Product Development Company Background Precor

Product Development

Company Background

Precor is a subsidiary of Amer Group Plc, a leading global sports equipment company. Apart from Precor the company has other brands Wilson, Atomic and Suunto under its umbrella. Precor was founded in 1980 with it's headquarter near Seattle in Woodinville, Washington. It has expanded over the years with offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, Benelux, Austria, Japan and China. As opposed to other companies in the business Precor stands out because it has set the global standard for fluid, natural, low-impact workout experience.

Changing Market Dynamics

The market place changes with time as consumers needs and demands change. These changes occur as a result of changes in lifestyles. Over a period of time the American consumer has been exposed to the idea of health and fitness and its importance through media. As a result demands for fitness product saw a surge in recent years. Now the consumers not only demand the products they want complete solution to their fitness problems. Most of the time consumers are looking for one stop solution or a product that helps them in most convenient way possible. "In time-crunched Washington, many people are opting for working out at home. Whether it is a treadmill in the bedroom or a state-of-the-art fitness room costing upwards of $15,000, home exercise equipment can get the job done without battling weather, traffic and the singles scene at the neighborhood Bally's. In fact, home exercise equipment can get several jobs done, and that's part of its appeal" (Goff, 1998).

Positioning of a product or brand reflects the disposition that the consumers of that particular product have towards it in relationship to other products or substitute products. Many fitness brands have positioned themselves as a prestige product at a higher price showing that Americans are willing to spend a lot of money on health & fitness.

The marketplace and popular culture trends help companies like Precor in establishing their own unique, functional, yet consistent line of fitness products taking shape and reshape over time through product development process.

Product Development

Many organizations have new product development methodologies that provide a standard framework for planning and managing development efforts. Precor has a strategic plan to put into operation a collaborative manufacturing infrastructure to manage new product introductions and product changes. To keep pace with changing demands for exercise equipment, Precor has sound plans of concentrating on product development. "Tom Moran, Precor's Vice President of Engineering says, 'The fitness equipment business is extremely competitive. In order to stay in the running, manufacturers have to keep pace with the market - not only delivering new products, but delivering equipment with superior designs, ahead of the competition and at lower prices'" (Precor)

The Product Idea

The product development process starts with the big idea. Considering the changing dynamic of the target market Precor plans to make comprehensive offers. As apart of its product development Precor is offering entertainment and value-added services to fitness aficionados. The new comprehensive values added programs in the development stage will not only emphasize on the product but will also look at aspects of diet and fitness via an interactive program that tracks foods, exercises, weight and goals, and possibly provide users a summary of calories, nutrition, and weight loss as a complete exercise program. "The equipment itself isn't the only thing that will be different this century; the way it's used is changing, too. Companies are coming up with inventive ways of luring the country's 22.5 million health club members to their products. Taking a page from the Spinning handbook, equipment makers such as StairMaster and Precor have choreographed group exercise programs that work hand-in-hand with their stair climbers and elliptical trainers, respectively" (Rackl, 2000).

Aids in Product Development Process

Today Precor is staying ahead of the competition by different strategic policy decisions. Some of the key strategies include outsourcing many of its manufacturing processes, collaborating with suppliers to implement design changes quickly and efficiently, and communicating these changes across the entire supply chain to support Just-In-Time (JIT) parts supply. Initially, Precor had its focus on integrated manufacturing strategies, performing every aspect of manufacturing from assembling own circuit boards to printing product labels and manuals in house. With the expansion and growth the need for rapid product development and quick response arose. Outsourcing turned out to be one big aid as a result of which manufacturing processes could be outsourced, freeing sparse corporate resources to hustle the introduction of new products.

Industrial Design is a major component of the product development process at all stages particularly related to fitness equipments from the initial idea to the production line. The design team has to look at the minutest details such as certain buttons and use of colors on any fitness product. All the four elements of industrial design that is color, form, details and graphic are looked into by the industrial design experts for the purpose of new product development. It's a process that considers the wants and needs of the community of exercisers and fitness freaks to deliver a product not just to meet but to exceed their expectations.

The product development team comprising engineers, biomechanics, manufacturing, assembly, nutritionists, fitness experts and gurus etc. At Precor stay together as a group that eats, drinks, and sleeps fitness product ideas for testing and reliability. They all work to implement regulations, and other pre-established standards. The whole product development team works day and night for reshaping the future of fitness.

Competitive Scenario