Earlier I wrote about creating long-term value in product development, and how to uncover the real insights that lead to products that last for years. Another “lesson-learned” we’ve thought about involved creating a long-term roadmap for the product, one that begins before Launch Day.
Lesson: You must lay out the upgrade path for the product and factor it into its architecture long before you introduce the first version.
At Keithley during the 1990s, our market research had informed us that those working in semiconductor labs were typically unhappy with the fixed-configuration characterization systems then available. All too often, they were being forced to purchase a completely new system every few years to address new test needs because their existing ones lacked flexibility. We created a test system, the Model 4200-SCS, that was originally envisioned to evolve over time so that we could offer customers a product that protected their instrumentation investment over the long term.
We took that upgrade path concept to heart, and today we write five-year “roadmaps” for the Model 4200-SCS. This roadmap is designed to parallel industry technology milestones as laid out in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) and our customers’ individual corporate roadmaps. It’s a concept we’ve applied throughout our product line beyond the Model 4200 to our SourceMeter® Source-Measure Units and other primary measurement platforms. Mapping our products to industry and customer roadmaps has been a vital strategy in creating enduring measurement platforms, not “me-too” instrument solutions.
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