Anyone have an NPD brief they can share?

Afternoon/morning/evening all,

I don't suppose anybody has a NPD brief template that they'd care to share?

We get some proper wide boys asking for product and then disputing what we produce (biscuits) for them.

It's our own fault, really, for not getting down what they want from the start - it's all e-mails (which are later lost) or phone conversations

Any help would be appreciated.

Ian

To an extent it will depend a bit on what you're doing, but a basic MS Word / Excel sheet with categories for the relevant people to contributes / sign-off for the following isn't a bad start:

Overview of project brief

Packaging

Process requirements

HACCP review

Regulatory requirements

Any specific product claims

Labelling content

Packaging/label design (if relevant)

Analytical requirements

Conflict of interest considerations

Health & Safety implications

Raw material status/availability/issues

You may also want to include things like customer credit limit, account setup etc if applicable to how your business works (I've found it can be helpful to put this in the same place as it forces the salesperson to get it sorted ;) ).

At the end of the NPD process I'd also suggest having the customer countersign the recipe and process requirements (or an edited version thereof, if any of the information is proprietary), and of course also countersign the specification. That should define exactly what you are supplying to them, and by signing it they remove their ability to dispute it later (doesn't mean they won't try though...)

Just for clarity, I assume  NPD = New Product Development

(Alternatives Abound in Google)

HI Charles,

Yes, new product development.  I'm no narcissist.