New product development is a continually evolving challenge. You must develop a design that can solve the problem while also innovating and keeping up with emerging technologies, materials, and manufacturing methods. And every time you try something new, you’re taking a risk. You can reduce that risk, however, even when innovating.

In this executive summary, you’ll learn about risk-reducing solutions, such as:

• Reducing the number of suppliers you’re working with
• Carefully selecting the supplier based on seven key characteristics
• Partnering with your supplier throughout the design and prototyping stages