How to plan a new product introduction on a Gantt chart
Plan a physical product from design freeze to first shipment: run the design and supplier tracks side by side, start tooling in time and use the critical path to see which long lead time sets the go-live date.
A new product introduction has two tracks that must meet at the pilot run: the design and the supply chain. This guide shows how to plan both, and how to find the lead time that decides the date.
The short version
- Plan the design track and the supply track separately, then link them where they meet.
- Start supplier selection in step with the manufacturing review, not after the design freeze.
- Make tooling wait for both the design freeze and the supplier choice, and give it its real lead time.
- Let the pilot run wait for the corrected design and the tooling, and gate go-live on stock, training and material.
- Switch on the critical path to see whether the prototype or the tooling sets the date.
Two tracks that meet at the pilot run
Teams usually plan a product introduction as a design project with manufacturing added at the end. The schedule then looks fine until tooling is ordered. A tool that takes 15 working days to make cannot be ordered before the design is frozen and a supplier is chosen, and nothing can be piloted until it arrives. The delay was in the plan from the start, because nobody had linked tooling to the design freeze and the supplier selection.
The method is to plan the two tracks separately and then link them where they really meet. The design track runs from requirements to a milestone that freezes the design. The supply track starts as soon as the manufacturing review has begun, because supplier quotes do not need a final design, only a stable enough one. Tooling waits for both. The pilot run waits for the corrected design and for the tooling. Each of these links is a dependency in the chart, so a late quote moves the pilot and the go-live decision with it.
The chart plans time and order. It does not hold part costs, supplier quality data or test results, and it does not compare the plan with what happened. Those belong in your quality and product records. What the chart is good for is showing the chain that sets the date, so that the first thing to shorten, or start earlier, is the right one.
The example is the new product introduction template at /templates/new-product-introduction-gantt. For the process itself, with the gates and who decides, see the flowcharts at /templates/new-product-introduction-process and /templates/product-development-process. For the marketing side of a release, see /templates/product-launch-gantt-chart.
A product introduction, built in stages
Fifteen tasks in four groups. Durations are illustrative working days; set your own. Open the spreadsheet panel to see the rows behind each stage.
The design track ends at a freeze
"Freeze product requirements" (5 working days), "Concept design" (8) and "Design for manufacture review" (4) follow one another. "Design freeze" is a milestone of length 0 that waits for the review.
Prototype, test, fix
"Build prototype" (10 days), "Test prototype" (8) and "Fix issues and update the design" (6) follow the freeze one after another. The fix task is where the design track ends, and the pilot run later waits for it.
Suppliers and tooling start beside the design
"Select and quote suppliers" (10 days) starts 2 working days after "Design for manufacture review" starts. "Order tooling" (15 days) waits for the freeze and the supplier work. "Pilot production run" (5) waits for the fix and the tooling, and "Product qualified" is a milestone after it.
Everything that gates go-live
"Train production and service staff" (5 days) follows the pilot. "Prepare sales and support material" (8) follows the design fix. "Ship first stock to the warehouse" (5) follows the qualification. The milestone "Go-live decision" waits for all three.
How it works
Write the design track and mark the freeze
List the design tasks in order and end them with a milestone for the design freeze, a task of length 0. Everything that needs a final design links to the milestone.
Write the supply track separately
Add supplier selection, tooling and any long-lead parts as their own tasks, in their own group. Give tooling its real lead time in working days, from the supplier's quote rather than from a guess.
Start the supply track in step with the design
Link supplier selection to the review that makes the design stable enough to quote, using a start-to-start link with a lag, for example 3SS+2. This is where a long lead time is won back.
Link the tracks where they meet
Make tooling depend on both the freeze and the supplier choice, written as a comma-separated list. Make the pilot run depend on the corrected design and on tooling.
Gate go-live and add owners
Add a decision milestone that waits for stock, training and sales and support material. Put the responsible person in People for each task and group tasks by track or by function.
Find the long pole
Switch on the critical path in the View menu. If tooling is on it, shorten or start it earlier. Making the prototype faster will not move the date.
Mistakes to avoid
Chaining design, quote and tooling in one line
Chaining design, quote, order and tooling in one line is the simplest plan and the slowest. Look for the earliest point at which each next step can start, and use a start-to-start link there.
Hiding the lead time in a note
If the 15 days of tooling are in a note and not in the duration, the schedule does not include them. Put every wait in the Duration column, even when nobody is working on it.
Treating the pilot as a formality
A pilot run that has no dependency on the design fix can appear before the fix is finished. Link it to the design track and to tooling, and leave room for a second pass if you expect one.
Expecting the chart to track quality or cost
The chart schedules the work. Part costs, supplier quality and qualification results belong in your product records. Refer to them in the task notes.
Open the product introduction Gantt chart
Open the template, set your tooling lead time and see whether it, not the prototype, sets the go-live date.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What is a new product introduction schedule?
A plan for the work between a finished design and the first shipment: prototype, suppliers, tooling, pilot run, qualification, training and go-live. It shows how long the whole chain takes and which part sets the date.
Why does tooling often set the date?
Because it has a long lead time and it waits for decisions that are made late. The critical path shows whether this is true for your plan. Switch it on in the View menu.
Can I plan several products in one chart?
You can, with a group per product, but the chart gets hard to read after a few. A separate chart per product, copied from this one, is easier to share and to update.
Can I compare my plan with what actually happened?
Not inside QueryChart, which keeps no original plan to compare with. Export a PDF before you change the dates if you want a record of the earlier version.
Where is the process with the approval gates?
In the flowchart templates: /templates/new-product-introduction-process and /templates/product-development-process. Use the flowchart for who decides what, and the Gantt chart for how long it takes.
