CLIENT CHALLENGES

• Institutionalize MDPD worldwide.
• Scale MDPD to smaller projects.

CLIENT RESULTS

• Scaled MDPD for projects ranging from $1M to $30M.
• Integrated MDPD into the product development process worldwide.

PDC SOLUTIONS

• Change Management
• Market-Driven Product Definition (MDPD®)

Dade Behring (now Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics) initiated a relationship with PDC in 1995 to implement MDPD for a major instrument project at the firm's corporate headquarters. Facing a significant expansion of its major product line at the time, Dade Behring selected PDC to help clarify design objectives, discover customers' latent needs, ensure that the resulting product would meet customer requirements, and establish measurable criteria.

"With MDPD you get a deep understanding of what is important to the customer at a real emotional level. In product development there are a lot of intangibles that MDPD helps you get in touch with," says Deirdra Dougherty, market research manager. "If you can empathize with your customer as you are making product development decisions, you can make them with confidence -- as if you were the customer."

The project was a resounding success and Dade decided to implement the process across the United States, Europe and Asia and across projects of varying sizes.