S1 - Stage 1 Scope

Question 1

Market Research

Answer 1

a continuous process that aims to; ensure innovation is focused on relevant problems/opportunities from the customer’s perspective, determine the unmet needs of the customer and what they would like to experience from the final products they interact with, and to build an innovative environment.

Question 2

Idea Generation

Answer 2

continuous process that aims to build the environment required for innovation, ensure innovation is focused on relevant problems/opportunities, develop creative solutions for business needs, and sort ideas based on customer and strategic fit as well as cursory feasibility assessment in order to move from idea to concept proposal (capable of entering the stage-gate process).

Question 3

Concept Feasibility

Answer 3

quickly define the product in sufficient detail to determine its feasibility from both technical and commercial perspectives.

Question 4

Define & Analyze the Market & Target Customers

Answer 4

S1.MAR.01 VOC –

Activity can vary from a cursory overview to a full market assessment by an outside consultant depending on the Division’s understanding of the Market and the potential scope of the program.

The goal is to understand what is needed to do business in the market, what the competitive situation is, and what business models are needed

Question 5

Determine Alignment with Division Strategy & Capability

Answer 5

S1.MAR.02 NBU CHECK

Fill out in the Project Attractiveness Score template. Share project objective with Global platform leader for possible synergies across Nidec businesses

The requirements of the market are compared to the strategy and capabilities of the division and its products to begin to assess our desire and readiness to participate

Question 6

Competitive Product/Process Benchmarking

Answer 6

S1.MAR.03

Identify the competitive products used in the market and compare their features

Benchmarking should assist the team in understanding the reason for the gap between your current status and the benchmark in order to develop a plan to close the gap, match the benchmark, or satisfy the customers unmet needs

Question 7

Identify Unmet Customer/Market Needs

Answer 7

S1.MAR.04 VOC

Assess unmet needs of the customer/market if this does not violate confidentiality requirements

process characteristics: customer interviews, questionnaires and surveys, market test and positioning reports, new product quality and reliability studies, competitive product quality studies, best practices and lessons learned.

Question 8

Identify Special Customer and Agency Requirement

Answer 8

S1.MAR.05 VOC

Identify any special customer requirements including product characteristics, processes, reliability expectations or agency compliance that are not part of our normal development and approval process

Question 9

Define the Product Specification

Answer 9

S1.MAR.06 VOC

Create a comprehensive product specification sufficient to allow the project team to understand the product concept and develop the design specification in order to begin development of the product.

Question 10

Generate Product Ideas

Answer 10

S1.MAR.07

As indicated below, ideas can come from anywhere in the company or outside. They are summarized and evaluated for the gate review

Question 11

Review Nidec Group Motor Map & Notify Global Platform Leader

Answer 11

S1.MAR.08 – NBU CHECK

Review the Nidec Group Motor Map to determine if another Nidec business unit is currently marketing a similar product.

Question 12

Perform Market Test on Concepts

Answer 12

S1.MAR.09

Determine whether the concept truly fills unmet customer needs and start to get value data on which to base pricing.

Question 13

Estimate Product Lifecycle and Phase-out Plan

Answer 13

S1.MAR.10

If the product will not outlive the tooling and equipment,

Question 14

Conduct Preliminary Risk Analysis

Answer 14

S1.MAR.11

Risk identification is a continual process that looks at both internal and external risks.

Question 15

SWOT Analysis

Answer 15

Done within a Risk Analysis

• Strengths of the project idea and developing plan. This includes market analysis, technical approach, manufacturing capability, etc.
• Weaknesses of the project idea. This is also a part of the market analysis and program goals and objectives setting.
• Opportunities for the project. This includes identifying and establishing opportunities for market share, sales, profit, or developing a specific capability.
• Threats that could prevent the project from meeting its goals and objectives, e.g., technical obstacles, competitive responses, etc.

