s appeal.
Why Procurement Should be Involved in Product Design
Procurement has a vital role to play in the product design process, and here’s why:
- Design for Manufacturing: When it comes to designing a product, the procurement team has a wealth of knowledge and understanding of manufacturing processes, materials, and availability. Engaging procurement in the design phase can save time, prevent costly redesigns, and ensure a product is efficiently manufactured.
- Manage Costs: Procurement teams are experts in managing costs and can drive cost reductions in the product design process, leading to a more cost-effective final product. Involving procurement in the early stages of product design ensures that costs are managed from the outset, avoiding costly and time-consuming redesigns.
- Remaining Agile: In a rapidly evolving market, remaining agile is key. The manufacturing industry is subject to material and component shortages and raw material price fluctuations, which can have significant effects on projects. Procurement professionals can ensure organisations remain effective and ready to deal with change, delivering a holistic transformation of engineering departments.
- Leverage Supplier Networks: Procurement teams have extensive supplier networks that can be leveraged to drive process and product development. Here at GSS, we have over 125 trusted manufacturing partners in our network that we can engage to help progress product development and manufacturing.
- Prevent Future Problems: Procurement professionals have comprehensive knowledge of capabilities, cost controls, and manufacturing processes. By working with designers and engineers during the design phase, procurement teams can solve problems before they happen, improving timeline efficiency, and reducing costs.
The Power of Partnership
When industrial designers and procurement professionals work together, they can create products that are both functional and visually appealing, all while ensuring that materials and components are available at the right price and in the right quantities. This partnership can also improve sustainability, provide access to new technologies and innovations, and enhance a brand’s appeal.
The synergy between product design and procurement is a winning partnership. By breaking away from tradition and involving procurement in the design phase, organisations can achieve more significant cost savings, reduce time to market, and ultimately create a better product. So, if you want to succeed in today’s dynamic business environment, involving procurement professionals from the outset can be your competitive advantage.
How GSS Works with Industrial Designers
For many of our projects here at GSS, our team of experienced sourcing specialists and project managers work collaboratively with industrial designers to ensure that the product development process is seamless and hassle-free. We provide advice on product design and engineering, as well as manufacturing and sourcing options that can help to bring our clients’ vision to reality.
By working with GSS, industrial designers can leverage our extensive network of suppliers and manufacturers, as well as our expertise in product development and sourcing, to bring their ideas to market faster and with greater success. We are committed to providing our clients with the highest level of service and support, and we look forward to helping you bring your next product idea to life!