Product development and avoiding tiger tanks

So much time is invested in the development of a new product that it is hard to see it shelved. But there is a lot more to bringing products to market than producing the design and first prototype. These issues are like tiger tanks in a battle, and they lurk for the uninitiated. There is a myriad of seemingly nonengineering issues that can act as ultimate barriers to market success: a name, compliance with regulations, homologations, part availability, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) formulas, tariffs, licenses, software, firmware, warranty, insurance, and single-source parts. Engineers will ultimately solve many of these nonengineering barriers. This article discusses these issues and, as an example, uses a simple device that might be installed or have access to a communications network intended for worldwide distribution.