Criteria for screening new products in the electronic component distribution industry

Screening new industrial product ideas at the early stages of a new product development (NPD) process is a critical activity. Although making a good new product choice is vital, managers have not applied systematic screening models because these models have not been customized to reflect the particular character of their company and industry. A customized systematic procedure is proposed to manage the task of selecting potential new products for an electronic component distributor at the early stages of a NPD process. Screening criteria have been reviewed and optimized by project leaders and managers closest to the new product selection decision. The screening model has been used in a company to predict the success or failure of projects, and these predictions have been compared to the actual results from real projects. Thus, the study provides insights into the capability of the screening model and suggests further improvements to the screening process.