An Overview of Integrated Product Development System IPDS

Integrated Product Development or IPDS manages products from concept to closure through a series of gates.

* Gate 0 is the initial review of the concept. Are you building a bridge or a website or a phone application?

* Gate 1 is a review of whether or not the business can pursue the project. At this gate, the company decides whether the project is in scope of their basic skill set. If it is at the edge of their skill set, is the project within long range plans to expand into a new market?
* Gate 2 reviews the pursue / do not pursue decision. Now that the organization knows its capabilities, it decides whether or not to put together a proposal. It is common for a Gate 2 review to include several possible bids and which ones have the best potential for the company. 
* Gate 3 reviews the readiness for the proposal. Do you have the ability to deliver at a reasonable cost? Is the cost to deliver worth the potential profit?
* Gate 4 of IPDS includes delivering the proposal to the customer.
* Gate 5 is the start up gate.
* Gate 6 is the requirements and architecture gate. What exactly does the customer need? What is the software architecture for the software to be created?

* Gate 7 is the preliminary design gate. The initial product designs are created or code outlines are written.
* Gate 8 is the critical design gate. The best designs are selected to be narrowed down to a single, critical design.
* Gate 9 is the test readiness gate. Initial prototypes are tested until one that can be built quickly and cheaply is selected. The production planning begins based on the selected design, such as creation of assembly instructions, test plans and bills of material. Completion of Gate 9 starts Gate 10, the production and deployment stage.
* Gate 10 includes production, operations and support. Gate 10 can include enhancement requests or break-fixes. Gate 10 continues until the project is shut down.