12 March 2007
MUSCAT -- The Oman Manufacturing Group seminar on new product development was held yesterday under the auspices of Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry. The seminar panel, which was moderated by Prof Andrew Self, consisted of S Gopalan from Reem Batteries, Anwar al Asmi from Reality CG, Raed Dawood from Nawras, Raza Ashraf from Total Alignment and Sandeep Sehgal from the United Media Services. Gopalan said new product development was essential for small companies, especially Oman-based small and medium enterprises.
"Product development exercise starts at the time of conceiving a project," he noted. Since Omani market is limited in size, the local companies look for outside market for business growth. Elaborating on the experience of Reem Batteries, he said his company has developed a special battery for UK's bus operator. These buses run for less time and stop more. "They approached us and we developed a special battery for them," he noted. Gopalan said new product development should be part of an organisation's business strategy. "The generation of ideas for a small company comes from their customers," he noted, citing his company's experience in developing special batteries for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
He also said that Reem Batteries has developed special batteries for meeting the specific requirements of South American and North African customers. Admitting that his company met with some failures while developing new products, he said this was due to failure on the part of customers in effectively communicating their specific requirements. "Never take the words of customers on face value," he added, citing the case of an Indian customer. Saying that the process of new product development is a huge exercise, he noted that outsourcing of certain components would be an ideal solution initially. However, he said that the success of a new product depends on the quality of outsourced components.
Gopalan said the passion of the chief executive officer and review system of organisations are also significant for the success of new product development. Referring to the experience of Nawras, Raed Dawood said his company not only develops products, but also manages them. Nawras also get feedback from customers and potential customers for developing new products. Dawood noted that it is important to respond to the specific requirement of the market quickly. The seminar, organised by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), was attended by policy-makers and business leaders. It gave an overview of the underlying believes of the customers, desires and values and integrating this insight into the product design process.
MUSCAT -- The Oman Manufacturing Group seminar on new product development was held yesterday under the auspices of Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry. The seminar panel, which was moderated by Prof Andrew Self, consisted of S Gopalan from Reem Batteries, Anwar al Asmi from Reality CG, Raed Dawood from Nawras, Raza Ashraf from Total Alignment and Sandeep Sehgal from the United Media Services. Gopalan said new product development was essential for small companies, especially Oman-based small and medium enterprises.
"Product development exercise starts at the time of conceiving a project," he noted. Since Omani market is limited in size, the local companies look for outside market for business growth. Elaborating on the experience of Reem Batteries, he said his company has developed a special battery for UK's bus operator. These buses run for less time and stop more. "They approached us and we developed a special battery for them," he noted. Gopalan said new product development should be part of an organisation's business strategy. "The generation of ideas for a small company comes from their customers," he noted, citing his company's experience in developing special batteries for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
He also said that Reem Batteries has developed special batteries for meeting the specific requirements of South American and North African customers. Admitting that his company met with some failures while developing new products, he said this was due to failure on the part of customers in effectively communicating their specific requirements. "Never take the words of customers on face value," he added, citing the case of an Indian customer. Saying that the process of new product development is a huge exercise, he noted that outsourcing of certain components would be an ideal solution initially. However, he said that the success of a new product depends on the quality of outsourced components.
Gopalan said the passion of the chief executive officer and review system of organisations are also significant for the success of new product development. Referring to the experience of Nawras, Raed Dawood said his company not only develops products, but also manages them. Nawras also get feedback from customers and potential customers for developing new products. Dawood noted that it is important to respond to the specific requirement of the market quickly. The seminar, organised by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), was attended by policy-makers and business leaders. It gave an overview of the underlying believes of the customers, desires and values and integrating this insight into the product design process.
By Staff Reporter
© Oman Daily Observer 2007
