Innovation and R&D
Phase Gate Method for New Product Development
Article 9
Read Time 1 minute
Prof. Robert G. Cooper, McMaster University, Canada, pioneered a systematic method for new product development called the Stage-Gate Process, now implemented by almost 80% of North American companies. [ref 1-2]
Stage-Gate® is a registered trademark of Prof. Cooper’s company. The process/method is also known by its generic name as the Phase-Gate Method/Process.
The basic idea is that the entire R&D project budget (say US $1 MM) is not funded, on day one, but incrementally approved and funded via a series of steps called Phases. So for example, $10,000 is released when a scientist proposes the idea. Then the scientist writes and submits a short report to management to explain the idea, competition, product value and uniqueness. If management likes the idea they fund an additional $50,000 to develop a Business Case. If management does not like the idea, the project is killed.
In Phase Gate method new product development work is done in a series of steps from Concept to Commercialization. For example:
Mukul is bilingual. He speaks Chemical Engineering and Applied Statistics.
As a Senior R&D Manager, Statistics and Computer-Aided Research at BF Goodrich Chemical, he championed the use of Design of Experiments (DOE) for predictive modeling, performance optimization, scale-up, and quality control.
Currently, he is the Founder and President of FastR&D, LLC, based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Over his career, he has trained nearly 1,000 R&D scientists, engineers, and senior executives. He has led 750 DOE studies across industries including chemicals, food, polymers, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. His projects range from scaling up a one-inch fluid bed reactor to an 18-foot production reactor, to optimizing the design of a tiny angioplasty device for renal artery denervation and blood pressure control.
Mukul has advised numerous Fortune 1000 chemical firms on innovation, rapid new product development, and managing NPD as a structured business process.
Copyright © 2025 FastR&D LLC