The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

21.5. Summary

Success in developing new products is vital for the health and survival of many organizations, and good gate decisions are vital for successful NPD programs. While most NPD processes include project review points, a high proportion of firms struggle with making effective and efficient project continuation/termination decisions. Many firms are too liberal and allow too many weak projects to continue for too long, resulting in wasted resources, missed opportunities, demoralized employees, and possible damage to brand and organizational equity when products fail in the market. If organizations develop and successfully implement gate procedures, they can manage risk during new product development. Developing an effective and efficient NPD process, including gate criteria, is not an easy task and should be based on the organization's strengths and goals along with repeated exploration, experimentation, and adjustment.