Solutions are great, but only if they solve real problems. That's the essence of ITT Industries new Value-Based Product Development (VBPD) initiative, a vital, new component of ITT Industries' Value-Based Six Sigma continuous improvement effort. With VBPD, instead of developing "me-too" or "gee-whiz" products, ITT engineers and sales and marketing folks are using the NIMBA value model to capture the "voice of the customer" and unearth their spoken and unspoken needs. Then, instead of jumping directly into product development, they're using the "Stage-Gate" business process to confirm the concept's viability with customers and ITT executives. "It's the combination of these two processes -- NIMBA and Stage-Gate -- that makes our product development efforts unique in the world," says Dick Arra, ITT's director of VBPD. Ron Butler, R&D manager for Engineered Valves and one of ITT's early practitioners of VBPD, has seen the power of this product development process in action. "Every company has created a product that they think is the next big thing, only to discover that it's the next big failure. That's because they assumed they knew what the customer wanted. With VBPD, we don't get ahead of ourselves. We move from needs to functions to solutions. It's more structured and it makes much more sense." Tying in with Taguchi VBPD training began in earnest in the fall of 2001 at four pilot sites (see sidebar). Then, in early October 2002, the 15th annual Taguchi Symposium in McLean, Virginia, was expanded to include VBPD training and early feedback from the pilot sites. "The Taguchi Symposium has always been a way for our engineers -- primarily Defense engineers -- to share stories about how they are successfully incorporating Taguchi methods and robust design into product design," says Ron Watson, global product data manager for Fluid Technology and Motion and Flow Control. "It ties in with VBPD, but we wanted to open it up to include voice-of-the-customer and Stage-Gate training tracks, and include all the people who are part of the VBPD process." Attendance nearly quadrupled, from 50 to 180 participants, and included managers, marketers, business development specialists and manufacturing personnel from all four management companies. Impressively, all four management company presidents were there, as were nearly all the value center presidents. They weren't passive participants. When it's fully deployed, VBPD will involve everyone from the punch-press operators to company presidents. NIMBA Value Model and Stage-Gate Process Here's how it works. Using the techniques and methodologies of the NIMBA value model, a company captures the "voice of the customer" (VOC). Marketing/Sales sets up a customer meeting, making clear that it's not a sales call but an input session, and brings along an engineer or product development team to provide support and to transcribe key phrases/points from the session. Following a loose script, the Marketing person probes the customer for their needs. "If they say they want a stainless steel bonnet, that's a solution, not a need," says Butler. "You need to dive deeper to discover the need. In this case, maybe they can't have corrosion. Your job is then to find the best way to meet that need." When the team returns, they debrief and review their findings with the development team, document the top needs from multiple VOC trips, conduct testing with other customers to ensure they aren't chasing a solution with limited appeal, and do an analysis of functions and solutions that will address the need. With concepts in hand, they enter the Stage-Gate process, where engineering execs, business development specialists, company controllers and value center presidents review their ideas. "It's a series of progressive commitments - critical reviews that happen at the proper time," explains Steve Axelband, VBPD process manager for Avionics. "The first stage is a commitment of resources to perform market assessments and feasibility studies. Then, you move on to commitments for a proposal, leading to a contract award, followed by product development, testing and production launch." VBPD takes some additional time and energy up front, but products that make it through the process will be developed faster and are guaranteed winners. "There's nothing more exciting than working on a product you know will succeed," says Butler. In the next print issue of In Our Hands, learn how VBPD is helping Avionics to develop a system to protect unmanned air vehicles and why Engineered Valves customers are now calling the company a "true innovator."			Value-Based Product Development training is being rolled out across all of ITT Industries. By mid-2003, all 25 value centers will have completed training, which includes 10-15 days of workshops focused on NIMBA's voice of-the-customer model, the Stage-Gate process and robust design. Here is the VBPD training schedule: Pilot Sites Avionics Cannon Switches (C&K) Engineered Valves Industrial Pumps Group Now In Progress Cannon (Santa Ana) Cannon NS&S Cannon Europe Flojet Fluid Handling Division Jabsco US/UK Rule Industries Water Technologies Division 4Q 2002 A/CD Communications FHS Cannon Dole Gilfillan 1Q 2003 Night Vision Lowara/Vogel Aerospace Controls Sanitaire 2Q 2003 A/CD Space Conoflow HydroAir Richter 3Q 2003 AES KONI Galfer