Question 16

Complete the Project Charter and Financial Data

Answer 16

S1.MAR.12

• Identify what strategic bucket the project belongs in.
• Define the specific project objectives.
• Define the project deliverables.
• Define the success criteria for this project.
• Define foreseeable challenges for this project.
• Define the primary Market Location. Understand environmental regulations that may apply to these areas (RoHS, REACH, etc.). Determine whom the product will be sold and if the customer, product use or location is under trade compliance restriction.
• Fill in the Proposed Team section, including the Project Sponsor plus potential team members.
• Product Sales Forecast
• Machinery, equipment and tooling costs.
• Financial assumption values including: SG&A %, Inventory average days on hand, account receivable days average DSO, account payables days average DPO, cost of capital, effective tax rate.
• Estimate project resource usage across all functional areas of the business.
• Define additional development costs.
• Define any revenue received from our customer to support project activities.

Question 17

Propose Timeline

Answer 17

S1.MAR.13 VOC

Based on Market and Customer needs, define the desired project timeline. Note that this is a desired timeline, not the project schedule.

Question 18

Secure Customer PO (Terms & Conditions, NRE, Warranty Expectations)

Answer 18

S1.MAR.14 VOC

Once the customer submits a RFQ and the price quote is accepted, secure a purchase order from the customer detailing the terms and conditions of the supply agreement.

following items: product orders, price, technical support and documentation, IP ownership, allocation of development cost, development and launch schedule, tooling, warranties, quality standards, and packaging

Question 19

Quantify Business Case / Marketing Strategy

Answer 19

S1.MAR.15 NBU CHECK

Prepare data on the business case. The business case should include the marketing strategy along with a cost versus benefit justification for the project

Question 20

Identify Preliminary Design Requirements

Answer 20

S1.ENG.01 VOC

A preliminary specification is prepared which contains the information gained from market research and customer requirements. Design goals are a translation of the Voice of Customer into measurable design objectives.

Question 21

Analyze Technology and Regulatory Trends

Answer 21

S1.ENG.02

Assess potential technology developments that could satisfy unmet needs in the future. This is normally done in conjunction with the Technology Roadmap tool.

Question 22

Analyze Feasibility & Technology Development Needs

Answer 22

S1.ENG.03 NBU CHECK

Engineering judges whether this concept is feasible from a technical standpoint and whether we have the technology in-house needed to bring it to production.

Any gaps will require a plan to acquire or develop the necessary technology as part of the project plan

Question 23

Motor Peripheral Devices & Technologies Map Review

Answer 23

S1.ENG.04 NBU CHECK

Review the Nidec Group Motor Technology Map to determine if another Nidec business unit has engineered a similar product

Question 24

Analyze Intellectual Property (Threats and Opportunities)

Answer 24

S1.ENG.05

A preliminary check of intellectual property that might limit our design freedom or that may present opportunities to create a technical advantage with our designs

Question 25

Estimate Product Cost

Answer 25

S1.ENG.06

At this stage, a best estimate of product cost based on knowledge of the concept will be used for the project financials in the financial section in the current business Product and Portfolio Management Tool.

Question 26

Build Real or Virtual Samples for Market Testing

Answer 26

S1.ENG.07

Build mockups or drawings to enable and assist the market testing process

Question 27

Assess Manufacturing Feasibility

Answer 27

S1.MFG.01 NBU CHECK

we need to identify manufacturing technology that exists in other Nidec businesses or we will have to develop or acquire to enable the project and any new manufacturing processes needed for this new product.

Question 28

Identify New Processes Required

Answer 28

S1.MFG.02

Even if we know how to build the product, there may be process capability we need to add in a particular location to enable the product.

Question 29

Analyze New Materials and Suppliers Required

Answer 29

S1.PRO.01

Procurement analyzes if there are new materials or components in this concept that would require the identification and/or development of new suppliers.

Question 30

Identify New Quality Requirements

Answer 30

S1.QUA.01 VOC

If this market or this product will require us to address quality requirements different from those of our existing products these are listed so that the cost of compliance can be included in project planning.

Identify any special customer quality requirements or potential reliability issues that might impact product performance so the estimated cost can be considered in the project justification.

Question 31

Review Product Reliability Studies and Historical Warranty and Quality Info

Answer 31

S1.QUA.02

Obtain and review any available historical product reliability study information/data that is applicable to the future design

Review warranty data, concern reports, recalls, field trouble reports, product service reports, non-conformance logs, and other applicable documents from similar product design to prevent the proliferation of known non-conformance in future designs

Question 32

Assess Project Financial Estimates

Answer 32

S1.FIN.01

Finance will need to approve the project financials by verifying the numbers used in the metrics calculations.