It’s already a given that problems will come your way for designing and creating a brand-new product that can ‘wow’ society. Although it’s part of the never-ending improvement process, that doesn’t make such problems easier to resolve. However, don’t be discouraged from giving it a try. 

Starting from the very beginning, you’ll realize how production planning is your strategy for the whole manufacturing process. At this point, you should already take into account the factors that may affect your manufacturing. This way, you’ll avoid any hindrance or the misfortune of having money go down the drain.  

Legal issues might take up most of those factors, yet they tend to be the most overlooked by many business-minded people, especially those handling smaller businesses. To prevent this from happening to you, here are some common ones you could encounter:

• Product Protection 

Writing down your new idea may seem revolutionary until you realize someone else has already made it. Since that product is already made and sold to the market, it’s bound to be patented already. 

A patent protects your ownership over a product, specifically how it functions (utility patent) and how it looks like (design patent). Therefore, infringing the owner’s patent is already a lawsuit in the making. Although this secures the product to your name, you must do careful research first before producing it to make sure you’re the first one to invent something like it. 

The only downside in filing a patent is how expensive it can be to have a patent lawyer on the case. Consider if this is worth it by asking yourself these questions: 

• Do you have expenses to spare? 
• Does your product only target people within your community? 
• Can your product be sold to the public market where it can profit? 
• (As a second option) can you patent your product yourself? 

If you’ve answered ‘no’ in most of these, then patenting might not be for you. However, there’s still another way to protect your product, and that’s by licensing it. 

Although not as air-tight as a patent, a license also expresses your ownership over your product. Not only that, but you can even profit from businesses who want to buy your product so they can reproduce and sell it under their names instead. However, doing so may have you lose any intellectual right over it. 

Considering these two options to protect your creation must be done heavily in the production planning process. This way, you won’t be worried about infringing on other businesses down the line.

• Quality Problems 

Proceeding to the manufacturing process, this is where you can say ‘the magic happens.’ Here, your product will come into existence and be one step closer to going public. However, this is when outside forces can leave a big impact.  

Defects, for one, are your biggest problem yet. You may endanger customer safety once your product is released to the market, ergo, risking a lawsuit to your name. When that happens, you’re also risking your product’s credibility, which may be a massive blow to your profits. But, that’s not the only problem you need to manage.  

Because your products have defects, the production line might be recalled to modify them as a clear expression of putting customers’ health first. However, having manufactured products recalled is another hit to your profits.

Have experts oversee the process. It’d be best if you’re sure the product you’ve envisioned would be both safe and functionally sound. As for manufacturing, these professionals can advise you on testing them out before selling them to the public.  

• Data Breach

Any information about the customer may be at risk the more extensive your target audience becomes. Once you’ve reached international status, you’ll have more eyes on you, hence, making you more vulnerable to digital attacks. 

Although it’s still fairly new for the modern world, having your manufacturing data leaked will expose any detail you’ve collected throughout the time you’re growing your business, as well as reveal designs or blueprints that other people may steal if left unpatented. If your facilities expand internationally, look into reinforcing your systems to safeguard them from hackers.

• Management Problems

Even though you’ve gone entirely automated, you still need people to handle manufacturing. So, if you’re expecting your products to be of topnotch quality, take care of your employees’ needs by applying these practices:  

• Make sure your work conditions are completely safe.  
• Provide personal protective equipment (PPE) if necessary.
• Provide adequate wages and benefits.

By taking care of your employees, you can prevent problems, like labor strikes, from coming up, impacting production heavily.

Packing It Up

Planning on what kind of strategy you should apply to process your product could be challenging, especially if you’re going in blind. However, acknowledging potential problems can help identify hurdles on your way to a successful outcome. And, you can start by executing solutions around legal issues.