Operations Management For Dummies

Chapter 18

Scaling Operations throughout the Product Life Cycle

In This Chapter

Implementing strategies for new products and those in the growth stage

Meeting the challenges of maturing and dying products

Preventing the decline of a product

Heeding special considerations for new businesses

Products and services, like living organisms, have a natural life cycle. Products are conceived and nurtured, they mature, and eventually, they decline and fade away. Each phase of the cycle requires a different operating strategy.

In this chapter we take you on a journey through a product’s life and describe how each life stage influences operating requirements. We start by introducing the common life stages that products typically evolve through and describe how best to manage each stage. We look at ways to prolong product life, and we also describe the special operating considerations of new companies.

Managing Operations Age-Appropriately

A product goes through four distinct stages as it evolves. These stages (illustrated in Figure 18-1) are quite similar to those of the human life cycle. ...