Development Process
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The figure below describes the trademarked ●●●RAPID® product development process we use at Syprosoft® Engineering. This process has been refined over many years and has proven to reduce the risks inherent in any new product development.
●●●RAPID® Phases
Each ●●●RAPID® Phase is a composite of multiple sprints. The process is iterative and comprises analysis, design, build and evaluation sprints. Each iteration builds on the results of the previous iterations. This is illustrated in the figure below.
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●●●RAPID® Sprints
The most important of these Sprints is the "Analyze" sprint. This is hard for many engineers to do, specially as it requires theoretical, analytical and math skills! Most engineers at competitor firms would rather simply open their favorite CAD tool and start designing. That's how clients sometimes get disasters when working with our competitors like the examples shown below. For details of a specific product development using the ●●●RAPID® development process please click Engineering.
IDENTIFY THE “Unknown Unknowns” early!
The ●●●RAPID® development process works much better than traditional development methods used by many of our competitors. See examples below left of prototypes of three products created by our competitors which left the client unhappy. Below right is the work we did after the client left the competitor and hired us. Our Engineering Unit cost a whole lot less than the competitors's prototype and also WORKED!
The main reason the projects shown on the left failed was because the competitors sold the clients on their "abilities" and how those applied to the client's project - what we call the "knowns". During the design they attempted to account for things they were not sure of - what we call the "known unknowns". Based on these knowns and known unknowns they built prototypes often at great expense to the client. It was only in testing these prototypes that the project killers surfaced - what we call the "unknown unknowns". The figure below shows this phenomenon as a timeline and why it results in great schedule delays and large budget overruns as "fixes" for these unknown unknowns are crafted.
Unlike our competitors prototypes, the ●●●RAPID® Process starts with an Engineering Unit. The Engineering Unit is not a prototype of the final product and it often costs much less to develop than a prototype would. It's purpose is to ascertain the parameters of the known unknowns and surface any unknown unknowns that may be lurking undiscovered by the client and the development team. It requires great discipline to defer work on the knowns to a later phase. This is very hard for most engineers to do, especially if they have sold the client on their "abilities"!